615264 Mon Apr 27 06:19:06 -0700 2009 31 41 Cookware 0 4631754 Hey all I am buying my mom a cast iron skillet for Mother's Day and wanted to know who makes the best for aorund $50 max. I see Emeril and Paula Deen both have cast iron skillets... are these any good? Food network.com is seeling Paula's for 50- $20 mail in rebate so basically $30 and it is pre seasoned. Emeril's is also around $30.. so price is same what about quality? Or should I go with something else instead. Mon Apr 27 06:19:07 -0700 2009 76968 steakrules85 1 4631808 A lot of people swear by Lodge. I have my grandmother's which are Griswold, and they seem to be holding up just fine (and apparently are collectibles - who knew?). Mon Apr 27 06:52:58 -0700 2009 4631754 10117 leek 2 4632084 I bought a 10" and 12" skillet at Sears back in the mid eighties when I ws in college. They were VERY cheap. They say simply "Classic" on the bottom. They are now well seasoned and work wonderfully. The 10" has a semi-permanent home on my cooktop. It's what I always use to make grilled cheese sandwiches, among other things. You don't need to spend alot of money on a cast iron pan. The technology is very basic. Just make sure that the pans are THICK. I've seen quite a few very thin cast iron pans and they don't hold heat as well. Lodge is a good brand but realistically they are the All Clad of the cast iron world. A 12" Lodge cast iron skillet runs about $30 at Amazon. The Bayou Classic skillet in the same size is about $13 at Amazon. In fact, you can get a set of three Bayou Classic skillets for about $40 there. Don't let the 'pre-seasoned' BS fool you. You still need to season the Lodge cookware or cook with it for quite awhile before it gets the nice smooth patina of a well seasoned pan. My Lodge 'pre-seasoned' cook top griddle was simply coated in oil. Everything still sticks to it. That's not 'seasoned'. My 10" skillet is like teflon--the center is smooth as glass from more than 20 years of use. Mon Apr 27 08:29:04 -0700 2009 4631808 193486 meadandale 3 4632396 Just thinking this through. If she already is a cast iron user, I would hit the antique shops and flea markets and try to find an old Griswold or Wagner skillet (caveat emptor.) If your mom doesn't already use cast iron, I think I would look at the Lodge enamelled. It looks awesome (nice bright colors: blue, red, green and brown) and it is easy to care for -- no fooling around with seasoning and the like. Target has on sale for $35-40 on their website. http://www.target.com/Enamel-Coated-Cast-Iron-Skillet/dp/B000N4YD9W/sr=1-3/qid=1240849325/ref=sr_1_3/185-3557970-1184236?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=0&rh=k%3Alodge%5Fenamel%5Firon&page=1 Also make sure you get a handle cover or four -- the handles on cast iron get hot. I think that everyone forgets this...ONCE! If buying plain/pre-seasoned cast iron, you don't have to get Lodge to get a good quality piece. That said, there is a lot of junk out there, and buying Lodge sidesteps the quality issue. Cast iron is so cheap, the premium for Lodge is really not a big deal. The pre-seasoning is really a good thing...I don't miss having to scrub the wax off and then smoking up the whole house. Still takes a bit of use before ready to take on an egg or hash browns. Mon Apr 27 09:45:31 -0700 2009 4632084 219575 MikeB3542 3 4634507 Amazon's prices are usually good, but they're out of line on this one. Wal-Mart sells the Lodge 12" pre-seasoned skillet for about $19, and I it at Target last weekend for $20. I agree that the pre-seasoning is basically BS, but I haven't had any complaints about mine, given that I didn't expect it to behave like a pan that had been seasoned through actual use. Mon Apr 27 20:10:03 -0700 2009 4632084 20001 Miss Priss 3 4923636 steakrules: Meadandale's post makes the most sense (except of course mine below). LOL. I cook with cast iron almost exclusively. Thu Aug 06 13:41:08 -0700 2009 4632084 1088155 Ambimom 1 4632481 Camp Chef. 