Cast iron cookware is greener than any of the new cooking toys.
http://www.recyclebank.com/live-green/cast-iron-greenest-choice-cooking/
I love it that the old way is the best.
Hmmm, guess I should go do a cast iron inventory?
Paul in PA
Ditto that Paul. I have a few old seasoned/uncleaned Griswolds myself.
Some don't understand that they should never clean them. If you do, they have to be re-seasoned again. Wipe out any food crude and "clean" with a smear of oil or lard and it's good to go.
Lot's of folks don't know that.
What we use.
Many people don't like the weight of them.
Lot of good meals and desserts have come out of cast dutch ovens, too.
Paul-
150 years ago everything was organic just automatically.
> Cast iron cookware is greener than any of the new cooking toys.
>
>> http://www.recyclebank.com/live-green/cast-iron-greenest-choice-cooking/
>
> I love it that the old way is the best.
>
> Hmmm, guess I should go do a cast iron inventory?
>
> Paul in PA
My father taught me how to clean/season/care for cast iron... so easy, and great for cooking just about anything. I still use one of his favourites... but I do vaguely recall with an electric stove it was a real pain to regulate the heat properly.
I don't really consider "green" all that much when it comes to cooking, that is a nice side benefit.
Another "green" aspect: thing about using one cast iron pan pan for 50 years or more... no constant manufacturing, packaging, transport, advertising, etc. for the dozens of replacements... that must add up big time.
Going to the flea market in a bit, I will keep my eye out for some more cast iron treasures!
Cast Iron Lasts 100's Of Years
I have some from farm sales 50 years ago and they were well used then.
I do have to confess I have Lodge camping Dutch ovens with legs I bought new 20 years ago.
I also have a small cleaning brush for it. Years ago at the PA Farm Show I saw a vendor handmaking corn brooms. I had him make 2 very short corn brooms for the dutch ovens, one for me, one for my nephew. When we get together we stack cook with the Dutch ovens 3 high. For instance main meal stew, corn bread and cobbler dessert.
I never really thought about why, (the linked article explains why), but the frying pans have been stored in the oven, when the oven is not in use, just the way I've always seen it done.
The electric crock pots have spoiled us because they can be left untended for 8-10 hours. But if we want a meal now the cast iron wins over the microwave. Again we have been spoiled with ther microwave and leftovers.
But then this paost was supposed to be about cooking, not reheating, food or politics.
Paul in PA
> I love it that the old way is the best.
I'm betting you'd like this book:
From a Wooden Canoe: Reflections on Canoeing, Camping, and Classic Equipment
When I cook it is usually in a deep cast iron frying pan. For meat I will brown the outside and then usually steam it. I do wash cast iron because I do more than frying with them and many of the older people that used them when I was a kid also washed theirs. Remember Grand Dads pancakes, full pan size and thick, one was about all I wanted to eat. After WW2, Mom still cooked on a wood stove, did it in the kitchen, not the cook house across the creek, flooding cause a move of the main house away from the old cellar, cook house and garage. wasn't until the 50s when it was replaced with a propane stove, kitchen a much more comfortable place in the summer after that but the cast iron was still in use.
jud
Thanks Wendell, Angel
B-) I take it from the extra work that you did in safely splitting the baby, that you are fans of cast iron. B-)
I have in the past started posts that I thought:whistle: might go viral;-) . Never in my wildest dreams :excruciating: would I have thought it on this topic.
I guess I am not as imaginative as I thought:party:.
Paul in PA
Thanks Wendell, Angel
Yep, there's nothing like cooking in cast iron. It's amazing how a quick tutorial on proper use can make cast iron pans work better than any of the non-stick crap out there. Not to mention how much better the food tastes, especially steak!
Go Retro - Iron rules!
Have Rigby's camp pans. They passed on, Arther in 1960 and Nelle in 61 in their mid 80's, those pans are steel with 3 foot wooden handles wired to the pan handles. The steel was light enough to handle on those long handles. What they used on the stove was Iron frying pans and enameled pots.
jud
