# Cookware



## BLG (Jan 5, 2014)

I'm considering what type or cookware to invest in. I'm guessing cast iron is the way to go. Any opinions on this?

Are there any certain websites or brands I should be looking at?

Also, speaking of cast iron, I found through Google searches awhile back a guy who handmade cast iron camping cookware. It included a tripod, pot and other equipment. It seemed kind of pricey but he makes them by hand. The problem is I didn't bookmark it so I was wondering if anyone else knows what site I'm talking about? I'd like to have a second look at it and maybe pull the trigger on that now, just can't find it!


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## pheniox17 (Dec 12, 2013)

expand your search to include eBay Australia, a lot of high quality cookware items (camping) always going cheap (second hand) used on one trip and "never again"


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## Montana Rancher (Mar 4, 2013)

I only use cast iron, and it will serve me until I die.

Once a pan is seasoned it will always perform.

My second vote is cast iron with a ceramic component, that is what Mrs Rancher cooks all our weekend meal in and they are really awesome!

Since I do all the dishes, did I mention they are really awesome?


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Cast iron takes some getting used to. If you want it "sterile" you cook it in the oven until everything turns to carbon. You wipe out the loose material and oil it up (using lard or bacon fat).

Never use soap on it unless you want to start the seasoning process all over (it takes years to properly season cast iron so it is non-stick). A damp cloth is all you need to clean the pan (paper should not be used because it absorbs the oil in the cast iron). After a pot is properly seasoned you can cook stew or boil vegetables without a worry of hurting the cure of the pot. When you clean it with the wipe of a damp cloth it is ready to go again. (coating it with a bit of bacon fat never hurts)


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## Montana Rancher (Mar 4, 2013)

I love you PaulS but..

Don't you always say that?

It doesn't take years to season a cast iron pot, pan, kettle. I am sure you didn't mean that as it can be done in a day with a little preparation.

But I agree with you, NEVER use soap on it, always clean with a dry cloth and you are golden...

I like cooking my eggs in the same pan I sautéed inions in the night before, think about cooking with cast iron as a extension of what you cooked the night before.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

You can season a pot overnight but it takes a long time to get the cure deep into the pot so that you don't have to worry about rust after boiling water. 
The flavor carries on depending what was last cooked - try your eggs after grilling salmon the night before. Usually a good wipe with a damp cloth takes most of the"penetrating" flavor out of the pan.

I do always say that and before I was married I forbade my girlfriend from touching my cast iron pans. She immersed a frying pan into hot soapy water and scrubbed it until all the years of built up carbon was down the drain. That pan has finally recovered and is just like old. My wife knows how to treat our cast iron - she's from Alabama - and we both use them a lot.


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## Montana Rancher (Mar 4, 2013)

So I hope we both agree that a decently seasoned pan will serve you better than Teflon if you keep the soap away form it?

My point is cast iron is not some voodoo thing that isn't available for the common prepper, it is the norm for reliable cookware and bulletproof for the finish.

Do we agree?


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

I know Mrs Inor has made me spend a fortune on Lodge cast iron pans over the years. She swears by them. The only one I am allowed to touch is the one we have dedicated to roasting coffee. The only cleaning it ever gets is to wipe out the chafe when we are done. After about a year and a half of using it, it has built up a real nice finish from the oils that come from the coffee beans.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Montana Rancher said:


> So I hope we both agree that a decently seasoned pan will serve you better than Teflon if you keep the soap away form it?
> 
> My point is cast iron is not some voodoo thing that isn't available for the common prepper, it is the norm for reliable cookware and bulletproof for the finish.
> 
> Do we agree?


We are in perfect (is that possible?) agreement. Cast iron is better than any other cookware. The next best is the tri-ply stainless laminated cookware. It is sometimes called waterless cookware. It is good cookware if you don't want to use fats in your cooking but it makes cast iron look cheap by comparison. It is also sensitive to cooking temperatures - you can ruin it by using temps above medium heat.

The reason it is #2 is no fats and no high heat - you just can't cook real food that way. Ha ha ha


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## BamaBoy101 (Dec 9, 2013)

Montana Rancher said:


> So I hope we both agree that a decently seasoned pan will serve you better than Teflon if you keep the soap away form it?
> 
> My point is cast iron is not some voodoo thing that isn't available for the common prepper, it is the norm for reliable cookware and bulletproof for the finish.
> 
> Do we agree?