'nuff said. Mon Apr 27 10:04:32 -0700 2009 4631754 103787 ThreeGigs 2 4936544 They have a awesome 16" Reversible Griddle I am pinching to buy (but must wait 'til later). Camp Chef offerings seem to be a bit more expansive than Lodge. Tue Aug 11 09:49:25 -0700 2009 4632481 1094998 cityhopper 1 4632555 MikeB3542 has it exactly right. My mother had a Griswold "spider" (she called it) frypan when I was growing up in the 1940s and 1950s, and used it all the time. When our family needed one in 1980, I purchased a new Lodge griddle, read up on how to season it, and did everything I was "supposed" to do for 29 years, and the dang thing never got "right" the way my mother's old skillet was. So -- finally, and none too soon -- three months ago, I went on eBay, searched on the search terms Griswold and Erie, and scored a #9 skillet for all of $16, including shipping. Cut to the chase: the circa 1940 Griswold is simply WONDERFUL. As a result, the Lodge, underperformer for 29 years, has been banished from our household. There is a lot of Griswold cast iron offered on eBay. There are three things to know when selecting items for bidding: (1) there are some Griswold items that are "collectibles," and collectors will bid the prices out of sight: avoid those, because they don't cook any better, they just have value as antiques; (2) a few years after Wagner of Sidney, Ohio, went out of business, the company that had acquired Wagner's assets acquired Griswold also, shut down the Griswold production in Erie, PA, and shifted production to Sidney: all "real" Griswold has the word "Erie" on the underside; (3) the magic words describing condition are "sits flat": if the eBay listing does not say "sits flat," pass on the listing and look for another one. However, if yiou are skittish about purchasing used cookware, you might look into this skillet, http://naturalimport.com/inc/sdetail/7960 from the Nambu (now Morioka) area of Japan, where they have been perfecting their cast iron skills for about four centuries, and have got it very right; it is not merely cast, it is also forged. Mon Apr 27 10:19:57 -0700 2009 4631754 278068 Politeness 2 4634380 I agree 100% with the above poster. I love cast iron cookware, both enameled and raw: and for me there is no skillet like a Griswold skillet. They're perfection. Just follow the tips already posted since you're buying to cook with, not to be displayed as an antique. Mon Apr 27 19:25:35 -0700 2009 4632555 139101 beauxgoris 2 4923253 Politeness, what do you mean by forged, and not merely cast? As I understand it, those two terms indicate necessarily separate methods of construction. Do you mean that it was, like the Griswolds, machined for smoothness of interior? You clearly know your stuff, I was just wondering what distinguishes this particular pan. Thu Aug 06 11:56:56 -0700 2009 4632555 1097274 dfmickley 3 4924012 dfmickley, Close your eyes and conjure the image of the village smithy standing under the spreading chestnut tree. http://longfellow.wayside.org/pdf/Village-Blacksmith.pdf The smithy has a hammer in his hand that pounds the red-hot iron that he has pulled from the fire and placed atop an anvil; he is FORGING the iron to make it stronger as he also shapes it. Forging is an additional step, not inconsistent with casting, but enhancing it. Most cast iron cookware is simply pulled from the hot furnace, and after it has cooled a bit, its sand mold is broken off and the cast iron's rough burrs may be ground off before sending it off for sale. A forged item is subjected to beating, probably in a punch and die, to shape and strengthen the metal. Speculating now, for cookware, possible benefits might be to reduce porosity to allow a thinner profile without losing structural integrity and for more uniform density throughout the piece for more even distribution of heat. Thu Aug 06 15:36:01 -0700 2009 4923253 278068 Politeness 4 4924622 Politeness, I appreciate the explanation. I am mostly a Cooks Illustrated lemming, but you have tweaked the inner cookware fiend that lurks within me. Also, after a brief time imagining the craftsman, in a zen-like state honing his product and his art, under a golden sun, the light refracting upon endless fields of rice - well, I was transported, lulled, and then promptly passed out, and got a good nap in. Thanks for both. I looked at your other posts and you support three different foreign-made cast iron companies, with particular adherence to a tempura pot. I'd like to ask you two minimizing, distinctly American questions: 1. Prior to reading your posts, I was going to buy two skillets: a pre-seasoned lodge 10" and 12". I have a demeyere saute pan and saucier already, and with those four items, plus an eventual enameled CI dutch oven, I was ready to feel all secure and giddy to gallivant about the cookery world. But you have, as earlier stated, sunk my cast iron battleship. If you were to purchase a 10" and 12" skillet from one of your sources, which would they be, and why? 2. What do you use that tempura pan for? Why do you love it so? I will add that I harbor pacifistic tendencies and you can tantalize at will with no fear of armed robbery. Thu Aug 06 19:18:50 -0700 2009 4924012 1097274 dfmickley 5 4924736 My goodness. I have just realized that I bought my Demeyere saucier on your recommendation over on Egullet about a year ago. Do you have an open