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      CAST IRON:

      BACK TO THE BASICS

      The rediscovery of cast iron cookware begins with learning about cast iron and how to care for it. If you’re a new cast iron enthusiast, start here to learn everything you need to know about different cast iron products, how to care for them and how to cook with them. When you’ve got the basics down, dive into the recipes for some delicious meals that are sure to go on your favorites list. You’ll find everything from quick and easy recipes that come together in minutes to hearty, from-scratch dishes. And be sure to keep an eye out for the handy sidebars and vintage spotlights that feature some great info about cast iron cookware.

      Cast iron cookware is available bare and covered with an enamel coating. While the recipes in this book focus on the use of bare cast iron cookware, you might find you are attracted to the look of enamelware. See here for some helpful information about the difference between bare and enamel cast iron.

Characteristics of Cast Iron Cookware

      It’s versatile. Made from a single piece of metal, it can go directly from stovetop to oven and be used with campfires and grills. It will handle any style of cooking that you need—you can sauté, roast, bake and more. You can brown food in a skillet and then transfer it directly into a hot oven to finish cooking. That’s one-pot cooking at its best!

      It’s heavy. This means your cast iron pots and pans will maintain an even cooking temperature once heated. This also means your cast iron cookware is durable, and it only gets better with age. A well-maintained cast iron piece can last for generations! Because it is heavy, look for sturdy handles on both sides to make handling easier, and use both hands to lift and move pans.

      It can handle high temperatures. You’re going to get great results with cast iron cookware. Food will brown nicely and crusts will be crisp. The pots retain heat, so you can serve meals right out of your cookware without any concern that it will go cold. Do remember to use good pot holders and trivets, though!

      It’s inexpensive, green cooking. It’s not very difficult to manufacture cast iron cookware, so compared to other top-of-the line pots and pans, it’s relatively inexpensive. If the price tag is still making you hesitate, keep in mind that if cared for, your cookware will last for years—and probably beyond—and won’t have to be replaced any time soon. If you don’t want to buy new, shop at second-hand stores or estate sales for used cookware.

      It’s natural, nonstick cooking. Unlike other nonstick cookware, there are no artificial chemical coatings to be concerned about with cast iron. And if you keep your cast iron pots and pans well seasoned, you will have a natural, nonstick surface—all of the benefits of nonstick cooking without any synthetic materials, just the natural oils you use to season the cookware.

      It can add an important nutrient to your food. When you cook with cast iron, a bit of iron leaches from the pan into the food being prepared, bumping up the iron content for your body to absorb. So just by cooking your food, you are making sure your body is well nourished—no extra vegetables or vitamins required! (Acidic foods, like tomato sauces, pull out more iron from the pans, so limit the cooking time of these foods to 30 minutes or less to avoid any metallic taste.)

       How Did the Dutch Oven Get Its Name?

      Dutch ovens and other cast iron cookware were distributed throughout America by salesmen with wagons. When a salesman or trader was seen coming with his pots clanging on the side hangers of his wagon, people would say, “Here comes the Dutchman with his ovens.”

      Cast iron cookware will maintain an even cooking temperature once heated.

Prepping & Caring for Cast Iron

      Seasoning

      Seasoning is the process of preparing the cast iron cookware for use. There are two objectives to this process:

      1.Coat the cookware to prevent rust

      2.Create a natural, permanent, nonstick cooking surface

      Seasoning is an easy, but very important, first step when using cast iron cookware. Unlike synthetically coated cookware, cast iron items can be seasoned and their cooking surfaces restored. When you season a cast iron utensil, you are preventing rust and providing the cookware with a natural, permanent, nonstick surface. Remember: It takes some time and use after seasoning before a pan will develop the shiny, black surface of your grandmother’s cast iron cookware. A black, shiny skillet is a well-seasoned skillet! Follow these steps to season your cast iron cookware. Never season your cookware inside because of the smoke, smell and potential fire hazard that are part of the process.

      New Dutch ovens and other cast iron pieces have a protective wax coating to prevent rust during shipping. If you have a new cast iron piece, remove any paper labels and place it on heat on a barbecue grill to burn off the protective wax coating.

      Lightly grease your cookware, inside and out. Suggested oils for this process include vegetable oil, solid Crisco, bacon grease or lard because they offer a low burning point.

      Place your cookware in your barbeque grill or outdoor cook stove. You do not want the oil to pool anywhere in your cookware during the seasoning process, so be sure to turn it bottom side up. If you are seasoning a Dutch oven, put the lid on top of the legs. Heat the cookware on medium heat until it turns black and the oil is burned into the surface. You will want the heat around 500°F–550°F to burn the oil in. If you are using an outdoor cook stove, put about 25–30 briquettes into the stove to reach the proper temperature. You will notice that sometime during this process, smoke will come out of your barbecue grill for about 20 minutes or so. This is normal. Remember, you are burning oil into the pan, creating the nice black look that you want. After one hour, turn off your grill and let the cookware cool by itself. Your cookware will be EXTREMELY hot, so cooling will take some time. It is helpful to let the cookware sit overnight. Then, it will be cool in the morning.

      After your cookware has cooled, check your progress. Your cookware should be a nice black color. If you see what look like freckles on the surface, part of the protective wax coating was not removed before seasoning. To address this, scrub those areas to remove the wax, and then repeat the seasoning process.

      If the cookware is not as black as you’d like, repeat the process using a slightly higher heat setting on your grill. Remember, you want your cookware to be black, not brown. A brown color means you need to season at a higher temperature.

      Acidic foods, such as tomato sauce, might remove some seasoning. Lightly oil your cookware after preparing acidic foods and place it upside down in your grill for 30 minutes to reseason it.