When did you give up on cast iron?

tm255

Hitting the exact right temp is known as the Leidenfrost Effect.

Virtually every bacon cooking instruction I have seen says to put the bacon into the cold pan, then fire up the burner.  But I've tried it both ways, and in my hands bacon+CI=fail.

Anyway, glad that the OP now has a working system!

fishlessman

tm255 said:

Hitting the exact right temp is known as the Leidenfrost Effect.

Virtually every bacon cooking instruction I have seen says to put the bacon into the cold pan, then fire up the burner.  But I've tried it both ways, and in my hands bacon+CI=fail.

Anyway, glad that the OP now has a working system!

get the pan hot, hot enough that water drops dance. put bacon in and drop the heat for a slower cook. after a minute, shake the bacon with a fork till it slides, then cook til done. cold bacon in a cold pan just sticks.

tm255

fishlessman said:

tm255 said:

Hitting the exact right temp is known as the Leidenfrost Effect.

Virtually every bacon cooking instruction I have seen says to put the bacon into the cold pan, then fire up the burner.  But I've tried it both ways, and in my hands bacon+CI=fail.

Anyway, glad that the OP now has a working system!

get the pan hot, hot enough that water drops dance. put bacon in and drop the heat for a slower cook. after a minute, shake the bacon with a fork till it slides, then cook til done. cold bacon in a cold pan just sticks.

Thanks, I may give that a try out of curiosity.  Would be hard for me to go back to the CI after using this OXO, though!

nolaegghead

I oil the pan before I cook bacon.  If you have bacon fat leftover from a precious cook, that is a good source of fat for the next batch

HeavyG

Ybabpmuts said:

RRP said:

OH BOY OH BOY ...

I read all of the helpful replies to my request and several themes kept being repeated... HIGH HEAT, some added oil, butter or bacon fat (which I went with) and 

B I N G O

I fixed us great burgers and of course the REAL PAY BACK was that I only wiped out the pan! NO SCRAPPING, not EVEN using salt as an abrasive, nor that chain  mail scrubber,...NOT EVEN HOT WATER!!! Just some paper towels! 

THANK YOU - EVERYBODY!!! I think this 78 year old guy FINALY got it!...

I hate when bacon fat leads to bingo. By the time you realize you had bingo.. your card is almost transparent from all of the bacon fat and it takes the officials almost forever to validate it and all that time ... you're smelling the bacon and the fat, and you want them to certify the card, just so that you can friggen snort it.


I love Chain Mail Scrubbers. I have to admit that their first album was very convoluted, it sounded more like a medieval battle than music, but halfway through the album there was a song, where the singer kept saying over and over .. " I got a pickle and you don't, nanny nanny moo moo" and I thought, what does that have to do with chain mail scrubbers. It turns out that pickles were once used to clean chain mail in the olden days. You learn something new every day, and one of those things is if you want someone to rub you with a pickle, you need to be wearing really old chain mail pants. 

"I love Chain Mail Scrubbers. I have to admit that their first album ..."

OK... I genuinely LOL'd at that.

Foghorn

HeavyG said:

Ybabpmuts said:

RRP said:

OH BOY OH BOY ...

I read all of the helpful replies to my request and several themes kept being repeated... HIGH HEAT, some added oil, butter or bacon fat (which I went with) and 

B I N G O

I fixed us great burgers and of course the REAL PAY BACK was that I only wiped out the pan! NO SCRAPPING, not EVEN using salt as an abrasive, nor that chain  mail scrubber,...NOT EVEN HOT WATER!!! Just some paper towels! 

THANK YOU - EVERYBODY!!! I think this 78 year old guy FINALY got it!...

I hate when bacon fat leads to bingo. By the time you realize you had bingo.. your card is almost transparent from all of the bacon fat and it takes the officials almost forever to validate it and all that time ... you're smelling the bacon and the fat, and you want them to certify the card, just so that you can friggen snort it.


I love Chain Mail Scrubbers. I have to admit that their first album was very convoluted, it sounded more like a medieval battle than music, but halfway through the album there was a song, where the singer kept saying over and over .. " I got a pickle and you don't, nanny nanny moo moo" and I thought, what does that have to do with chain mail scrubbers. It turns out that pickles were once used to clean chain mail in the olden days. You learn something new every day, and one of those things is if you want someone to rub you with a pickle, you need to be wearing really old chain mail pants. 

"I love Chain Mail Scrubbers. I have to admit that their first album ..."

OK... I genuinely LOL'd at that.

Where's the "Agree" button?

RyanStl

RRP said:

OH BOY OH BOY ...

I read all of the helpful replies to my request and several themes kept being repeated... HIGH HEAT, some added oil, butter or bacon fat (which I went with) and 

B I N G O

I fixed us great burgers and of course the REAL PAY BACK was that I only wiped out the pan! NO SCRAPPING, not EVEN using salt as an abrasive, nor that chain  mail scrubber,...NOT EVEN HOT WATER!!! Just some paper towels! 