position for an apprenticeship, cooking sensei? Thu Aug 06 20:01:35 -0700 2009 4924622 1097274 dfmickley 6 4924859 dfmickley: "I have just realized that I bought my Demeyere saucier on your recommendation over on Egullet about a year ago.." You're telling me that I have a doppelganger? Thu Aug 06 21:13:38 -0700 2009 4924736 278068 Politeness 7 4925073 An error, then. A year ago, I went through a which-copper-core odyssey, and found myself reading that 40 page cookware monstrosity on Egullet, which convinced me to go with Demeyere. Someone wrote with extraordinary knowledge and facility about heat transference and mentioned that the saucier was their most-used pan, and after reading one of your posts here on Chow about the Fournier effect , and a mention of saucier love, I assumed you were the same person. Bear in mind that this revelation came through the vague haze of last year's memories, during which I have exposed myself to endless vices, carcinogenically likely flakings from my nonstick egg skillet, and the repressed 11th grade physics memories unleashed by this recent exposure to scientific jargon, all of which have left me in a state of perpetual stupor. Fri Aug 07 00:26:11 -0700 2009 4924859 1097274 dfmickley 5 4924781 dfmickley, I wish I could bottle your writing style and market it as a cure for the blues; great stuff. We both own a Demeyere saucier -- we use ours probably as much as any pot in our kitchen -- so we share something in common. Our Iwachu Nambutetsu tempura pot gets very diverse uses. Unsurprisingly, my spouse makes tempura in it. Full disclosure requires that I inform you that we more often make tempura in the lower part of our Copco (Morsø) Michael Lax enameled cast iron Dutch oven. For my part, I love to make Dutch babies (German soufflé pancakes), and there simply is no better instrument in the world for the making of a Dutch baby than the Iwachu tempura pot. We also use the Iwachu tempura pot for various stews, and, occasionally, to braise a steak. It has an indestructible mirror-smooth inner surface that from the beginning was as nonstick as any seasoned cast iron. I do not know if I would call it "preseasoned," because the process to bring it to that state may have differed from traditional cast iron seasoning, but it always has been nonstick with excellent release of anything cooked on/in it. We also have a smaller edition of a Nambutetsu nabe, a little over half the size of the tempura pot, that has perfect proportions; you can see its underside (not its best angle) here: http://www.chow.com/photos/318813. It is an aesthetic marvel. My assumption is that the Iwachu walled skillet would have similar even heating and nonstick qualities, and, were it not that we have a surfeit of skillets, I would consider the Iwachu Nambutetsu skillet at the very top of my list for skillet acquisition. If, as you have written, you have read my other posts here, then you know that early in 2009, we ditched a Lodge "flat" (no side walls, only a lip) cast iron skillet that never got right in 29 years in favor of a Griswold Erie flat #9 skillet that we purchased via eBay. We do not regret that exchange for one minute. The circa 1940 Griswold is orders of magnitude superior to the circa 1980 Lodge. (The 1980 Lodge we gave to close friends for whom it was an upgrade from a steel skillet; they, too, feel as if they have upgraded significantly.) We use the Griswold to fry eggs; to scramble eggs, we use a small (about 8") enameled cast iron Copco Michael Lax frying pan, because we simply prefer the taste of scrambled eggs that have been made in butter, and the curved sides of the small enameled frying pan keep the butter under the eggs as they are being cooked. Thu Aug 06 20:25:33 -0700 2009 4924622 278068 Politeness 6 4925085 Well, stupor or no stupor, you've hooked me. Superior cooking qualities aside, I like the notion of supporting a fading artisanal breed. I spent some months in Tokyo and admired and was inspired by the lifelong adherence to craft-as-art that I was lucky enough to see. My one concern, then, is that the natural import company website states that the diameter is 9.5 inches, which seems prohibitively small - I'm cooking for two 95% of the time, but occasionally for guests, and the 10" and 12" seemed to be the way to go. I saw that someone else bought one on amazon.jp and set about investigating sizes there, but I was unable to navigate the Kanji, being flagrantly isolationist in my lingual tendencies. I could begin the Griswold ebay hunt to supplement the Nambutetsu, and I don't have a problem putting in the effort and money for that. When it comes to cookware, they are less tools than old