Cast Iron Collection & Fire Cooking

[funkill]

Originally Posted by GCinSC2

funkill,

I see it ain't a cast iron thing, but I bet some of us would like a bit more detail on the setup and technique. Looks like a center support, sitting on tin foil, covered and radiant heating from adjacent coals, please fill in the rest and maybe consider a new thread with Turkey Techniques.

That looks real interesting and DIFFERENT!

You got it! Stainless rod in ground, several layers of foil placed so that it doesn't exceed the diameter of the drum, turkey placed on rod and all sealed inside the drum. 10lb charcoal briquette coals are piled around the perimeter of the drum and then two layers placed on top. Two hours later, the 12lb bird is done! I play around with different brines and usually marinate it 10-12 hrs in advance of cooking.

I got my 30 gal steel drum from an old hardware store and they cut it down for me. Last year I ordered two steel buckets that I like much better. In each, I set a fire inside to burn off any/all protective coatings. This is the website I started with to learn about Turkey-in-a-Bucket: Turkey Bucket - Home

Laura

[GCinSC2]

Laura,

I will be coming back to check our your details, I'm offically intrigued. But now I need to go start up my smoker, we're having friends over for dinner, smoked ribs and hopefully edible grilled corn. I say hopefully, not due to my skills, but to SC not having the same caliber sweet corn that we had in OH, we got other things, but the corn ain't the same, sorry.

Gary

[fr8tshaker]

Originally Posted by Jammer

I don't have any photos but I use cast iron cookware every day. I have a single piece of iron cookware in the traylah -- a very old Griswold frying pan with the tin plating on the outside -- and four frying pans of various sizes in my stick house. Three are newer ones from Lodge.

I also have an older Griswold dutch oven and a Lodge muffin pan and a biscuit pan.

The Lodge items, especially the muffin and biscuit pan, I have had to machine with a die grinder. Straight from Lodge they have too much texture from the casting process and stuff sticks. After some careful work with the die grinder, they perform much better.

Fry pans will eventually wear down without being machined from the action of cooking and cleaning utensils but the muffin and biscuit pans never will.

Jammer,

All of my cast iron ( some skillets and a round griddle) came from garage sales and second hand stores already well used and seasoned. I am sure that my griddle was purchased at a Goodwill Store. I feel they are the best pans I own.

My DD has been wanting some cast iron and I noticed that the new cast iron has a grainy texture on the cooking surface, even the highly touted Lodge Logic Preseasoned. This has made me reluctant to purchase any as I wonder if food will stick.

I looked on ebay and the prices for vintage cast iron is through the roof,at least to me since I paid a couple of dollars at most for my pieces.

You mentioned that you grind the surface of your newer pieces. For a mere mortal such as myself, would it be worth paying a little more (and still much less than ebay prices) for new "polished" pieces such as:

American Culinary

Would this give the smooth nonstick surface after seasoning the new piece that you get by machining it yourself?

Thanks in advance.

'shaker

[melbel]

Can anyone refer me to websites or threads on baking in the dutch oven? Outside? Recipes and Dutch oven brands would be great too. Thanks!

Melanie

[melbel]

Can anyone refer me to websites or threads on baking in the dutch oven? Outside? Recipes and Dutch oven brands would be great too. Thanks!

Melanie

[Jim & Susan]

If you are buying new cast iron, Lodge brand is the only way to go. Made in Tennessee. I've picked up a couple of really good frying pans at of all places, garage sales. Nicely seasoned after years of use.


Here's a good starter thread on the subject: http://www.airforums.com/forums/f484...ing-40090.html

Forum member James Rogers in that thread (and others) have links to Dutch oven cooking sites. James actually works for Lodge, I believe.

Jim

[GCinSC2]

Lodge Cast Iron Cookware - America's Original Cookware - South Pittsburg, TN USA
Lehmans.com

Melbel,

I have several cook books collected over the years. The Lodge website has a couple of reciepes and I bet Lehmans has several cookbooks. I'll look for my library and see if I can get a title or two for you.

