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I vote for 1 dutch oven and I'd keep the enameled one. I have a number of cast iron pans and find it handy to have several of them. But, I mostly use all of them when I'm making pancakes (I like to run all 4 burners at once). I will tell you that while I LOVE my cast iron... I wouldn't make it my only pan. They are just too heavy and unwieldy for me. They also take a long time to heat up/cool down-which is great for some things and not so much for others.
Well, whatever I end up doing, it will be coming from Target.
I would exchange one cast iron skillet for a smaller one. I have an 8" one I use all the time. I need a 12" one because, well, I need it for stuff the other one is too small for. Until I had a cast iron skillet, I had no idea how much I would love it.Keep the enamelled dutch oven. I can't think of a single instance in the last 5 years where I wished we had more than one dutch oven. Regarding the seasoning: I would still oil the skillets before the first use... wash, dry, oil. And I'd use it almost exclusively to cook fatty foods for the first little while... which is an excellent excuse to have bacon.
I have a smaller skillet, it's just not cast iron. I don't use it much, though. Right now, I'm thinking I'll take back one skillet and the non-enamelled dutch oven and get store credit and then hang onto that until I decide if I want another skillet or what. And the instructions that came with the skillet did say to wash/dry/oil before first use, so I'd planned on that. And any excuse for bacon works for me!! I could also do chili baked potatoes - the ground beef is usually pretty fatty.
Awesome - so now I have one skillet, one dutch oven, and a good amount of store credit at target. Now to *use* them.
Wish us luck - we're making chili in the dutch oven tonight. And I did a little extra seasoning on the skillet today - it's purty.
You can't? That would suck. Made chili baked potatoes last night. The skillet worked beautifully!!
do you have a glass-topped stove? we had one in a rental I lived in a few years ago and I HATED that thing.
Really? I'm in the market for a new stove and I was thinking this would be a good thing. What do you hate about it?
Everything. It stays hot for hours after you use it so you cannot set stuff from the oven on it. It scratches really easily (ours is all scratched up from the previous owners). Mine takes forever to heat up and cool down if you turn a burner down. I pretty much hate electric stoves... they suck to cook on. It is easy to wipe down though as long as you have waited the hours for it to cool down first.
interesting. I have had no issues wtih my glass top stove for the 5.5 years we have lived here. it cleans easily and we are really lazy about cleaning it because we cook so much.
I'm glad you like the cast iron, debba! I learned to cook steaks on the stove when I was in France (the only method we had) and now we prefer them cooked in a cast iron skillet on the stove. We haven't put a steak on the grill in two years!
I had never heard of induction cooking before, but I did some googling, and now I'm fascinated.
So what is the method for cooking steaks in cast iron?
There must be butter involved. And then it's divine.
Try this.... http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pan-seared-rib-eye-recipe/index.htmlIncredible.
I set the meat out for about an hour before cooking so that it comes to room temperature. I brush the meat with olive oil and then season it with salt, pepper and whatever tickles you (I mostly prefer to just add garlic powder). Heat the pan for about 5 minutes before adding the meat, then sear the steaks in the pan. If the meat is about 1 inch thick, I cook it for 2-3 minutes per side and I get a wonderfully medium-rare but more on the rare side steak. I adjust cooking times for preferred doneness or thickness of the meat. It comes out great every time. I have hear of radial's method too, where you sear the meat and then pop it in the oven, but I haven't ever tried that. One thing we also learned in France is a preference for rarer cooked meat. I don't like mine bloody or raw on the inside. It has to be cooked but still pink almost to the edges.
When I ordered my steak rare in Paris, the waiter chuckled and asked, "American rare or French rare?" I went with French, and it was really rare. Exactly the way I like it. :yum:
Ummm, these recipes look great! I cook almost exclusively in my cast iron skilled (12") and love it. I have a smaller one but don't use it that often. For Christmas I got a cast-iron wok which is great. My DH ground the 12" down for me a bit and it's becoming as smooth as glass.
Same here. I don't even put it away, it just sits on the stove waiting for the next assignment.
This is one of my favorite things to make in a cast iron pan: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/good-eats/dutch-baby-recipe/index.html
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Topic: Dutch Oven/Cast Iron Skillet Questions (Read 24893 times)
