I do most of the cooking in my house and I use cast iron for almost everything.
That got me wondering how many of you old iron folk continue that into the kitchen?

Here are my main pans.
The #6, #9 and #10 are all Griswolds. The 6 and 10 were my wife's grandparents pans and the #9 was my grandma's. I also have a Griswold lid for the #9 which I found at a flea market.
I took this picture last night and I used the bean pot (cowboy beans), #6 (cornbread), and #10 (frying the bacon and hamburger for the cowboy beans)

The bean pot is a no name and the pizza pan is a Lodge that I use for anything baked in the oven. This morning I used my newer griddle (not pictured) for the pancakes and the #6 for the eggs. Biscuits and gravy will probably be on the menu tomorrow morning.

 

Only a couple of skillets, but we have 3 cast iron Dutch ovens.

 

Mine are not old. I wish I had my mother's pans. I love my enameled dutch oven.

 

Great, now I'm hungry.

 

My wife got me a set of enameled cast iron pans. They are nice, but I prefer the older stuff.

If you hit the road soon, you can make it to my place for breakfast.
Here is the cowboy beans meal. It's a great recipe. With our family schedule the one pan meals are great.

 

My wife uses cast iron a lot in NY. Not there right now but they might be Wagner?
One wall of the kitchen is covered with Butternut wood so just drive in an old "cut" nail and hang a pan up.

 

We had cast iron skillets when we grew up. We washed them all of the time(which I understand is not supposed to be done). I sure do miss them. Can you use them with an electric cook-top? Or, must it be gas?

 

I heard you aren't supposed to use them with the glass cooktop that I have. But it's worked fine for the 5 years I have lived here. I've never had a gas cook top, I really want one though. You can control the temperature much better with gas.

The #10 I just recently retrieved from the family farm up North Missouri. I replaced it up there with a Lodge 12" skillet. The Lodge weighs about twice as much as the Griswold. If I remember my history correctly Lodge used to be Wagner.

 

You can wash them all you want, but they need to be cured again or they can rust.

How to cure a Dutch oven

We often line them with foil for a faster cleanup.

 

Oh boy, are we going to start swapping recipes?

 

OK Bob, I'll start it off. This is one from our camping days as Boy Scout leaders. It's easy and delicious. Dutch Oven Enchiladas.

Ingredients:
Dutch oven enchiladas Salad Chips and salsa

[ ] Ground beef - 5 oz per person [ ] Lettuce [ ] Tortilla chips
[ ] Onions - 1 per 6 people or to taste [ ] Tomatoes [ ] Salsa
[ ] Corn tortillas - 2 dozen [ ] Cucumbers
[ ] Enchilada sauce - 2 - 28 oz cans [ ] Salad dressing pcs
[ ] Grated cheddar cheese - 24 oz [ ] Additional spices if needed
[ ] Refried beans - 3 - 16 oz cans [ ] Ice
[ ] Sour cream for garnish

Enchiladas:
1.Put a Dutch oven on lit propane stove. Put all the hamburger in and break it apart to cook.
2.While the meat is cooking, start charcoal in charcoal chimneys.
3.Chop onion and add to hamburger. Cook meat and onion until well done.
4.Put a layer of 3 paper towels in a large pan or bowl. Scoop the cooked meat and onion onto paper towels to drain grease.
5.Wipe Dutch oven to remove remaining grease. Line both Dutch ovens with foil to make clean up easier.
6.In each Dutch oven, pour a little sauce in to cover the bottom. Put in a layer of slightly overlapping tortillas (approximately six for each round).
7.Sprinkle with cooked meat, refried beans, cheese and a little more sauce. You should have three layers of filling and the Dutch oven will be about three-fourths full. End with a layer of tortillas, sauce and cheese.
8.Put Dutch oven on coals and place coals on lid to cook.
9.Check after 45 minutes. If enchiladas are bubbling, remove a few coals to prevent burning.

 

We currently have five pieces of cast iron cookware. Two are more modern enameled pots. Our large dutch oven mysteriously disappeared from our campsite some years back.
We've been using our cast iron on the glass top stove for six years without problems.
My most used piece is the old Wagner pancake griddle.

 

We will need that cowboy beans recipe also Joe.

 

Cowboy Beans
1 lb hamburger
1/2 lb bacon, diced
1/2 Cup chopped onions
1/2 Cup ketsup
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp vinegar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp prepared mustard
1 can pork and beans
1 can butter beans, drain and rinse
1 can kidney beans, drain and rinse

bake for 40 minutes at 350.
My kids don't like onions yet (grrr), so I have to use onion powder. They are ok with that. I also prefer the baby butter beans, but my local store doesn't have them.

For the corn bread I go easy and use the Jiffy Corn Muffin mix. It's good stuff.

 

Speaking of Boy Scouts. When cooking with steel pans over fire, we would rub the outside with a little Dawn dish soap before use. This would make cleaning the black off very easy.