Question: Cooking with cast iron

[DontPanic42]

Most companies had at least 2 lines of cookware. One had an as cast surface, the better quality had a machined or ground surface. The machining step was eliminated as a cost savings as overseas competition increased. The surface that you see today tries to strike a balance between the two. Hand casting has also been replaced with machine casting. Lodge didn't make 16" deep ovens for several years until it could machine cast them.
By the way, I have a friend that custom makes steel Dutch ovens. Great product with very even heating. Heavy as .... Usually, you have to buy a chuck wagon from him to get some.

 

[paulj]

...The Griswold and Wagner pans made long ago have a bit more steel in them .... Their also lighter than the new pans.

'bit more steel' and 'lighter' don't go together.

 

[bobDog]

What an awesome thread. We used to use cast iron a lot but through the years it has decreased a lot. I remember as a kid how easy it was to clean a well seasoned pan or dutch oven (the kids always did the dishes in camp). My dad used to use a dutch oven to make the best biscuits. the one he used had a lip around the lid that allowed him to put coals on top and it really helped to evenly "bake" the biscuits. I have 2 lodge cast iron woks that have never been used but after reading this thread i may have to dig them out and start the season process.

It's always been my understanding from the old folks i used to camp w/ when I was a kid was if the lid doesn't have a lip it isn't a Dutch Oven. They would load the lid up w/ hot coals, the pot half buried in the pit coals and never open it til it was done.:coffeedrink:

 

[paulj]

You have to pay attention to context to know what a person means by Dutch Oven. On a cooking forum the term is likely to mean a high priced enameled pot from France, or any heavy duty covered pot suitable for braising in the oven. Some use the term 'camp oven' to refer to one that has the lip on the lid. That kind also tends to come with short legs to set it about above a layer of coals. In my parents collection of pots, the dutch oven was large enough to have a wire bail handle, where as my largest cast iron piece is a 'chicken frier', with glass lid and frying pan handle.

In the days when everyone cooked over open fires or at home in hearth, there were a wide range of iron pots and pans designed for that use. Some frying pans had long legs and handles and were called spiders.

The one I take baking while camping is a much lighter, 3qt 10" anodized aluminum dutch oven. It has the lip on the lid. The legs are separate, allowing me to use it on a stove top, and more compact packing.

 

[Corey]

Not sure what size of Dutch Oven to get for my Camp Chef Denali stove yet, but I want to be able to use it at home too.
So I probably do not need one with the feet on it.

I saw this picture last year, this guy owns all of these, he is quite a collector of them.
http://www.camp-cook.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1055
It was posted August the 6th 2008, I bet it has grown since then.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Some use the term 'camp oven' to refer to one that has the lip on the lid. That kind also tends to come with short legs to set it about above a layer of coals. In my parents collection of pots, the dutch oven was large enough to have a wire bail handle, where as my largest cast iron piece is a 'chicken frier', with glass lid and frying pan handle

I've always used the term 'dutch oven' to mean a deep pot with a bail handle and domed lid. It was meant to be used on top of a stove or inside a larger oven.

View attachment 40045

The term 'camp stove' was the pot with three legs and a lipped lid for coals. This was meant to sit over and in a fire or bed of coals, thus the legs and lip.

View attachment 40046

Our chicken fryer doesn't have a glass lid. That must be a newer (like 1970s?) development.

 

[paulj]

..

Our chicken fryer doesn't have a glass lid. That must be a newer (like 1970s?) development.

Yea, I got the chicken fryer in the mid 70s.

 

[DontPanic42]

I've always used the term 'dutch oven' to mean a deep pot with a bail handle and domed lid. It was meant to be used on top of a stove or inside a larger oven.

View attachment 40045

The term 'camp stove' was the pot with three legs and a lipped lid for coals. This was meant to sit over and in a fire or bed of coals, thus the legs and lip.

View attachment 40046

Our chicken fryer doesn't have a glass lid. That must be a newer (like 1970s?) development.

Members of the IDOS (International Dutch Oven Society) and Chuck Wagon Cooks call what you call a camp stove/oven, a Dutch Oven. They are also used for fireplace hearth cooking. Terms depend on who you are talking to.
I also use English Pots and Gypsy Pots.
My chicken fryer has a solid cast iron lid and belonged to the ex-wife's Grandmother which would make it 100 yrs old more or less.

 

[storman113]

'bit more steel' and 'lighter' don't go together.

The older ones I have picked up at antique stores, Griswold/Wagner, are quite a bit thinner than the newer all iron units. Thus less material, lighter weight. They hold the heat just as well and season up easier than the new ones also.

I also paid less than the new ones cost by about half!

When I was with the scouts, we used the camp type, legs and lid with a lip. My mom used one at home with no legs and rounded lid on the stove top. Both were referred to as 'Dutch Ovens"

 

[DaveInDenver]

Yeah, I don't think there is one right way to refer to stoves, but since we have both types that minimizes misunderstanding in this homestead. Personally I think the confusion came about by the western settlers.

Their dutch ovens were somewhat shallower and grew the lip and legs as homesteaders needed their 'dutch ovens' to work with open fires as they tackled the trip through the frontier. The stove had to serve a lot of purposes, so an inverted lid acting like a frying pan in the coals was useful, being able to cook in a hearth or over a fire was useful, etc.

The fundamental shape of the container itself and application of the heat to food inside remained pretty much the same. In modern times in homes lacking open hearths the 'camp stove' type is used more for camping than daily, but certainly using them in your BBQ pit is an option (we'll do that) or in the oven. I just find them difficult to use on our stove top.

 

[Albin]

what Lodge calls a Dutch Oven:

What Lodge calls a Camp Dutch Oven:

 

[Black Dog]

But they're both just a heavy duty metal pot with a tight fitting heavy metal lid. The top pic is basically the same thing as the colorful units minus the attractive enamel. Either one will work over an open flame (I wouldn't do that with enamel though), but to use the one in the top picture with coals you'll need to prop it up on rocks or devise a stand of some sort.

 

[Co-opski]

Season with bear grease. :chef:

 

[SunTzuNephew]

Season with bear grease. :chef:

Be vewy, vewy quiet when you're sneaking up on the bear, though....

 

[kai38]

We have cast iron pans at the fire station. Some have been in service longer then anyone on the job. One station have a real nice huge pan that was used by ever shift every day. Someone dropped it and the handle broke off. Off it went to the maintenance shop for the welder to braze the handle back on. Good as new still being used 20yrs later.
Before I got married I was using cast iron since it worked so well at work. After 18yrs of marriage when I moved out I took the cast iron with me and still using it, all the nice sets we had gotten for gifts are long gone.
As a matter of fact I'm re-seasoning two pans right now to take to the EXPO as my cookware on this trip.
Its great stuff I've also found some at swap meets from $5.00 on up.