Yep, you can season it well and it will be non stick from that point forward. Unless you clean and handle it wrong....


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

While I have always had a couple of CI pots and pans, I have recently learned to appreciate them so much more than I currently do modern made crap, I mean stuff.

Im one hell of a cook and could probably school most folks on that subject and recently I have found myself ditching most of the modern cook ware I have, despite being quiet servicable still, in favor of CI. It heats up better and more evenly and holds the heat for much longer than other cook ware. Once well seasoned its about as low maintenance as even the Teflon coated crap, I mean stuff. The best part is if I have to cook out on the grill or over a camp fire I don't have to worry about the plastic handle melting or the wooden handles catching fire. My collection even includes one frying pan manufactured in 1858 that's been passed down through the times by family and its still kicking butt and taken names. That my friend is called durability! As such my collection of CI is growing a little each month and will continue to do so for some time in the future. I have some that's straight up plain jane CI and I also have some enamel coated stuff which I really like. You do have to be a little more gentle with the enamel coated stuff as it can chip. Yes it is heavy and even the "light weight" CI cook ware is still pretty heavy but trust me Grandma really did know whats best! Remember, she has a few more laps around the block than you do, and she grew up in a time when you cooked everything from scratch and didn't buy processed GMO and chemical laden meals in a box!

Get you some good heavy CI cookware and learn to use it and enjoy the difference in your home cooked meals. You wont likely regret it!


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## BLG (Jan 5, 2014)

So it sounds like cast iron is the way to go! So far, the only brand I've heard is Lodge. Is that a pretty good brand to invest in? Any others I should be looking at?


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

BLG said:


> So it sounds like cast iron is the way to go! So far, the only brand I've heard is Lodge. Is that a pretty good brand to invest in? Any others I should be looking at?


For my money, if Lodge does not make it you do not need it. For that matter, even if Lodge does make it you still may not need it.


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Lodge still makes black iron cookware. Some of the cast iron cookware out there is grey iron and while it can be made serviceable it takes more time to do so.
All cast iron is not alike!


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## BLG (Jan 5, 2014)

PaulS said:


> Lodge still makes black iron cookware. Some of the cast iron cookware out there is grey iron and while it can be made serviceable it takes more time to do so.
> All cast iron is not alike!


So black iron cookware is the way to go?


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## MrsInor (Apr 15, 2013)

Go with Lodge and you are safe. Your grandchildren will thank you.


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## Smitty901 (Nov 16, 2012)

If things get rough hard to beat cast iron. It has draw backs but nothing worth worrying about. 
Next some good Stainless steel pots are sure nice to have around.


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## Infidel (Dec 22, 2012)

Lodge cast iron is good stuff. You can save some money on cast iron by shopping around yard sales and looking for old stuff. These days most people don't want to be bothered with cast iron and go for the next big teflon coated wonder. I agree with Smitty on the stainless pots, I've got a couple of Revere ware stainless pots (the copper bottom kind) that have got to be 40 years old and still like new, wish I'd gotten the whole set. I have never understood teflon coated pots even though my wife uses them. Stick a metal spoon or a whisk in a tefelon coated pot and you'll destroy the coating, that won't happen with my Revere ware.

-Infidel


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## LunaticFringeInc (Nov 20, 2012)

Lodge makes some pretty good stuff although I am sure there are some better brands or pieces out there...youll likely pay a premium for it though. I have several different Brands with Lodge being the most prevelant. I also have some enamel coated cookware that's Tramontina brand that I really like a lot.


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## joec (Nov 12, 2012)

Two older brands from the old days are Wagner and Griswold both are excellent but getting expensive on ebay to buy lately. I have a fry pan made by each that are well over a 100 years old and still going strong. I also have several Lodge that are also very good but not as smooth a finish as on thee Wagner or Griswold though I see no difference in the cooking or sticking with any of them.

I season mine using lard and do it in the oven. To clean the old ones spray with some oven cleaner and let it sit outside in a paper bag then put the oven on cleaning mode and let it go. For bad cases of build up (got a pan from a yard sale in this shape) I used a wire brush on a drill motor to clean it off. It had a 1/2" of backed on stuff.


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## BLG (Jan 5, 2014)

I have a follow up question: Is it possible to season CI without lard? I can't eat pork.


