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I don't know how aggressive you really need to be with the pan, I mean, you should be able to clean it just fine with a green scrubber... I have never had any issues getting it clean with just a green scrubber.
+1 on a permanent scrubber for the cast irons. I usually scrub my pans with olive oil and and then wipe off the excess.
You all know the tip for cooking the best crisp bacon? Start the bacon on a cold pan/griddle. Presto! Funny after all these years I still learn new simple things.
The first time I burnt the bacon a litte. It cooked so much faster in the cast iron compared to what I was used to in a regular pan.
I also need to get a larger cast iron pan it seems. My largest is a 10in pan and it sucks for bacon as I can barely fit 5 strips in the pan which is just not enough bacon.
The seccond go around it came out great. Not too crispy but not too soft. Do you drain some grease while cooking or just keep it all in the pan while cooking?
I am however having trouble cleaning it after use. There is some brown stuff left in the pan. Is it bad to leave that or should do I need to clean it up better? One other question is do I oil it once I am done cooking with it or did it get oil from me cooking in it?
I don't drain it but it's up to you. I do between batches but not in the same set.
Some brown stuff is ok but it should be pretty clean. The chain scrubber will fix all of those problems.
Originally Posted by CCColtsicehockey
Good idea. Right now all I have is a plastic scraper. Going to get one of those metal chain pieces Sam suggested too.
When I am done washing them I have been paper towel drying them and then putting them on the stove for about 5min over medium heat to fully dry it.
Made some spicey garlic shrimp last night in the pan. Was so good I wish I had more shrimp. Between 2 of us we went through 2lbs of shrimp.
Maybe I should start a cast iron thread so we don't keep taking up the grill thread.
No need to paper dry, just dump the excess out and use heat for the rest. Always oil after every cook. Once you have it on the stove and it's completely dry, give it a thin coat over the whole pan to add to the seasoning.
Originally Posted by stogie1020
Do Eeeeett!
I don't know how aggressive you really need to be with the pan, I mean, you should be able to clean it just fine with a green scrubber... I have never had any issues getting it clean with just a green scrubber.
Originally Posted by maharajamd
+1 on a permanent scrubber for the cast irons. I usually scrub my pans with olive oil and and then wipe off the excess.
You all know the tip for cooking the best crisp bacon? Start the bacon on a cold pan/griddle. Presto! Funny after all these years I still learn new simple things.
Don't use a green scrubber on a cast iron! It'll abrade the coating. Use a chainmail scrubber or a plastic one to scrub. Neither will destroy the coating. The chainmail scrubber is easily one of the best things for cast iron, I HIGHLY recommend it. Also never use olive oil, smoke point is too low and your food will taste burnt.
I ALWAYS clean and finish with a extra light olive oil before storing. Not cook with.
However, I think you'd be surprised how small the smoke point temperatures are between oils. Not all oils are created or refined equally.
This is not rocket science. Lol.
Also I use a nylon scrubber for my cast irons and pizza stones.
Nylon is probably fine, it's much softer than steel.
Olive oil coating will smoke before you get to a sear temp. You want the highest smoke point oil (flaxseed to be specific) for the coating and can use less for cooking.
The smoke points for various types of oil vary quite a lot...not sure what you're talking about.
- You don't really use flaxseed oil because of it's smoke point. You also don't continue to use flaxseed every time. You don't cook with it. It's something you do once...like breaking in brake pads. Because there is a process there you won't do every time you use the pan.
- Nylon is fine...it was literally made for this purpose.
- Cleaning oil != cooking oil
- HUGE range in oil smoke points. There can be a HUGE range in olive oils alone. Thus my comment.
- You don't really use flaxseed oil because of it's smoke point. You also don't continue to use flaxseed every time. You don't cook with it. It's something you do once...like breaking in brake pads. Because there is a process there you won't do every time you use the pan.
- Nylon is fine...it was literally made for this purpose.
- Cleaning oil != cooking oil
- HUGE range in oil smoke points. There can be a HUGE range in olive oils alone. Thus my comment.
Correct, not every time you use it or after every use, just for initial seasoning and not during cooking.
Yes you do because the higher the smoke point, the harder it is to get it off during normal cooking.
Nylon was made for other purposes but I know what you're trying to say.
There's a huge range in olive oil depending on how it's processed but the general EVOO that people use has a pretty low smoke point.
Nylon is probably fine, it's much softer than steel.
Olive oil coating will smoke before you get to a sear temp. You want the highest smoke point oil (flaxseed to be specific) for the coating and can use less for cooking.
The smoke points for various types of oil vary quite a lot...not sure what you're talking about.
Damn I should have gotten flaxseed then. It was right next to the Safflower oil I got and for the same price.
Memorial day cookout at a friends house, they have a high-end custom egg charcoal grill. Excellent for temperature control, from smoking to high end grilling
I have a tiny charcoal grill. mainly just for kabobs/shashlik, but I had a tough time getting the briquettes to light. I didn't want to use lighter fluid because I think it makes the food taste weird, but I didn't need one of the full size chimney starters from Weber that are about $15. Also, I kind of wanted to make one myself... Seemed pretty easy.
I started with a large 105oz can. I used hominy because it was the cheapest product I could fin in the store in that sized can.
I stripped the label, tossed the hominy in the disposal, and discarded both lids.
Then I took some mesh rabbit-fence I had in the garage and cut a square slightly larger than the opening of the can. I cut this square halfway down the center and folded into a slight cone and secured it to itself with the left over wire sections. I trimmed the outer edges of the cone a bit and then forced it into the can about 3/4 of the way down. It sticks into the grooves in the can and stays put nicely. Knowing I would need to tip the can over to dump out the coals, I dremmeled two slots into the can and then used a folded over section of the wire fencing to make a handle.
All I will probably need to do (need to see how it burns) is make a few vent in the lower edge to let some air inside... I have a few starter cubes, so maybe I wont need too much air, but we will see. I can always just put it on top of a few stones or briquettes to let air underneath it.
Inaugural run is this evening for some lamb skewers...
Last edited by stogie1020; Jul 17, 2016 at 07:57 PM.
Looks good! Drilling some 3/4 inch holes towards the bottom will only make it work better bringing more air to the briquettes.
Don`t like lighter fluid either. If you don`t have a charcoal starter, crumple up some newspaper and put it under the bottom grate and then but the briquettes on top. It` hit or miss (not enough room or air).