friends. I am with you on buttery eggs. (Have you ever been to Shopsin's, in New York?) I will keep an eye out for that pan on ebay. I made a strong effort to sell myself on the tempura pot, and while it could conceivably be used as a faux dutch oven(?), I have never had or made a dutch baby, and have a generally amorphous headpace when I think of potential uses. Fri Aug 07 00:41:28 -0700 2009 4924781 1097274 dfmickley 7 4925369 If you would rather skip the eBay search and don't mind paying a little extra for a Griswold, The Brooklyn Kitchen often has them in stock. The website doesn't seem to be entirely up to date, so I would call them or stop in the shop if you're in the New York area to see what is actually in stock. Usually they have more than what is on the website. Info at http://www.thebrooklynkitchen.com/ . Fri Aug 07 06:12:36 -0700 2009 4925085 198087 David A. Goldfarb 8 4928772 Thanks, David. I'll probably make a trip of it next week. I just looked on Ebay and found a range of #10s, but hell if I can figure out whether or not the heat ring is irrelevant in the modern era of stovetops, which production period the logo corresponds to and if there is any genuine fluctuation in the quality of iron, etc. The Chowhound threads are universally pro-Griswold, but I couldn't find specifics on this stuff outside of the collector zealots. Trusting Politeness, it seems like anything with Erie on the bottom that sits flat is a safe bet, but even so, parsing through this information from the perspective of a cook instead of a collector is borderline spiritually painful, and I may delegate it to one of those helpful Brooklynites. Sat Aug 08 11:32:03 -0700 2009 4925369 1097274 dfmickley 6 4925087 And if you have a suggestion for a pristine dutch baby in New York, or a preferred recipe I could whip up, I'm all ears. Fri Aug 07 00:43:53 -0700 2009 4924781 1097274 dfmickley 7 4925312 dfmickley: The "preferred recipe" for a Dutch baby could hardly be simpler. 4 eggs 1 cup milk 1 cup flour 1/4 cup butter (½ cube) or its equivalent [Optional: a pinch of nutmeg and a couple of drops of vanilla] Preheat the oven (not in convection mode) to 450°. In the following steps, the timing of your guests' readiness to eat is the most important thing, because when the Dutch baby is done, it must be consumed immediately. Put the "butter" (we actually use about 1" to 1½" of a cube of butter, plus about 1 tablespoon peanut oil) into the Nambutetsu tempura pot and put the pot into the preheated oven to get the pot hot and the butter melted. (Depending on how fast you work, you may need to delay the next few steps to ensure that the pot reaches full heat; if you are a slow worker, then you need not delay.) Don't worry about scorching the butter; it WILL scorch. While the pot is heating in the oven, break the eggs into a blender and whip at the blender's highest speed for 30 seconds. Open the lid of the blender and add the milk (and optional vanilla) to the blender while it is still spinning at the highest speed that it can be set without getting stuff all over your counter. With the blender still spinning, add the flour (and optional nutmeg) slowly to keep it from getting mashed as a lump on the sides of the blender. Turn the blender back up to its highest speed and whip for another 30 seconds. Without removing the Nambutetsu from the oven (just slide the rack out a bit), pour the entire contents of the blender into the melted oil at the bottom of the heated Nambutetsu, push the shelf back in, and shut the oven door. The basic idea is to minimize the length of time that the oven door is open. Turn the oven down to 425° and bake until the top of the Dutch baby at its outer edges is really brown (the middle will be just past golden brown), about 15-20 minutes. After you have done this a few times, you will find that the smell of the baking Dutch baby gives the most accurate indication of when it is done, and saves you having to open the oven door to peek. You want to minimize the number and length of times you open the oven door. Now, the most important part: Before you remove the Dutch baby from the oven, make sure your guests or family are present to watch it as it emerges, tall and puffy. The taste of the Dutch baby is immensely enhanced by the absorption of "ooohs" and "aahhhs". I cannot emphasize this enough. Cut into slices and serve immediately -- really immediately -- with lemon slices (or fresh-squeezed lemon juice) and powdered sugar. In a pinch, you can use an enameled cast iron Dutch oven (without its lid) for the baking vessel; we have done that, and it works, sort of -- but the Nambutetsu works much better. This recipe can be scaled down