THANK YOU - EVERYBODY!!! I think this 78 year old guy FINALY got it!...

I keep trying to tell my wife this. She makes eggs a lot and I have to keep a Teflon pan just for her. I make eggs on SS with no sticking problem. Always have to explain I let it get hot first

alaskanassasin

My problem is that I like to cook eggs, bacon etc low and slow. Where it takes a minute to melt the butter. I could cook bacon for 20 minutes 

paqman

fishlessman said:

tm255 said:

Hitting the exact right temp is known as the Leidenfrost Effect.

Virtually every bacon cooking instruction I have seen says to put the bacon into the cold pan, then fire up the burner.  But I've tried it both ways, and in my hands bacon+CI=fail.

Anyway, glad that the OP now has a working system!

get the pan hot, hot enough that water drops dance. put bacon in and drop the heat for a slower cook. after a minute, shake the bacon with a fork till it slides, then cook til done. cold bacon in a cold pan just sticks.

  It does not stick when you start it with water, it doesn’t twist as much and it becomes crispy without being « cracky ».  🤷‍♂️

RRP

nolaegghead said:

I oil the pan before I cook bacon.  If you have bacon fat leftover from a precious cook, that is a good source of fat for the next batch

I have resorted to cooking bacon in the microwave for YEARS! Mainly because I use 1/4 cup of bacon fat in my chili or other times when sautéing onions for whatever dish. I really have quite a collection of 1 cup containers which I keep in our refrigerator. Reason for 1 cup containers stored in the frig? Just so I know the bottom hasn’t gone rancid in some big old can or jar sitting on the counter.

Botch

RRP said:
Reason for 1 cup containers stored in the frig? Just so I know the bottom hasn’t gone rancid in some big old can or jar sitting on the counter.

Ron, have you ever experienced that?  
I pour my morning bacon grease into a 28-oz tomato can on a shelf below the stove, never refrigerated, and have never seen this.  Every couple of months I end up with two cans full of solid bacon grease, and I toss the old one (I just did this last week).  
I cook with the old grease if its recipe-appropriate.  It makes the best huevos rancheros and enchiladas (if not fully authentic) and is great for sautéing onions for, say, a beef or pork stew.  Obviously I generate more grease than I use, slowly.  
 
When my Grandpa butchered a hog, my Grandma would render the fat trimmings and pour the grease into a container in the root celler, and cooked with that.  I've read that the phrase "scraping the bottom of the barrel" came from this practice; time to butcher another pig, or tighten the ol' belt!  

Ozzie_Isaac

Botch said:

RRP said:
Reason for 1 cup containers stored in the frig? Just so I know the bottom hasn’t gone rancid in some big old can or jar sitting on the counter.

Ron, have you ever experienced that?  
I pour my morning bacon grease into a 28-oz tomato can on a shelf below the stove, never refrigerated, and have never seen this.  Every couple of months I end up with two cans full of solid bacon grease, and I toss the old one (I just did this last week).  
I cook with the old grease if its recipe-appropriate.  It makes the best huevos rancheros and enchiladas (if not fully authentic) and is great for sautéing onions for, say, a beef or pork stew.  Obviously I generate more grease than I use, slowly.  
 
When my Grandpa butchered a hog, my Grandma would render the fat trimmings and pour the grease into a container in the root celler, and cooked with that.  I've read that the phrase "scraping the bottom of the barrel" came from this practice; time to butcher another pig, or tighten the ol' belt!  

If recipe appropriate!?  Every recipe it is appropriate.  I have yet to make something where bacon grease didn't make better.

shtgunal3

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Botch said:

RRP said:
Reason for 1 cup containers stored in the frig? Just so I know the bottom hasn’t gone rancid in some big old can or jar sitting on the counter.

Ron, have you ever experienced that?  
I pour my morning bacon grease into a 28-oz tomato can on a shelf below the stove, never refrigerated, and have never seen this.  Every couple of months I end up with two cans full of solid bacon grease, and I toss the old one (I just did this last week).  
I cook with the old grease if its recipe-appropriate.  It makes the best huevos rancheros and enchiladas (if not fully authentic) and is great for sautéing onions for, say, a beef or pork stew.  Obviously I generate more grease than I use, slowly.  
 
When my Grandpa butchered a hog, my Grandma would render the fat trimmings and pour the grease into a container in the root celler, and cooked with that.  I've read that the phrase "scraping the bottom of the barrel" came from this practice; time to butcher another pig, or tighten the ol' belt!  

If recipe appropriate!?  Every recipe it is appropriate.  I have yet to make something where bacon grease didn't make better.

Where’s the damm agree button?!

Botch

Ozzie_Isaac said:
If recipe appropriate!?  Every recipe it is appropriate.  I have yet to make something where bacon grease didn't make better.

