cast iron – Page 3 – Cast Iron Guy

2021-12-072021-12-07 episode 260

Legacy

I’ve never grown older before, so forgive me if you have and I’m just being obvious.

The older I get the more I think about the balance between the entropic impermanence of all things and the human urge to continue creating and planning and hoping in the face of that impermanence.

I think it is all twisted up in this idea of legacy.

What excited you most in 2021?

I thought about legacy a lot this past year, and when I paused to reflect on what gave me back some of that hope and excitement during the past twelve (give or take) months, this idea of legacy kept popping into my head.

I’ve had no shortage of unplanned opportunities since starting a blog called “the cast iron guy” to explain my connection to that particular style of cookware, particularly since I can’t fallback to a simpler explanation such as “I sell it” (which I don’t) or “I collect it” (which my wife may argue is where I’m trending but my collection is not worth writing home about) or “I’m an expert in it” (which would be a stretch to sincerely claim.)

As I’ve often alluded to, occasionally openly written about, this whole “cast iron guy” idea strays into a universe where I adore all things ferrous, but is actually more of a clue to an overarching philosophy of lifestyle that I’ve been trying to embrace more fulsomely: uncomplicated things, life lived, and a mindset that reflects the philosophical practicality of well-seasoned cast iron frying pan, enduring, simple, down-to-earth & extremely useful, as I write in my snippet.

It’s also deeply entrenched with the idea of legacy.

Instilling in my daughter a legacy tied to objects like cookware and sourdough starters.

Building a legacy of lifestyle through travel, exploration and curiosity.

Maintaining a legacy of worldliness and environmental stewardship.

Leaving behind a legacy of ideology and an approach to the universe.

I think as we get older we may not all panic about the dwindling time we have left, but in some small way many of us start putting more effort into shaping what will remain behind when that time dwindles to nothing.

Maybe it’s imprecise to say I got excited about legacy this past year. Though it is clear that I thought and wrote and waxed poetic quite a lot about this idea of legacy, even if those thoughts were not strictly labelled as such.

Thirty one topics. Thirty one posts. Not exactly a list… but close. In December I like to look back on the year that was. My daily posts in December-ish are themed-ish and may contain spoilers set against the backdrop of some year-end-ish personal exposition.

2021-11-302021-11-30 episode 253

Simple Pan Basics

I continue to look for interestingly complex recipes to cook and share on this blog (though I’ll admit this is neither a major theme nor the sole purpose of this site to share recipes) and occasionally I’ll post one.

But then other times I like to retreat to something more simple and remind my readers of two things:

First, that this is not a space only about cast iron cooking, and that “cast iron guy” is more of a mindset and philosophy for living than an advice column on frying pans, and;

Second, that I do love cooking with cast iron and sometimes that is something super simple and super basic and results in a clean, delicious meal.

Like frying up a pork chop.

Aside from writing an epic piece on supply chains and the impact of climate-change induced once-in-two-hundred-year floods in the Vancouver area where much of our food comes from, and how the washout of multiple highways has created a low level panic here for the security of our food supply and… deep breath.

Let’s just say we bought a big hunk of pork last week and neatly packed it up in our deep freezer for some peace of mind.

There are a hundred great ways to cook a pork chop, of course, but a simple and basic fry up in a cast iron skillet is near the top of my list.

I seasoned with some pepper, salt and a bit of spice, and tossed them thawed into the smoking hot cast iron ten inch pan with a bit of oil. A few minutes per side, and a finishing fry to enhance the colour and we were served with a beautifully tender and moist cut of meat.

It’s winter outside so the barbecue is pretty much packed away for all but the warmest of winter occasions, but the cast iron does a darn comparable job.

And there is no complex recipe to follow.

Just heat, meat and eat.

2021-11-132021-11-13 episode 242

Strip this Pan, Part Four

In short, and to conclude this short series of posts, the effort to strip and re-season the twenty-inch reversible grill was a modest success.

In the end, it was a combination of elbow grease and chemical oven cleaner that seemed to net me the best result of the multiple methods I tried.

I found that using a wire brush to score the surface of the old seasoning then applying a liberal dose of chemical cleaner overnight allowed the bare pan to be the most easily exposed.

Four cycles of re-seasoning later in the oven and I tried grilling up a batch of chocolate chip pancakes this morning. That was definitely a success.

As far as cost goes… alas between buying scouring pads, a wire brush set for my drill, and a can of oven cleaner, I probably spent close to thirty bucks to achieve what I did here. A cycle of the self-cleaning oven is not free either, but it wouldn’t have been thirty bucks.

In then end and all that said though, having tried all these alternative methods to remove the old seasoning, I think I might just go back to the self-cleaning oven method next time. Simple. Effective. And not so nearly smelly, painful, or expensive.

2021-11-122021-11-12 episode 241

La Cocotte est Neuve

I’m not sure how the rest of the world fares, but in Canada we have this side effect of those nearby American holidays wherein (despite celebrating local Thanksgiving a month ago … the right way!) we still get this post-Thanksgiving (American version) event called Black Friday falling out of their long weekend.

I’ve lately not been much of one to line up at a retail store and go crazy for deals, but I neither do I snub my nose at wandering the virtual aisles looking for discounts on things I’ve already got on my wish list and have been thinking about buying anyhow.

Such as, for example, new cast iron.

Last week a Canadian retailer had an early (like, really early) Black Friday half price deals on Staub cast iron pieces. Staub is one of those higher end cast iron brands that can run into the hundreds of dollars. It’s not unusual to see them listed for four or five times the price of an analogous Lodge brand piece.

So, for example, where you may pay sixty Canadian bucks for a Lodge frying pan, a Staub frying pan of similar size would set you back three hundred bucks at their suggested retail cost.

The price difference comes from finish.

At the end of your cooking day, any good inexpensive cast iron pan that is well seasoned, well loved and well practiced can make the same quality of food as its high end equivalent. After all, the art that comes from a paint brush has more to do with the artist than it does from the brand of brush she used.

But Staub being an imported brand with a strong reputation for quality and the distinction of being in that class that wears a refined enamel coat to the party, a coat that protects the iron and eases cleanup (not to mention looks sharp in blog post photo!) raises it into a higher class of product and, usually, a higher price bracket.

That said, you can often get a nice enameled piece on sale, and this being my second Staub I’ll note that we’ve paid full retail price on neither.

I’ve been combing the online stores for a smaller Dutch Oven for the better part of a year. My seven quart Lodge is a beast, a sourdough workhorse, and I love it, but it is a little too big for stews, soups, or roasting meals that are appropriately sized for a three-person household.

The new Dutch Oven (which arrived by courier just before dinner time last night) or what Staub calls a cocotte (because, I assume, the French are not going to call a fine piece of cookware by the name of their European neighbours) is roughly half the size of my old one. The four quart (or three point eight litre) is a perfect size for all kinds of future meal plans, and I’m sure it will find a quick and happy home in my kitchen and recipe repertoire, and some feature space on this blog in the near future.

Plus the bright cherry red colour will bring a smile to my face every time I put it to the flame.

It may still be a week or so until the actual Black Friday deals begin, but I’m happy to report that my money is happily spent and as a result I’ll be roasting up something delicious and avoiding any further shopping.