Cooking with Cast Iron

I do not remember exactly when I became enamored with cooking with cast iron, but it was the late 1970s or early 1980s.  By the time Lisenby and I were married, I was sold.

I knew about seasoning cast iron before using it.  If you purchase a piece of unseasoned cast iron, it comes with directions about how to season it.

I did not understand about cleaning cast iron.  I am so grateful to Sue Lisenby, my mother-in-law, for teaching me about that. 

Sometimes, you can just wipe out the cast iron piece, and that will work.  But sometimes, you really do have to clean the cast iron.  Sue taught me to boil water in the cast iron vessel, let it cool, and clean out the piece.  Then, if you need to, you can  reheat the piece and season it with oil or lard.

I have made some mistakes. Sometimes, I put too much oil or lard in the vessel, and then it sits and gets rancid.  I tried cooking with such a vessel before cleaning out the rancid fat, and that was a big mistake.  It does not take much to clean out the rancid fat, clean out the vessel, and put fresh oil or lard or shortening in the vessel.

Sometimes, I wipe vessels out and take the protective layer off, and it looks rusty.  Sometimes, I leave the past cooking grease in the vessel, and just leave it until I need to use the vessel again.

There are many variations on seasoning, re-seasoning, and using cast iron cook ware.   I use various methods depending upon the vessel and the situation.

But, I really like cooking with cast iron.