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## Boss Dog (Feb 8, 2013)

I prefer cooking on cast iron than almost anything else. I have a decent set of Griswold that I have collected over the years, found at yard sales and antique stores. They are heavier than the Lodge products you find in Wal-Mart today. The Lodge product will do you fine, I just prefer the old Griswold which is no longer made and commands an increasingly higher price when you do find it. A little lite reading on cast iron...

Cast-iron cookware - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

List of cast iron cookware manufacturers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Coppertop (Dec 20, 2013)

I have seasoned CI with Olive Oil. I'm sure that is not the "proper" way to do it, but it works.


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## HuntingHawk (Dec 16, 2012)

Check with a local butcher for some steak trimmings (fat) if you don't want to use pork fat to season the cast iron.


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## joec (Nov 12, 2012)

HuntingHawk said:


> Check with a local butcher for some steak trimmings (fat) if you don't want to use pork fat to season the cast iron.


There is always stainless steel cookware. I also have stainless and like it as much as cast iron for most things. I also have a stainless camp set I use with my camping gear. Stainless doesn't need seasoning.


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## Inor (Mar 22, 2013)

joec said:


> There is always stainless steel cookware. I also have stainless and like it as much as cast iron for most things. I also have a stainless camp set I use with my camping gear. Stainless doesn't need seasoning.


*Heretic!* :lol:


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## KYPrepper (Jan 17, 2014)

Lol Nice one Inor! I was going to post something about Stainless Steel but was afraid of getting bludgeoned to death by a CAST IRON skillet. Hahaha. Glad a fellow KY boy said it though. I just choose stainless mainly because I find it a hell of a lot easier to maintain(by the sounds of things). No real special cleaning(I don't put any HOT cookware into any water until it's cooled), no seasoning required(granted, I'm sure there is a "special" taste coming from a good seasoned Cast Iron pot or skillet), and IMO It's easier to find sets designed for camping or backpacking mainly referring to how some sets stow inside each other or have the folding locking handles. Don't take my post the wrong way, I've never personally cooked/worked with Cast Iron, so I really have no opinion on how well it cooks, cleans, or what it makes food taste like. I just know that with Stainless Steel, I can boil water and cook some food and that's exactly what I need it to do. I will admit the members posting in here have certainly got me interested in the perks of Cast Iron, I just hope the maintenance isn't _that_ extensive.


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## Notsoyoung (Dec 2, 2013)

Cast iron cookware is HEAVY. My wife has rheumatoid arthritis so she will not use it. That is the only detractor I can think of for it. I DON'T have rheumatoid arthritis, so I have MY set of cast iron cookware. I am sure that allot of it is mental, but it seems to me that food just tastes better when cooked on it. My wife does have a cast iron Dutch Oven that is enameled covered that I have to get for her, and it too is great for chili and stews. One thing that I keep in mind is what cookware will last the longest cooking on an open fire possibly for decades? Cast iron has to be at the top of the list.


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## Denton (Sep 18, 2012)

Montana Rancher said:


> I only use cast iron, and it will serve me until I die.
> 
> Once a pan is seasoned it will always perform.
> 
> ...


My wife would have written this just as you did.


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## Vagabond (Jan 14, 2014)

I will always have the absolute highest appreciation for cast iron. What we use though, is Circulon cookware. Its got the dupont non stick surface that's metal utensil safe. Sounds almost like an ad I know... But for grilling, definitely time to pull out the CI


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## Denton (Sep 18, 2012)

Vagabond said:


> I will always have the absolute highest appreciation for cast iron. What we use though, is Circulon cookware. Its got the dupont non stick surface that's metal utensil safe. Sounds almost like an ad I know... But for grilling, definitely time to pull out the CI


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## PaulS (Mar 11, 2013)

Cast iron, properly seasoned is as "non-stick" as any cooking pot made. I love cast Iron but I do use tri-ply stainless too. The problem with stainless is that it doesn't heat uniformly and everything sticks to it. (the same is true of aluminum cookware but it at least heats uniformly)
I use stainless when I am going to be boiling or simmering water or acidic vegetables for a long time. (like making my three day chili) I have used cast aluminum for camping (light weight) but there is no curing it and in no way is it even close to non-stick.


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## Silverback (Jan 20, 2014)

Cast Iron, Lodge, Dutch ovens all mentioned... nothing to say here now... 

I cook off Cast Iron on my Whirlpool Gas Range, who need teflon or a campfire, it kicks ass anywhere.


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