Chocolate pudding.    

theyolksonyou

You’ve never had chocolate covered bacon?

Botch

Blech.  No, and I never will.  
(Disclaimer: I can't stand sweet w/ meat; if pancake syrup so much as kisses my bacon, my breakfast is ruined!)  
(and I've really tried to like peach preserve on butt/ribs/etc; Nope.  NopeNopeNope)  

Ozzie_Isaac

Botch said:

Blech.  No, and I never will.  
(Disclaimer: I can't stand sweet w/ meat; if pancake syrup so much as kisses my bacon, my breakfast is ruined!)  
(and I've really tried to like peach preserve on butt/ribs/etc; Nope.  NopeNopeNope)  

Dark chocolate on bacon is really good.  Don't need a sweet milk chocolate.

RRP

Botch said:

RRP said:
Reason for 1 cup containers stored in the frig? Just so I know the bottom hasn’t gone rancid in some big old can or jar sitting on the counter.

Ron, have you ever experienced that?  
I pour my morning bacon grease into a 28-oz tomato can on a shelf below the stove, never refrigerated, and have never seen this.  Every couple of months I end up with two cans full of solid bacon grease, and I toss the old one (I just did this last week).  
I cook with the old grease if its recipe-appropriate.  It makes the best huevos rancheros and enchiladas (if not fully authentic) and is great for sautéing onions for, say, a beef or pork stew.  Obviously I generate more grease than I use, slowly.  
 
When my Grandpa butchered a hog, my Grandma would render the fat trimmings and pour the grease into a container in the root celler, and cooked with that.  I've read that the phrase "scraping the bottom of the barrel" came from this practice; time to butcher another pig, or tighten the ol' belt!  

I’m glad for you! Up here what you have described is an open invitation for cockroaches, ants and other bugs to say ” I’m home!…let’s get to breeding 1,000 more of us!”

theyolksonyou

Mmmmmm bacon and syrup.  I always dip my bacon if I’m having pancakes 

kl8ton

Ron, I'm so glad Cast Iron is working out for you!   Like fish said... my main frying pan never leaves the stove. 

bluebird66

Use my cast iron every time I cook.

alaskanassasin

I keep burning my fingers.

Legume

I just saw this - sounds weird and gimmicky to me, especially the price and the mesquite flavor

https://www.lodgecastiron.com/product/lodge-grilling-spray

Legume

alaskanassasin said:

I keep burning my fingers.

So you’re doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting a different outcome?

HeavyG

Legume said:

alaskanassasin said:

I keep burning my fingers.

So you’re doing the same thing repeatedly but expecting a different outcome?

This is him...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w82CqjaDKmA

DrumMum

One thing I didn't see mentioned about cooking with CI, always use a SS or metal spatula.  Don't ever use a plastic cooking utensil.  I read somewhere long ago, about how the metal smooths out the pores of the CI.  My husband also hates CI.  Have to have separate Teflon, or "copper" or the "blue diamond" pans, (As Seen On TV!) for him to cook.  And then he has to replace them all the time.
And, yes, my favorites are the Griswold and Wagner.

DrumMum

Here is a great link if ya feel like reading up on some CI info:

https://richsoil.com/cast-iron.jsp#seasoning

RRP

DrumMum said:

One thing I didn't see mentioned about cooking with CI, always use a SS or metal spatula.  Don't ever use a plastic cooking utensil.  I read somewhere long ago, about how the metal smooths out the pores of the CI.  

Hmmm, that’s funny as I always use plastic spatulas thinking that if I used metal their edge would somehow scrape off the “hard earned” coating! I can see the flip side value since cast iron is actually a soft metal as metals go, then the abrasiveness of a metal spatula will wear down the surface of a cast iron skillet. 

Besides having now become a believer in high temperature under my cast iron then metal spatulas it will be! Thanks!

Fred19Flintstone

I had a decent sized rust spot on my Blackstone surface this spring.  I was not disappointed because I thought the surface was too pebbley.  So I sanded it and was happy with leaving a small amount of texture for the seasoning to grab on to.  After washing it, I cooked a pound of bacon on it.  No problems since.

RyanStl

RRP said:

DrumMum said:

One thing I didn't see mentioned about cooking with CI, always use a SS or metal spatula.  Don't ever use a plastic cooking utensil.  I read somewhere long ago, about how the metal smooths out the pores of the CI.  

Hmmm, that’s funny as I always use plastic spatulas thinking that if I used metal their edge would somehow scrape off the “hard earned” coating! I can see the flip side value since cast iron is actually a soft metal as metals go, then the abrasiveness of a metal spatula will wear down the surface of a cast iron skillet. 

Besides having now become a believer in high temperature under my cast iron then metal spatulas it will be! Thanks!

Isn't one good thing about CI and even SS that you can use metal utensils and scrape all you want? Unlike pans with non-stick  coatings that will come off. I hate plastic spatulas.