I season cast-iron pans by making a batch of crepes. I brush the pan with melted butter before I pour each crepe, and, when I'm all finished, I have a stack of delicious crepes and a seasoned pan. I also wash my cast-iron pans with detergent and very hot water -- no problem. I don't cook anything with wine in cast-iron as it creates an unplesant chemical reaction.

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Rose, what do you use to clean the Lodge cast iron dutch oven? Thanks.

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Northlander, I am glad you posted that question. I want to buy the lodge cast iron grill pan but have been hesitating because I don't know how to clean it. The company says you can't use soap. I don't feel like a pan is clean unless I use soap. I don't have a dishwasher.

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OK. I admit it. I always put my cast iron skillets in the dishwasher because I hate washing greasy pans. I'm 62 years old and these frying pans were used by my mother when I was a kid. If I don't get them out of the dishwasher in the dry cycle they get a bit rusty so I scrub them out with whatever scratch pad I have handy. I smear a bit of vegetable oil on them with a paper towel and put them in a 200 degree oven, turn the oven off and put them away when they cool. Question is, will I get rust poisoning or something if I don't get all the rust off? When I was a kid we washed the frying pans by hand with the rest of the dishes and dried them with dish towels before putting them away. I remember my mom used to re-season them every year or two. Is there an easier way to take care of cast iron skillets that are washed in the dishwasher?

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pulled pork is greatly done in Hawaii. Google for Kalua Pork or Imu. My best is eating it in a sandwich.

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Rose, I am flattered you ask ME a question! I've been following your directions since I discovered the Bon Appetit with your first wedding cake while I was a college student in 1981. I believed you when you said I could make my own wedding cake so I did! It didn't matter that I'd never made a cake before in my life. I still use those Magic Line pans 26 years later. Even my teenage sons make the Oblivion Torte all by themselves because of your legacy in my life.

As a South Carolina girl who married and AF officer, I experimented until I could do pork of similar taste of my childhood favorite, Li'l Pigs BBQ on 291 By-pass in Greenville, SC (different owners now; go to Henry's on Wade Hampton instead).

I start with Boston butts. Bone-in is my favorite, but I can easily find boneless ones in a double vacuum pack at the warehouse clubs. Sometimes I give the meat a spice rub, sometimes not. Let the meat be at room temperature before grilling.

The grill on my back deck is shaped in a large oval. Build up the charcoal on one side, wait for white ash to coat the pieces, then add soaked hickory or mesquite chips. Slap the meat on the other side of the grill and close the lid. I usually cook two at a time. Adjust the air intake so the fire burns slowly. I probably rotate the butt a couple times in early part of the cooking. After two and a half to three and a half hours when the fire has lost most of its heat, I tranfer the meat to dutch ovens and place them in the kitchen oven set from 250-300 degrees. I will set the temperature higher if the meat doesn't look very done yet.

I arrange the time so the dutch ovens are in the oven about 9 or 10 o'clock at night. Before I go to bed, I put the temperature down if it was at 300 degrees and then leave it there until morning. If it doesn't shred easily, give it another hour or two. I shred the meat by hand when it has cooled enough to handle. If there is a blackened section, chop this finely and add to the meat, if you don't just eat this yourself. This ambrosia is now ready for your favorite sauce, but I favor the thin peppery vinegar-based ones. Serve on a bun with fresh cole slaw. Extra cooked meat freezes beautifully for BBQ anytime you want it.

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Hi Rose, I am a new blogger here. Thank you for all your hard and joyous work on the "Biblia Sucra"...I, like many here, look forward to your upcoming tome of tongue-dazzling tortes!

I inherited 2 old cast iron pots (Griswold and Wagner, both no 8) which my family had used for camping when we were kids. I use them for the Sullivan Street No-knead bread you write about here.

I use a very slight variation of the NYT and CI techniques to get the dough into the pot. The NYT technique is rather dangerous and the CI technique leaves the dough seam side down. To have the best of both worlds, when the dough is ready, I flip it into a parchment paper sling that has been placed in the original mixing bowl, now cleaned. Then I lift the parchment paper with the seam-side-up-dough out of the mixing bowl, and lay it into the hot pot. Helps form a lovely boule in the no. 8 dutch oven, and prevents burning the bottom as well.

I have a 50% success rate at non-sticking to the towels. I think I have isolated the reason but need a few more trials to be certain.

A typical loaf from my method:
http://danggoodcake.com/no-pain_pain.jpg

Again, thanks for your wonderful work!

~Mark

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Thanks to each of you for your great tips. I have been searching the thrift stores for a cast iron pot with lid like the one Rose has. Now that I've copied all your instructions to my kitchen tips file, I'll be ready when I find mine and know just how to take care of it, and what to cook in it! Your help is invaluable! Shalom.

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To season a cast iron skillet or pot, I make a big batch of crepes. I brush the bottom surface with melted butter before pouring each crepe. The result is a beautifully seasoned utensil and a whole lot of delicious crepes that I can either freeze with pieces of waxed paper between them or stuff and serve right then!

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To season a cast iron skillet or pot, I make a big batch of crepes. I brush the bottom surface with melted butter before pouring each crepe. The result is a beautifully seasoned utensil and a whole lot of delicious crepes that I can either freeze with pieces of waxed paper between them or stuff and serve right then!

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Thank you Hector, that was fast!

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very good question, i would just keep using it, it gets seasoned more as it gets used!

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Hi, I recently seasoned a new skillet but it was imperfect as there are wide scratches. In spite of it, I've used it thrice. Should I start from scratch and reseason again so the whole surface is coated? Thanks!

