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my long lost love

stike
stike Posts: 15,597
edited November -0001 in EggHead Forum
elksteakcastiron.jpg
<p />rescued my cast iron pans from the basement after too many years banishment in favor of "non-stick" pans.[p]after maybe 10 years without seeing the light of day, i didn't need to season it any more than with a wipe with olive oil.[p]have done a few cooks with it. two nights ago it was ny strip steaks at about 700. i toss the pan in after lighting so it comes up to temp, then throw the steaks on with nothing more than some kosher salt. mr. maillard would have been proud. the near-full contact of the steaks gave a tremendous browned thin crust. there was, again, no oil in the pan other than what didn't rub off from the previous cook. still, i flipped at i think 2'30", and there was no sticking what so ever. another two-and-a-half minutes and i yanked them. they' been hot tubbed, and were already 90 or so internal when they went on. nice to get the full crust plus the bonus of a tinge of woodsmoke.[p]i didn't take any pics... these pics are from a december lunchtime reheat of some leftovers we had for dinner the night before. i had one bone left from a rack of elk, which i'd ordered (at a restaurant) rare. that still allowed me a nice sear on the reheat with still rare in the middle (it went on cold from the fridge). there was a great polenta, too, which i reheated in the pan as well, at the same time. it was a millionth of a second short of being too seared. got lucky. garlic mashed and some veggies got the microwave treament (sorry folks!).[p] anyway, as we all know, i'm an idiot. and even i can use this thing without sticking. an interesting note, you can't/shouldn't heat non-stick pans to this temp (indoors), since they give off toxic gas at 500 or so. so i couldn't have done this in a non-stick anyway.[p]whew. long post. but i've been meaning to pen a paean to my pan for a while. [p]elkstealplated.jpg
oh, and i did the steaks on the small, with the handle sticking out. i put it in after the fire was at nuke temps, so the draft never was really affected. maybe a half inch gap, max.[p]anyway... the cast-iron is back on my go-to team.
ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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Comments

  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,455
    stike,
    Looks good - and always great to hook back up with an old proven friend.
    BTW nice looking Rutland gasket there. I wish I had my Rutland back that I foolishly stripped off after 5 years of use. And here I am ol' Mr Rutland himself with no source after selling 155 Rutland kits to folks!
    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    RRP,
    i have a giant fiberglass filled tumor in my neck, but other than that, the rutland has proved wonderful. the felt on my small has given me no trouble though, other than freezing shut in these arctic temps. ...my rutland doesn't freeze, though.[p]that pan is OLD. gotta be my grandmother's mom's. i flipped it over and did an eBay search on the name just to make sure the antiques roadshow folks wouldn't string me up for doing so, and found about 50 for sale on eBay at maybe $5 max.[p]...which means i'm gonna get me a size bigger, and maybe another this size. have a pair of 6" ones also. maybe good for individual servings of something or other[p]gonna do corn muffins on the egg in the corn-cob-shaped pan i have too. should taste great with the smoke.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • ronbeaux
    ronbeaux Posts: 988
    stike,
    I think this came up along time ago. I still got some of the old stuff from my grandma( I must be older than you cause mine go for $6)
    No matter how you treat them you can still start over by re-seasoning them!!
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  • ronbeaux
    ronbeaux Posts: 988
    ronbeaux,
    Oh yeah. remember this? high maintenance, but a steak searing machine in the small!!!

    Picture.jpg[p]

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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,455
    stike,
    all kidding aside that tumor isn't from fiberglass but instead the asbetoes in your kitchen stove and walls and furnace, but who wants to worry about all those OBVIOUS sources when we can blame a gasket on the BGE that will last for years!
    Now the real reason I am posting...your ancient pans are great and you love them - but iffin you want a sure fire cast iron item for the BGE try buying a Lodge unit like this:
    IMG_0189.jpg[p]
    and then cut the handle off to give you this:
    IMG_0190.jpg[p]

