Dutch Oven/Cast Iron Skillet Questions

[merigayle]

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.

really? ours heats up fast, boil water in minutes. it does stay hot for 10-15 minutes after use and ours is so easy to clean. electric is our only option here unless we wanted propane installed.

[diablita]

I agree with everything MM wrote.  And if g-d forbid I let milk spill over on it b/c the thing held heat for so long, by the time it cooled enough to clean the mess off it was horrid to clean.

I love my stove now: it's gas.

[Run Amok]

Another glass top hater. You absolutely MUST clean it after every use- or it gets disgusting and is much more difficult to clean than other stoves.

The burners are all really different as well. I have one that will boil water on 2 and one that barely simmers set to high. It's maddening. Would never buy one on purpose.

[merigayle]

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.

[Magic Microbe]

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.

Any bit if food on mine creates so much smoke but you can't clean it off because it is too hot. So I have to be super careful about spills.

[omega lambda]

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!

Thanks for the dutch baby recipe, RA!  I love them, but have never made my own.  A pancake house near us has them and I almost always order that when we go.

As for glass topped stoves - I would hate it if it were electric but the one I had in Paris was induction and it was really nice.  Induction is similar to gas in the way you can control it.  Electric is just too slow to respond, both ways.

[OldBaldHippie]

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!

So what is the method for cooking steaks in cast iron?

[caribougrrl]

I had never heard of induction cooking before, but I did some googling, and now I'm fascinated.

[merigayle]

I had never heard of induction cooking before, but I did some googling, and now I'm fascinated.

looks awesome, huh? 

[radial]

So what is the method for cooking steaks in cast iron?

I don't know what other people do.  I sear the steak on both sides in the cast iron pan and then put the whole thing in the oven to get the insides to a proper state of rare but done.  Not quite as good as careful grilling, but close. 

[The Turtle Whisperer]

So what is the method for cooking steaks in cast iron?

Try this....  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pan-seared-rib-eye-recipe/index.html

Incredible. 

[cgraz]

So what is the method for cooking steaks in cast iron?

There must be butter involved. And then it's divine.

[The Turtle Whisperer]

There must be butter involved. And then it's divine.

A lot of people using the one I posted deglaze the pan with butter and redwine... has to be good, but butter won't work at the start... it isn't going to hold up at 500 degrees. 

[omega lambda]

So what is the method for cooking steaks in cast iron?

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.

[omega lambda]

There must be butter involved. And then it's divine.

Yes!  Adding butter makes it fabulous but also a lot more calorific!  We don't use butter often, but occasionally I'll add butter.  If you used slightly crushed peppercorns, it is also REALLY good!

[omega lambda]

Try this....  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/pan-seared-rib-eye-recipe/index.html

Incredible. 

I'm going to try this!  It is very similar to my method but adds the oven part.

[omega lambda]

I had never heard of induction cooking before, but I did some googling, and now I'm fascinated.

I really liked it - the stove stays cool except where the pan is, the response time is immediate like gas, but you can have a glass cooktop.  It was wonderfully easy to keep clean and cook on.  If I were replacing a cooktop now, I would seriously consider it over gas.  My SoCal house doesn't need a new cooktop, but my mountain home wouldn't hurt from having a new one.  The problem is we lose power a lot here, and having gas means we can still cook.  So I'm really torn about a replacement cooktop for here.

[radial]

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:

[omega lambda]

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:

Yeah, we got that a lot.  Bleu (cooked 1 min ea side) and saignant (cooked a little bit more than bleu) are a little too rare for me, so we always ordered a point.  They would ask, "French a point, or American a point?"  French is perfect, American is well done, even though the definition of a point is only a little more cooked than saignant. 

[debbatx]

We're making beef and Guinness stew in the dutch oven tonight - smell delicious and appears to be cooking beautifully. Yay!

I'm definitely going to have to try steaks in the skillet at some point.