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I would just wash it in hot water, scrub only if it is soiled. Then stick it in the oven for 1 hour at 475oF. It will cook out the smell.

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Anonymous: About the only thing I know is to clean it well with soap, water, scour if necessary and reseason the pan.

Usually if the pot has just a mild rancid smell, it will clean out with just warm water.

For everyday cleaning, we use warm water and scrub the pot with a Black & Decker Power Scrubber, which is a battery powered, submersible, hand held power brush that you buy at WalMart (or??) for $9.99.

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Warren - is there anything that can be done if the pan has turned rancid? A relative tried to give me some rancid smelling cast iron pans once and I declined (that smell is unforgetable).

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To season a cast iron dutch oven or skillet, coat it lightly inside and out with vegetable oil and bake it in a 425-450 oven until it stops smoking. This usually take an hour or more. Let the pot cool off in the oven until at room temperature. Pick a warm day when you can have the windows open.

We cook both at home and in Dutch oven competitions and cook virtually anything in our dutch ovens. Just clean them without soap, lightly oil them and they are ready for use again. If the pot has been stored for an extended time, smell it before use to make sure it hasn't turned rancid.

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To protect the seasoning of my cast iron, I won't cook anything acidic in it, especially tomato based sauces.

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I use my wonderful cast iron for anything I want to cook. I've never had one wear out! Make spaghetti sauce in the Dutch oven? I just made the sauce more nutritious! Stir up "black skillet gravy" for the roasted poultry? It tastes like heaven.
But what about the seasoning, you cry? I simply oil the surface and start cooking again. The fried eggs are perfect when cooked in a bit of butter.
Maybe I have no worries about cast iron because mine are quite old and silky smooth inside, unlike new ones with a pebbly surface. If the cooking surface is bumpy,that skillet will never have the non-stick surface that one hopes the seasoning will provide.

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So, what I did is carry one pot as my 'personal item' and the second as my 'carry-on' ... the bread dough was the 'check-in' luggage.

Bake your life away!

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A few months ago, these almost turned rescue pots in the airport. I treasure these so much that I didn't send them as luggage, so I hand carried them. The gate agent told me that my carry on was too heavy, and I was turned away!

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Yes, that is why I stopped using seasoned pans for Thai curries--it would take off layers of the seasoning.

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I have this pan, and I find that the best thing to prevent rust is to NEVER use any type of detergent. Only hot water, and a scrub. If you want to remove odors (especially after frying fish), you can boil some water and salt. Baking soda rub works, too. Also, after 'washing' put the pot back on your stove or oven, and heat until completely dry.

Regarding seasoning a new pot, it takes several takes, until it takes. A brand new uncoated pot (raw iron, silver color), will not turn black after seasoning. The pots needs to be used repeatedly, to turn black, it starts with just a golden color after the first season, which is fine. If you keep seasoning it repeatedly, it will smoke, because the coats become thick (the oil burns turning into smoke).

In use my pots for only frying steaks, poultry, and bread baking. I prefer not to use for making stews, beans, or casseroles, although traditionally used for, because I don't like the long cooking that eventually flavors your food with iron, and helps 'uncoat' the seasoning. For this, I use my enamel coated pots. Just easy to manage and clean and maintain.

It is ok to use these (enamel or not) on a ceramic cook top. Always lift the pot, don't drag it on the cook top as it will scratch it.

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I have a ceramic cook top, is it okay to use non enamel cast iron on it?

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Rose, what a gorgeous pot, and what beautiful seasoning! I'm so glad that you rescued it.

I've been having trouble seasoning my 12' cast iron skillet, as the cure doesn't seem to be taking. We might wait till we get a grill (a charcoal one rather than gas, which seems to be the most popular choice here in Australia) to try to season it that way.

I recently seasoned my corn stick mould over the stove, and SERIOUSLY smoked up our apartment doing it - the mould was over high heat for at least half an hour, and the oil seemed to randomly bubble. It was well worth the smell, though, it is black, slick and utterly gorgeous!

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I have been reading about and shopping for new pans. Have come to the conclusion that cast iron is probably the best. I have 2 rusted ones and now am going to restore them. Thanks

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It's beautiful. Great information for how to rescue old cast iron. I see them sometimes in antique stores, but am usually discouraged if they're rusty. What a great find.

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I have this pot with a cast iron trivet. When my stepfather sold his mountain cabin, he asked me if I would use it. Would I! I cook in it every couple days. I recently saw one on ebay, asking price $20 plus $22 shipping. I roast a pork shoulder on the grill for a couple hours, then move it to this cast iron pot to continue cooking overnight in a really slow oven. The pork is almost as good as my favorite BBQ place in SC after I shred it and add the thin, vinegary sauce.

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Reminds me of a town we lived in that had an annual rubbish pick-up day for items that would normally be too large for regular pick-up. All the residents would lug their old bed frames, broken TVs, out-of-date furnishings, old computers, etc to the curb and then sit back and wait for the show.... caravans of city dwellers, rubbish dealers, and treasure seekers hauling make-shift flatbeds would pick over the goods and take nearly everthing in the process. This would go on for hours - it was quite a sight.

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Sweet! That's a great find. It amazes me what people will throw away, not even setting it aside from the trash it can be easily rescued.

Here in Denver we have alleys with dumpsters. If you have anything that might be still useful, you put it next to the dumpster and the scavengers will take it. (Including me. I've gotten a wine rack, an antique tilt-top table and kitchen chairs that way.)

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