[Belial]

I've been restoring cast iron cookware and I'm pretty surprised by the results. It's also pretty addicting and toning my arms by the weight of the pans.

Anyone else here like cask iron cookware or other cast iron things?
What do you season cast iron with?
Does this inspire you to give cast iron a try?
Need more Iron in your diet?
Think Teflon pans are better?

Here is a before and after of one of the pans I've restored. It was a Le Creuset 24 I found at a flea market for $7 so I wasn't worried if I messed up.

Before
Front / Back

After
Front / Back

And my latest four cast iron pieces. Two are still in the cleaning solution to get rid of the old seasoning, the other one is getting really shiny each time I use it and the last one I haven't used yet since I don't have a pie pan.

Griswold small block Griddle and Griswold #6 large block slant script.

Front / Griddle Back / #6 skillet back

1800's era gatemark with fancy handle
Here

Cast iron apple peeler
Here

And here are some things I've cooked in my cast iron cookware.

[AliceinZombieland]

Aw man, did you have to post food pictures? Now I'm hungry. XD But wow, what a difference between the before and after pictures! It looks really nice, good job! I'll be honest, I've never owned a cast iron anything before. Does it require specific maintenance? Everyone I know swears by cast iron cookware so I'm willing to bet it's very good quality stuff. What would you say is the difference between cast iron pots and "regular" pots?

[Coda]

It does require specific maintenance -- it has to be seasoned periodically or else it loses its nonstick qualities and is susceptible to rust. And you shouldn't use detergent on it, or else you have to re-season it afterward. (But of course, if you've got a particularly yucky cast iron item, you may just have to do that.)

But unlike Teflon, you don't have to worry about scratching the finish off of cast iron cookware. If you do somehow scratch it off, all you have to do is season it, and it's as good as new. Cast iron cookware is darn near invulnerable, and cast iron pieces from the 1800s are still perfectly good today.

And under normal use, you shouldn't NEED to use detergents on it, because you can wash it with hot water and a sponge or brush. (Convenient trick: while it's still hot from use, pour some water in it and watch it boil off the residue on the bottom!)

Of course, within its usable lifetime, Teflon-coated cookware is ridiculously convenient. It's substantially lighter in weight, it doesn't require any special maintenance, and you can throw it in your dishwasher for cleaning. But it's not going to last for 200 years.

[AliceinZombieland]

Barely anything does these days. That's a mark of true quality, right there.

I heard you were a myth Coda. XD Or at least hard to find, or something to that effect. Your avatar is stunning though.

[Coda]

Eh? I'm not that hard to find, I just mostly stick to Trisphee Talk and the tech forums. I only extended into Central Square recently.

[Belial]

Originally Posted by AliceinZombieland

Aw man, did you have to post food pictures? Now I'm hungry. XD But wow, what a difference between the before and after pictures! It looks really nice, good job! I'll be honest, I've never owned a cast iron anything before. Does it require specific maintenance? Everyone I know swears by cast iron cookware so I'm willing to bet it's very good quality stuff. What would you say is the difference between cast iron pots and "regular" pots?

You don't use soap or stick it in a dishwasher.

Hot water usually rinses everything off, for stuck on bits, the end of a plastic scrub brush is what I use. Then I coat it with a layer of crisco so thin the pan feels dry. The Le Creuset took me a month of work, that's about ten layers of seasoning with crisco. Sold it on Ebay for $75, helped me get a new 4770k computer.

Regular pots, hrmm. Steel pots are ok but the reason I got into Cast iron is Paula Deen actually. Bought my mother her cookware.

The teflon cookware warped within a few months and the teflon started chipping off. Didn't want that poison in our food so I replaced it.

My cast iron cookware, I can pass it down to my great grandchildren if I have any. If you treat it right, that could last several lifetimes. Cast iron can crack and it does break so people shouldn't think it's like Superman. I say this because I've seen so many sellers on Ebay make this mistake and ruin a piece of history.


http://www.wag-society.org/Packing/Packing.htm

[AliceinZombieland]

I was going to ask what could cause cast iron to break or crack, but I visited your link and found it VERY informative. I never would have guessed that cast iron was so brittle! That is definitely good information to have, should I decide to go that route for cookware. I have to say, I'm taking much more interest in this than I originally anticipated; thank you Belial for making this thread!

[Belial]

I'm glad, cast iron is a good thing to get into. At least in my opinion anyway.

[Coda]

Yeah, the weird thing about materials science is that when you make something harder, you also make it more brittle -- and when you make it less brittle, you make it softer.

[AliceinZombieland]

I was never very good at science, so that is fascinating to learn.

[Coda]

You can basically think of it as things that are really hard will resist failing until something happens to make them fail catastrophically, while softer things will just bend instead of breaking.

[Belial]

I just bought a Bundt pan, they usually go from $100 up. Got it for a BIN of $55. I did my dopey happy dance already.

[Lawtan]

I love the food pictured *drools*

[Belial]

I love to cook

[Lawtan]

*Drooling increases*

You are a far better cook than myself.

[Belial]

That's only because I don't normally show photos of my failures.