Cooking with Cast Iron

[3timesoccermom]

We have a cookbooklet here somewhere with recipes but I don't know where it is.

From what I've read you can cook anything in it except acidic foods.

I googled "recipes for using cast iron" and bunches of stuff came up.

[gem7]

Can you get rust off of a cast iron skillet by puting it in a fire? And if so, do you then start the seasoning process over again? Thanks for the info!

[Thrifty Bee]

Some people love them and some don't. I've tried them and they're just not for me. I've had people tell me I had problems because I tried to use vegetable shortening to keep them seasoned with instead of lard. My family doesn't eat pork so I don't use lard for anything.

I've seen them with actual non-stick coating and enamel coating and wondered how well they work.

[Smee]

Can you get rust off of a cast iron skillet by puting it in a fire? And if so, do you then start the seasoning process over again? Thanks for the info!

When I was growing up, burning off was how we did it. I don't know how necessary it is, though. I mean, I think for minor rust, I could just scour it out and reseason it. I know burning it off in a fire is or was common, though.

I don't routinely use lard to season my stuff. I did it as a last ditch effort for the piece of junk Paula Deen dutch oven I have, but even then it wouldn't take a season. I use whatever I have for my Lodge whether it's Crisco or even olive oil, though I mostly use olive oil for maintenance oiling than initial seasoning. Again, it seems to me that seasoning is a process, not a one time thing. The more you use cast iron and keep it oiled between uses, the better it gets. I believe based on my PD experience that some cast iron is just crap, though.

[tammyinwv]

I have a question. After washing and drying mine, I will dry it on my stove, then I go ahead and rub cooking oil on it. For some reason, this towel that I rub it on with always comes away BLACK. Like wiping away soot. I can keep doing this and it is still black. Am I doing something wrong? I usually wash with hot soapy water and then dry on the stove and oil after each use.
Tammy

Thanks to all of you and a search to find the best way to season my pans,I just made my first perfect fried egg in my cast iron skillet this morning.My skillets are inexpensive ones i bought probably 25 yrs ago. I liked making brown gravy in them, but thats about it.I kept having a problem with wiping away loads of black soot after washing and drying on the stove. But I followed instructions from a website that had me heat the pans on the stove and keep rubbing with shortening and a paper towel, then cool and reheat and rub some more. This worked great! No more worrying about flaking coatings on teflon pans. Even my ones that were guaranteed for life didnt last over 5 yrs.
Tammy