Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Educate me on cast iron

I see many of you cook on cast iron and say its the best. What is it about cast iron that makes food so good?

Heats fairly evenly and holds the heat well= predictability and good heat control.

They release food well when seasoned.

Nostalgia.

Agree with MM.

First of all, they're durable. A couple of my Griswolds are ~ 100 yrs old. Mine will probably be around long after I'm gone.

They heat evenly, darn near without fail.

You can get them squealing hot without worry of ruining them. Some things I make in them require that, like my Righteous Ribeye post or Sam's Blackened Redfish. I'm not saying you can't do either recipe with something else, but the process is easier with cast iron.

They typically do not warp and you can reseason them, if needed.

Word to the wise from someone who has done it. Don't grab the handle with your bare hand when cooking. They do transfer heat well.

To me, there is nothing but, cast iron.

Nostalgia, I just like cooking with the older stuff. Regardless of how technology is they haven't made anything as good as well seasoned cast iron . And the newer stuff definitely won't last as long. I have Griswold and Wagner stuff plus some lesser known brands that work just as well as it did when it was made 100 years ago.

I have several Griswold & Warner skillets that I routinely use on my glass cooktop. and decided one day to "scan" them with my infrared digital pyrometer and found as much as 100 degree differences at various points on their cooking surfaces prior to fryin' up various foods. WOW ! I was surprised.Surprised to observe the center was not always the hottest. Someday when I'm outside frying chicken on the propane burner I'll have to run that test again.

No teflon.

not much else to add. They just plain work. Are they best for everything? Of course not. No single type pan is, but the cast iron provides great value, long life, and a lot of satisfaction.
One big plus is that it easily goes between campfire and indoor stove.

Thanks guys!

Just throw a hand full of flour in the bottom, spread evenly, and heat it up. You'll see the hot spots. America's test kitchen recommends putting them in a cold oven and setting the heat to 500f to heat them evenly.

ATK: The Truth About Cast Iron


That said, my Griswold/Wagner pans are my favorites.

Interesting read and bears our my layman testing. That said, I've actually decreased my usage of CI and gone back to some decent non stick that my wife bought me and relegated my CI to oven work and frying chikken over a propane burner out on the deck.

CI dutch oven on the glass cook top still gets a lot of use tho'

No criticism here but do a Fire search on CI and you will find so much valuable information!! It's a CI gold mine!!

Should have made that or included in the one sticky that we foodies have been granted.

My bad!!

After you've bought a couple or three cast iron skillets and learned to use them, then it is time to get started on the real deal; Camp Dutch Ovens.



Patio or elk and deer camp, you can't beat 'em.

L.W.

i won't use coated pans.
either cast iron or stainless
revere ware for me. no aluminum.

+1

I use CI, Revere Ware, and a couple of Pyrex casserole dishes.

I know there's some high dollar ceramic stuff out there but I'm not a good enough cook to tell the difference.

Dear Lord, help me to smite my jealousy.

May want to avoid tomato based recipes until your pan is well seasoned or if you don't tolerate an iron/metallic taste well.

No kidding. Gonna be a bitch to rotate the coal/oven on the bottom though...

Cast is all the wifey will use

Thanks for the replies everyone