to 3 eggs, and 3/4 cup each of the milk and flour, but does not scale up very well; better to make two 3-egg Dutch babies than one 6-egg Dutch baby. Fri Aug 07 05:44:07 -0700 2009 4925087 278068 Politeness 8 4928780 I will be attempting a Dutch Baby as soon as I can locate a suitable vessel. I hope my girlfriend, or federal authorities, never locate this post. I emailed the owner of the Natural Import site about purchasing a larger model of the pan. Fingers crossed. If that fails, I'll just get the 9.5" - in the worst case scenario, I could present a Griswold v. Nambu comparison that should endear me to the ultra-investigative niche within the already-eclectic Chowhound cast iron niche of the cookware enthusiast niche, which I imagine will land me on Iron Chef sooner rather than later. Sat Aug 08 11:39:07 -0700 2009 4925312 1097274 dfmickley 1 4634397 Add me to the list supporting the antique shop/fleas market idea. You will DEFINITELY get a better pan if its vintage. If you have an autoclean oven, stick the pan in the oven and run the full 2 pr 3 hour cleaning cycle. You'll then have a practically new pan ready to season. The LODGE brand pans are useless (to me anyway) with that rough, pebbly inside surface. Mon Apr 27 19:34:46 -0700 2009 4631754 116047 The Professor 1 4695221 I have two US-made Wagners that I bought in the early 80's at Zabar's that I use ALL the time, as well as two 100+-year-old Griswolds that I bought on eBay; I like them a lot because they're much lighter in weight than pans made later. I absolutely would avoid anything made in China--buy a new Lodge or head to eBay. The Japanese pan mentioned above looks very interesting but make sure it's actually manufactured in Japan rather than contracted out elsewhere (like China or Thailand). Mon May 18 15:10:18 -0700 2009 4631754 51048 MacGuffin 1 4696790 Even though I own--and use--a Lodge cast-iron skillet, I've also picked up a couple of flea-market Griswolds at good prices, and they're unquestionably superior to anything made today. Mine have needed a lot of scouring and re-seasoning to bring them back to life, but it was worth the trouble. Tue May 19 07:34:29 -0700 2009 4631754 20001 Miss Priss 2 4924852 Miss Priss, what's your technique, I've got a couple that could use some reseasoning Thu Aug 06 21:06:21 -0700 2009 4696790 74192 chuckl 3 4938625 Hi, chuckl--just saw your question! I don't consider myself an expert in re-seasoning, but here's what I do with rusted or crudded-up cast iron: scour our the rust or crud with steel wool, coat the pan with corn oil or Crisco, place it in a 200-degree oven for about an hour, wipe out, let cool. Then, each time I use it, I wash it with without soap, dry it, oil it lightly, heat it on the stovetop over a low flame, let it cool, and wipe it out. But there are many variations on this technique, along with other approaches altogether. This site describes some of them: http://blackirondude.blogspot.com/ Tue Aug 11 20:41:10 -0700 2009 4924852 20001 Miss Priss 1 4923625 If you live in the Northeast US, finding a Griswold or a Wagner at a garage sale is like finding Bigfoot. Us Yankees didn't use cast iron. You can try Ebay, but the cost of shipping these heavy pieces can offset any bargains and you really have to know what you're looking at. Cast iron is HEAVY whether it's vintage or brand new. Boscov's used to sell 3 cast iron skillets for $9, but now they have a set of 2 for $15. They need to be seasoned, but they're quite good. The best deal is Lodge. They are sold by Target and Walmart, among other vendors. Emeril and Paula sell enamel cast iron pieces that are made in China. The China-made stuff is made to look like LeCreuset, but believe me, it's not. I swear by Lodge pre-seasoned, naked cast iron. It's quality, well-priced, and indestructible. Thu Aug 06 13:38:21 -0700 2009 4631754 1088155 Ambimom 2 4923936 I very recently bought a 12" pre-seasoned Lodge at Marshall's for $14.00. I love that pan. Thu Aug 06 15:07:05 -0700 2009 4923625 63569 flourgirl 2 4935711 With all due respect, the reason you can't find a Griswold or Wagner at at a garage sale is that real Yankees are too damn cheap to go out and buy over-priced new cookware when the same pieces of cast iron that our grandparents cooked with, that then was used by our parents are now being used in our kitchens. Tue Aug 11 05:09:47 -0700 2009 4923625 241512 alphavulcan 1 4924165 I bought my no name cast iron skillet 38 years ago in a local hardware store. It has been wonderful with no problems all that time. I am not sure that for cast iron, that you need a name brand. Though I use Lodge at work. Thu Aug 06 16:46:59 -0700 2009 4631754 259263 bigfellow