    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
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  • Newbs
    Newbs Posts: 188
    Hi Stike,[p]Nice post. I'm going to try that cast iron pan deal.
    I've been wanting to get one for a while. My mom has
    a heavy pan that she uses for steak au poivre and I've
    been admiring it for a long time. Gonna get one of
    me own. I read a post about a year ago about seasoning
    them. I'll dig that up and get crackin'. Thanks for
    the inspiration.[p]On a second note, that rutland gasket looks good n sturdy.
    Gonna do that job in the spring once this Canadian deep freeze has relaxed its grip.[p]Cheers,[p]John
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Newbs,
    last night the wife remarked that we "need" to do steak au poivre, too. great minds think alike.[p]don't obsess about "seasoning". i had it in my mind that i'd dig these out of the basement for a while, the biggest delay was my "not looking forward to messing around seasoning them again". in fact, maybe 6 months ago asked what was involved. easiest way? wipe with oil and get cooking. no sense putting it in the oven and all. it doesn't 'absorb' into the iron. just gets wicked into the surface irregularities.[p]wipe it, let it sit for a while, wipe excess with a paper towel, and hit the egg.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • Flashback Bob
    Flashback Bob Posts: 519
    stike,
    I just checked CI Skillets on ebay and found they were in the $30+ range (+ $8-$12 shipping) with 2 hrs+ to go.[p]what do they cost new?
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Flashback Bob,
    never checked shipping cuz i figured it'd be cheaper to buy new.[p]you'll spend them same i think retail.[p]when i was a kid, my dad and i'd go to car shows, flea markets once or twice a month. don't know of any regularly occuring ones around here. that'd be the place to score a nice heavy straight-walled monster pan.[p]but hell, your eggs and steak won't tell much of a difference (if any!) if you just hit Kitchens Etc. at the mall.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • duckegg
    duckegg Posts: 267
    stike,
    I did steak au poivre in cast iron for the Superbowl, very tasty. Pic & process under his weeks woosdays.
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    duckegg,
    i love steak au poivre.[p]ruined a really nice bottle of wine with it once. couldn't taste it for the pepper![p]the pan sear on the papper really mellows it out.
    great stuff.[p]damn, man, nice post to. from the woosday pics. i think we'll be doing it tonight! it is wednesday, after all. no time like the present
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • duckegg
    duckegg Posts: 267
    stike,
    It is a fun cook. I used to do it almost weekly on my old Weber kettle, this was the first time on the Egg. I was using fresh lump and a very hot fire. Flashbacks galore, scared the dog off the deck.[p]The hotter fire the better for Steak au poivre!
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  • Unknown
    Unknown
    stike,
    I love my cast iron also, the stuff made pre world war one is usually a lot nicer to cook with, on the stove at least. They used to machine the surfaces of the pans, now there all rough. If you are going nuke temps with it lodge would work fine. It can be found at walmart or even a lot of hardware stores. My favorite source for seasoning and care is to google the "pan man". It is great just to through a light coating of oil on the pan and put it in the egg after you are done cooking. Never use soap on you pan.
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Pdub,
    you know, i just figured instead of paying 30 bucks for an eBay vintage pan, i'd buy a new one.[p]then, one seller mentioned the ground flat interior (on an old pan), and then you did. i now recall that all mine have that smooth interior and look like they were ground that way after casting (small concentric circular tell-tale marks).[p]now that you mention it, i think i better get the older ones. i can't imagine how a (new) rough interior is helpful if you are trying to make a non-stick seasoned pan. half the pans too have those gawdawful ridges in the bottom.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • Unknown
    Unknown
    stike,
    From the reading I have done the steal is different also. I personally like griswolds but there is a lot of good iron out there. I would be concerned with warping iron at nuke temp, in that case I would most not use my nicer pans and throw the lodge stuff in the egg. I started using lodge and I tried hard to season it and did not have much luck getting good results. I suggest when you are done using a cast iron piece heat it up and put a light coat of oil on it.
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    Pdub,
    yep
    the pan man set me straight about warping at high temps.
    woulda thought that?[p]mine's an old wagner...
    got a couple sizes around here. my folks have the rest at their place.[p]
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • DannyV
    DannyV Posts: 54
    ronbeaux,[p] How do u use that contraption in the small? What are the welded on hooks for?
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  • ronbeaux
    ronbeaux Posts: 988
    DannyV,
    The ears sit in the groves on the fire ring and the hooks as you call them allow you to place the grid on top.[p]Like this;

    eggpictures035.jpg[p]
    eggpictures033.jpg[p]

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  • DannyV
    DannyV Posts: 54
    ronbeaux, Thanks! I was trying to figure out what you were hanging it from! LOL[p]

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