I think one of the big issues is learning the proper heat, takes some practice and make some notes about the heat in particular if you are using briquets for baking. When cast iron gets to a good cooking temp, it often takes less heat to maintain the proper temp.

[GCinSC2]

Titles in my collection:
Dutch Oven Cooking, John G. Ragsdale, about 80 pages, looks to be available from B.S.A. item #33550
Let's cook Dutch, Robert L. Ririe, about 100 pages.
Roughing it Easy, Dian Thomas. This is a broad topic camping and cooking series with MANY topics covered.

Lodge Outlet stores I bet have some cookbooks. And I bet there is a Cowboy style Dutch Oven cook book somewhere.

The "Little Guy" is now about 6' and is in the SC Army National Guard and still cooks his own bacon, the 20" Lodge is doing its thing with pancakes. This was taken about 14-15 years ago.

I just saw an import 20" cast iron at AgriSupply here in SC, not bad for the $. 20 CAST IRON SKILLET - Agri Supply

[Lily&Me]

Check Stella's Kitchen Forum, several threads there that can help you get started.

Stella's Kitchen - Airstream Forums

Maggie

[davenpow]

Melbel,
all three of the sites below are a great source for recipes and information.
dutchoven maddness is a housewife and mom blogging about a year of dutch oven cooking, great info and fun to see her success and failures.
check them out.

papadutch.home.comcast.net/~papadutch/dutch-oven-recipes.htm
Dutch Oven Madness
Dutch Oven Recipes
Ted

[driftless]

I bought my first Dutch Oven at Cabella's three years ago on my way to camping with my two sons in the Rockies. I already had an old camp oven that I had cleaned and seasoned.
This summer I had to buy another Dutch Oven so I could make four racks of ribs at a time. I cook them in the DO then finish them with some "secret" sauce over the coals.

I've made chili in the camp oven several times and never had a problem with lots of tomato ingredients. Our favorite is chili with cornbread dumplings cooked right on top.

Cast Iron cooking is simply fun, relaxing and makes eating so enjoyable....

[rodsterinfl]

GC, bread in a Dutch Oven is just plain fun, and there is nothing that smells better outside than fresh bread a-bakin'.

Hmm, I want a recipe for bread! Can you PM me one?

[Mockinbrd]

I like this recipe from American Test Kitchen and have used it several times with an oven. Even my toaster oven.
-- you need lager, not beer. It has something to do with yeast, and the fermentation process making the lager
-- I mix up the dough at night and let it sit until the next day.
-- I use aluminum foil rather than parchment paper
-- key for me to make successful loaf, make sure DO is hot when I put the dough in, spritz dough with water, and make the 6" slit so the dough can expand


-- good luck and hope this helps you
Mockinbrd



Bread - Almost No Knead Bread


Ingredients:

3 Cups (15 oz ) Unbleached all-purpose flour
Plus additional for dusting work surface
¼ tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast
1½ tsp salt -- (I always use 1 teaspoon)
¾ c plus 2 Tbsp (7 oz ) water at room temperature
¼ c plus 2 Tbsp (3 oz ) mild flavored lager
1Tbsp distilled white vinegar

Directions

1. Whisk the flour, yeast, and salt together in a large bowl. Add the water, beer, vinegar. Using a rubber spatula fold the mixture, scrapping up the dry flour from the bottom of the bowl, until a shaggy ball forms. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.

2. Lay a 12 by 18 inch sheet of parchment paper inside a 10 inch skillet and spray with vegetable oil spray.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times. Shape the dough into a ball by pulling the edges into the middle. Transfer the dough, seam side down, to the parchment lined skillet and spray the surface of the dough with vegetable oil spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough has doubled in size and does NOT readily spring back when poked with a finger, about 2 hours.

