How much cast iron to take on the road?

[compassrose]

... Mom once committed the unpardonable sin......   she WASHED Dad's favorite cast iron fry pan!  Big mistake.  He hit the roof.  He had to go through the whole seasoning process again.  He was mighty picky about his cast iron pots and pans! 

I loaned my perfectly seasoned Griswold to a new friend whom I thought knew how to use cast iron. She washed in Dawn before giving it back to me. Needless to say, I NEVER loaned out my cast iron to anyone after that.

 

[eDJ_]

Lee Revell wrote

He hit the roof. He had to go through the whole seasoning process again. He was mighty picky about his cast iron pots and pans!

Yeah, once ya get your Iron "trained" you don't want anyone coming near it with a bottle of detergent.

gsfish, ya need to try that an the horseradish scalloped potatoes. I make that a lot each summer when I'm invited to the cook outs and parties. I'm always in demand and even have people wanting me to make it just for them cause they like it so. I often nuke the potatoes in the micro a couple minutes and allow them to cool before peeling them and slicing. It helps make sure they cook evenly.

In my cookin kit I also have an old time Boy Scout Mess Kit with skillet, cover/dish and small pot with lid & aluminum cup inside of it. Thus if I've cooked in the Dutch Ovens and stowed them in the cabinet with left over food in them, I can heat portions in the Mess Kit later as I travel.

I have plenty of Iron here at home and 2, 4, 6, & 8 qt DO's but only take the 12" on the road with me.
I season my Iron with Flax Seed Oil and get good performance with it. I clean them out with hot water
and a nylon scrub pad and then wipe them out real good with paper towels and Flax Seed oil.

I keep a small bottle of water with a little bleach in it to sterilize my iron so I don't have to use any soap.

 

[HarmonicaBruce]

So you're not supposed to use detergent on a cast iron skillet?  How do you wash it, like after frying bacon?

 

[eDJ_]

I get after mine with hot water after scraping it out first. The nylon scrub ball gets all the little stuff lose and then I wipe it out with paper towels. Then I squirt some bleach water in it to sterilize it and dry it well. I may later apply a thin coat of Flax Seed oil and wipe that well with a paper towel.

Before I cook in it again I may set it on the fire to get it hot and kill any germs and then let it cool so I can
cook in it again. Well seasoned Cast Iron isn't much trouble.

 

[blars]

I've got a realy nice cast-iron griddle, one side flat, one ribbed. Great for use over campfires. My best unclaimed lost+found item.

 

[highdesertranger]

as to the original posters, a skillet with a lid and a dutch oven is what I consider minimum. size depends on your needs. I have several cast iron cooking accessories. I don't take them all with me, but when I go full time I will have to make some choices. I do want one more cast iron cooking item, a waffle iron. the kind with a base that goes on a gas stove. I have been looking for about a year, haven't been able to hook one up yet but I will. highdesertranger

 

[TMG51]

Bleach is more caustic than detergent isn't it? And less tasty. I'm not sure I'd use that on cast iron.

Cast iron likes oil. Frying bacon IS how you clean it! Well, almost - you do wipe the grime out after frying, but that sort of soaking in oil is the perfect treatment for a cast iron pan. Just wipe it while it's still warm, and everything loose comes out with no scrubbing, and the pan stays happy. You can wash with water occasionally if needed, then just heat the pan immediately after to dry it and rub it with a coat of oil again. You never want to strip off the oil that's embedded in the pan.

As far as sterilizing the pan I would not worry in the slightest. It gets plenty hot each time you cook with it.

 

[compassrose]

...  I do want one more cast iron cooking item,  a waffle iron.  the kind with a base that goes on a gas stove.  I have been looking for about a year,  haven't been able to hook one up yet but I will.  highdesertranger

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...tovetop waffle iron&sprefix=stovetop+w,garden

 

[johnny b]

A little coarse salt and a bristle brush for the tuff stuff....

https://www.lodgemfg.com/use-and-care/seasoned-cast-iron-use-and-care.asp

 

[eDJ_]

TMG51, What I use is a small plastic squeeze bottle about 8 oz of water with 1 tsp (roughly) of bleach.

I squirt some into the pot, pan, skillet etc and wipe it around to disinfect it and then rinse with fresh water
before drying it out. It doesn't soak in a strong solution of bleach water or anything like that.

I agree with using coarse salt and a stiff fiber brush, like you would use to clean a Wok.

Between using Detergent and a Non Detergent dish washing liquid, I would use only a drop of the dish washing. liquid in my cast iron. My experience is that the Detergent will clean but it will cause things to stick
where it removes so much of the seasoning.

 

[mconlonx]

I'll join the chorus: 12-14" skillet with a lid and a dutch oven.

Cast iron, and the ability to bring it along, is what I would consider a big difference between vandwelling and backpacking. Well, and the whole van thing...

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

As somebody whose culinary skills are limited to boiling water (Never burned it yet! is my proud claim) and using a microwave,  I've been somewhat bemused by this thread.  I'm just wondering when you people are going to start debating how many anvils and boat anchors are too many to bring along.

Regards
John

 

[rvpopeye]

That's easy , you won't need either. The cast iron stuff will work for those jobs.....

 

[TMG51]

As somebody whose culinary skills are limited to boiling water (Never burned it yet! is my proud claim) and using a microwave,  I've been somewhat bemused by this thread.  I'm just wondering when you people are going to start debating how many anvils and boat anchors are too many to bring along.

Regards
John

No worries. I already freed up some space by discarding the microwave.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

No worries. I already freed up some space by discarding the microwave.

Neo-Luddite!

Regards
John

 

[cdiggy]

I used to work in an apartment complex in a 'bad part of town'. Found some old used and abused cast iron completely caked with carbon and grease. Easy off oven cleaner on the cast iron and then put in an oven safe plastic bag for a couple of days. Scrub and rinse well and then season. Works like a charm. Got it off of some web site devoted to rescuing old cast.

 

[ccbreder]

wow, never? i have burnt at least 5 pots of water just making coffee this year alone.