Question: Cooking with cast iron

[DontPanic42]

The peach cobbler I do is one can of sprite, one box yellow cake mix, and two cans of peaches with the juice drained off. Stir it all together and cook at 350 for about an hour and 15 minutes. In my 10 inch dutch oven on a warm windless day outside 350 is usually about 7 coals on bottom and 14 on top. Cooler or windier or more humid days mean you'll need to make adjustments, and for a 12 inch oven add probably one coal below and one or two on top.

A classic dump cake cobbler. We used a version that uses a peach and spices filling with a lattice pie crust topping. The crust has butter, cinnamon, and sugar on it. While cooking, the juices from the peach filling boils up through the lattice crust and mixes with the butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Both are "finest kind".

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Used cast iron for my first time ever on the weekend. Loved it! I picked up a smallish Lodge frying pan, and used it for sausages and bacon. The heat was so nice and even. I was a little worried about using it, as my stove doesn't have too many BTU's, only about 5000. But the heat seemed to come through really fast? I couldn't believe how fast it warmed up some beans'n'weiners.

I think I'll get one for home too. Up until now, I've been using a "fresh" teflon pan for eggs and such, then when they get older, they get moved to bacon duty. But I think the cast iron is probably healthier than old brown teflon anyway.

I don't know if I want to do the dutch oven thing or not, bringing coals, timing thing, etc... sounds kinda complicated. But the recipe sounds really easy, and we have a "real" gas oven on our camping stove. Only... I don't like peach much. Can you do the same recipe with apples or something?

 

[bobDog]

Man nothing like sausages and bacon start the break in period of a cast iron pan better......I like to sprinkle a little bit of sugar at first just to get a little caramel going.....enjoy! You're on the the way to the cast iron addiction now. hehehe.:wings:

 

[DontPanic42]

Apples with a spice cake mix is good. Cherries, blackberries, apple and cranberry mix, blackberries and peaches, etc. You can use the dump cake recipe or use pie crust or crumble topping. In a pinch a top of canned biscuits works.

 

[Errant]

Yes, Rob, apple or any other pie filling will work. Dump a couple of cans of whatever fruit you want into a DO. Dump a dry cake mix on top of that. Throw a couple of slabs of real butter on top of the dry cake mix. Set covered DO over a few coals (can be from a campfire rather than charcoal) and put twice as many coals on the lid. Give it about 30 minutes before checking for doneness. Very simple!

Dutch Oven cooking really isn't as complicated as many people make it out to be. It's such a versatile pot, and should be everyone's FIRST piece of cast iron

 

[bobDog]

A classic dump cake cobbler. We used a version that uses a peach and spices filling with a lattice pie crust topping. The crust has butter, cinnamon, and sugar on it. While cooking, the juices from the peach filling boils up through the lattice crust and mixes with the butter, sugar, and cinnamon. Both are "finest kind".

Geee peach, apple' pineapple, apricot pear....in a dutch oven its all 'great cobbler" dont forget the strong coffee w/ half an half.....whoa what a way to live!:victory:

 

[bobDog]

Yes, Rob, apple or any other pie filling will work. Dump a couple of cans of whatever fruit you want into a DO. Dump a dry cake mix on top of that. Throw a couple of slabs of real butter on top of the dry cake mix. Set covered DO over a few coals (can be from a campfire rather than charcoal) and put twice as many coals on the lid. Give it about 30 minutes before checking for doneness. Very simple!

Dutch Oven cooking really isn't as complicated as many people make it out to be. It's such a versatile pot, and should be everyone's FIRST piece of cast iron

Slabs o butter!!!! Man you the dude......yes! I'm going to have to burn something in the back yard just to do this tonight who need a deck?:drool:

 

[R_Lefebvre]

Apples with a spice cake mix is good.

That does sound good!

And you need a can of sprite, right? Wonder if ginger ale would work better for this recipe?

Does it have to be done with a DO though? Seriously... sounds like a good recipe to try camping, but I don't have a dutch oven. And the way we camp, it's just not that practical. We usually don't start the camp fire till after dinner, and then by the time we have coals, it's late.

Man nothing like sausages and bacon start the break in period of a cast iron pan better......I like to sprinkle a little bit of sugar at first just to get a little caramel going.....enjoy! You're on the the way to the cast iron addiction now. hehehe.

Yeah, I wonder if I should do something with the pot. It's cooked two meals, side-dish noodles, and beans n weiners. Neither very fatty. Doesn't seem to have suffered that I can see yet? I washed them using the rag I'd used for the other dishes, so it had a bit of soap, but used clean water, not the soapy water. And most of the detergent was already spent cleaning the previous dishes. I didn't know about the scrubing with salt thing. But, I'm thinking maybe the pot especially, I should season it more in the barbeque. I want to get a little spritz bottle with vegetable oil, to spray on after cleaning?

 

[Corey]

I always use a can of the spray olive oil after I wash the cast iron out.
I am using mine every weekend at home now for fried eggs, omelets, and pancakes.
I threw away my no stick pan finally.

Sometimes I am able to just wipe out the pan with a paper towel, other times I need to use hot water only and a scrub brush I bought for the pans.

Afterward I use a paper towel to dry the pan, then I take another paper towel (I buy the paper towels you can rip into sections) and fold it in 4ths and spray oil on it and in the pan and rub it around, then put the pan away for the next time.

I have yet to try the cobbler in my DO in the home oven (my DO is not for a campfire, but for stove top and oven use) but I have all of the ingredients for it, just waiting for the right time to try it.

 

[Black Dog]

Can you do the same recipe with apples or something?

I've been wanting to try two cans of cherry pie filling with a box of chocolate cake mix and a can of cherry coke or cherry doctor pepper.

 

[DontPanic42]

"And you need a can of sprite, right? Wonder if ginger ale would work better for this recipe?"
I prefer Apple Cider without added sugar but a good Jamaican Ginger Beer would be good.
As far as a pan goes, a cake pan or small roasting pan will work for use at home.

 

[zags]

We always keep a few horse shoes around to use as field expedient trivets.

Hey! fianlly a practical use for all of those horse shoes I have found and drug home over the years. :wings:

I still need to find a use for the railroad spikes, square nails, 100 year old steel jaw traps,............

 

[DontPanic42]

Hey! fianlly a practical use for all of those horse shoes I have found and drug home over the years. :wings:

I still need to find a use for the railroad spikes, square nails, 100 year old steel jaw traps,............

I've have seen some great looking knives made from railroad spikes. Now for the square nails....? I have a big bag of them from my Great Grandparents farm house that my folks picked up after it burned. The horse shoe that was over the barn door is now hanging in my office. It's a long way from Little Ridge, NB, CANADA

 

[Antichrist]

I've been cooking in cast iron since I was a kid and never had any issues cooking acidic foods.
Also, I find that bacon works well for seasoning...maybe it's the bacon I use, I don't know.
I hope some day I can get my grandmothers wood cook stove set up. Nothing beats biscuits made in a cook stove and then smothered with homemade butter.

If anyone from out of state has an opportunity to visit the lodge factory outlet in South Pittsburg, TN stop at the welcome center on the interstate. They nearly always have a coupon for an 8" or 10" skillet for $7 or so. Seconds, so they aren't seasoned and aren't polished, but the blemish is usually just a tiny bit of stray cast iron on the side or something.

I like their bread pans for making meatloaf.

 

[roger352]

Would these methods work on a rusty cast iron kettle i just got off ebay for £0.99 p?.