Cast Iron Skillets - Heads Up

Grandpas Grub

 
Leave the handles or cut them off they are great for egg'n.

For those that have access to Harbor Freight there is a sale on for 3 Cast Iron Frying Pans 6, 7.5 & 10 inch) $9.99. Not sure what freight would be if one would have to ship.

Harbor Freight Fry Pans

The sale price is in mailer issue #4681 and will be honored if mentioned.

Great for fajita's. steaks cooked caveman here but veggies and meat finished up in the CI Skillet. Great eats on the egg.



GG

Ricklesss

I frequent the local Harbor Freight; their are some deals to be had there, for sure..
The last thing I picked up there egg-related, was a propane fueled weed-burner, on sale, for something like $14.95.
HOWEVER, their cast iron skillet set...I checked them out, and gotta say...the mold they used must have been carved out of the sand on a Chinese beach somewhere...
Interior of pans felt approximately like 180 grit sandpaper... :blink:
I'm sure could be able to be power sanded to make smooth, however, with just a little effort.
Just my .02

Grandpas Grub

 
I looked at pans out here yesterday, they were not "silk smooth" but the inside surface was nice.

I sure wouldn't go to any effort trying to smooth out the surface - nor would I purchase if they were rough.

That was a great price for the weed burner.

GG

'Q Bruddah

On a Dutch oven site I frequent some will tell you that the rougher surface lends to better seasoning since it holds the oil better and when the valleys are filled in the season will last longer.

fishlessman

over time the repeated seasoning smooths them out, i dont think its a deal breaker. actually for some things like making a pie with crust, the little divots would hold a little extra grease

Grandpas Grub

fishlessman wrote:

actually for some things like making a pie with crust, the little divots would hold a little extra grease

Interesting, thanks. Just looked at my CI DO's and they are pretty smooth but a little rough on the outside. The Lodge 12qt isn't as smooth as I thought it would be.

Lately I have been using ceramic CI in the egg.

GG

Bacchus

My weed burner was $11.99 at HF about 2 years ago. it's not the auto light type though.

Boilermaker Ben

What is ceramic CI?

Big George's BBQ

That is a Great Price Thaks Food looks Great. I assume cave style steaks are just thrown onto the coals

Grandpas Grub

 
Cast Iron (heavy) with a ceramic coating. One can get aluminum ceramic and CI ceramic.

Cheap Walmart...



This is a Le Creuset



GG

Grandpas Grub

 
Yup, directly on the lump, as in the picture. It amazed me there was no ash taken into the meat - pretty darn tasty too.

GG

Boilermaker Ben

Eeeenteresting. Every time I've seen those pics, I just assumed they were enameled CI.

Grandpas Grub

 
mmmmmmmm, enameled, ceramic. I wonder.

Both pans look like the surface was some type of a firing process. Might just be the terminology I used.

These are just easier to clean after using in the egg.

GG

Boilermaker Ben

Wikipedia refers to it as "vitreous enamel". The "vitreous" descriptor implies some kind of similarity to the glazing commonly used on ceramics(pottery), I would think.

Grandpas Grub

 
Sounds like you are correct... Kent

Big George's BBQ

Thanks May have to try it. How long do you leave it on for

Grandpas Grub

 
Those steaks were pretty thin 3/4" or so. I put on the reddest part of the lump for 60 seconds then turned and found another red part of the lump and another 60 seconds. It came out medium rare.

I would go 60 to 90 seconds per side, the same as a close to the lump sear.

If I let the lump get more established I would have had a better looking sear.

I didn't notice any taste difference between caveman or searing with lump very close to the grid.

Leaving the cut longer on the lump will give a broader sear mark than what is seen in the pictures. Sometimes a piece (chunk) of lump will stick to the meat but that knocks right off and I haven't had any ash cling to the meat.

GG

Carolina Q

Kent, you don't have any problem with the lump sticking to the meat? I tried it once a few weeks ago, flank steak I think. and when I picked it up to flip, the bottom was covered with chunks of lump. When I finished the other side, IT was covered. Didn't take much to knock off the chunks of course, but I wondered if that was normal. AB doesn't have to do that!

Grandpas Grub

 
AB meaning Alton Brown? I think it was one of his episodes that I saw that but I can't remember what he was using for fuel, but it wasn't lump.

As I recall he had one piece, guessing charcoal, stuck to the meat and just knocked it off.

Kent

Carolina Q

Yes, Alton Brown - sorry. I had no problem getting rid of the stuck lump - was just surprised I had to.