3. About 30 minutes before baking, adjust an oven rack to the lowest position, place a 6 to 8 quart heavy bottomed dutch oven (with lid) on the rack, and heat the oven to 500° degrees.

4) lightly flour the top of the dough and using a razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch- long, ½ -inch- deep slit along the tip of the dough. Carefully, remove the pot from the oven and remove the lid.

>>> spritz loaf with water to increase humidity in pot

Pick up the dough by lifting the parchment paper overhang and lower into the hot pot ( let excess paper hang over the pot's edge). Cover the pot and place in the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 425° and bake, covered for 30 minutes.

Remove the lid and continue to bake until the loaf is deep brown and

An instant read thermometer inserted into the center registers 210°
About 20 to 30 minutes longer.

Transfer loaf to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours, before serving.


Source: American Test Kitchen

[Lily&Me]

Great-looking recipe, Mockinbird! I'm going to have to try that one. There are some good technique tips in there, too. This is a similar process to the one we are using.

Alumalina 2014 is about 5 weeks away. We are still tweaking the charcoal, outdoor baking process of our bread recipes, and so I am loathe to share just yet, rodsterinfl.

If you watch that thread, the recipes and initial prep instructions will appear a week or so before the rally, the remainder of instructions as we get ready to bake, and then a pdf. document afterward with everything. It is so easy, anyone will be able to do it.

In the meantime....you can practice bake a commercially frozen loaf, per their instructions, or biscuits, cinnamon rolls, etc.

If you look at the Alumalina 2014 thread, Gary recently posted for me a pdf. document with some basic info in it, including a temperature baking chart from Lodge. Give it a whirl, bake anything you feel like eating!

Gary makes a really good point about the type of DO to buy. If you don't intend to bake, why have legs and a recessed lid? We went to a DO for traveling because we have no oven.

Happy baking!

Maggie

[andreasduess]

I bake a lot of bread at home and am looking forward to doing the same when camping this summer.

Dutch ovens are perfect for baking, because they replicate the humid environment found in professional ovens. All bread ovens are steam injected, which allows the crust to expand without cracking. Because a DO is sealed, the moisture from the dough does that job.

The trick is to get the oven really, really hot, 500ºF. Drop in the dough, slit the top once or twice (at an angle and go deep), then cover and bake.

[Lily&Me]

Exactly, Andy.

Although this is a DO et al thread, I would love to have one of those terra cotta bread ovens for home.

Don't know where I would store it, but I would love to have one.

The truth is, you don't have to pay $4 for a good loaf of bread at the bakery....you can make anything you like, yourself, with the simplest of implements. And, you not only know exactly what's in it but can pump up the nutrititive value as you like.

To be able to do this while camping is just a huge plus.


Maggie

[Lily&Me]

I collect cast iron, and am a very easy touch when it comes to something unique.

Found these trivets in a great antique shop housed in an old school yesterday. Had to have them.

Will use the small one as a coaster for my coffee/tea mug, on the small table next to my favorite chair.


Maggie

[GCinSC2]

Maggie,

Hard to pass those up. I got a new Lodge trivet need to try it. Also got a new to me griddle, 27" across. Hope we use it this fall and make some pancakes.

But hey, looking forward to some DO bread skills and tastings at Alumalina.

Gary

[Lily&Me]

That would be fun, Gary.

We carry a griddle, as well, for fire pit grates, so that would be two.


Maggie

[Gene]

It has always between a difficult decision whether to bring cast iron cookware or my anvil collection. And I love a cast iron cook stove for travel, though the wood gets a bit heavy. Keeps the trailer warm and we don't have to listen to that loud furnace or buy propane. Unfortunately, we'd have to cut the weight down by bringing neither clothes nor food and maybe sleep on the floor after removing the bed. With no clothes or food, we could remove the cabinets and fridge.

We do bring no more than 2 cast iron items, leave the anvils and cook stove at home. But cooking on cast iron on a gas stove is the best way to cook.

Gene