practical use of the bacon press (grill press)

This is a grill press, also called a bacon press, and I used one for the first time today*.

*My second use was for burgers.

It's meant for keeping your bacon from curling.

It's also useful for grilled sandwiches, burgers, and the like, for faster cooking.

I also have a panini press, which is useful for paninis of course, but not so much for bacon due to the ridges. The bacon press is flat.

It did exactly what it was meant to do: It kept the bacon from curling, and it helped to cook the bacon faster. I rather like it!

You definitely want to have a plate handy, to set it on and keep bacon fat from dripping all over the counter.

Lodge also sells a round grill press, meant for use in their round skillets (so corners don't get in the way).

As I said in a previous post, boy do I wish I'd had one of these, the last time I cooked hash browns, crab cakes, salmon burgers and quesadillas!

re-thinking my strategy for eggs

This is the Lodge single burner reversible griddle, which I had never considered getting until this morning.

I posted previously about the Lodge 8 inch griddle, which is my designated "egg pan".

I talked about how it's best to choose one pan specifically for eggs.

I chose that pan for eggs because I had an electric stove with small burners, and that pan was just the right size to cover the burner without hanging over.

See, on a traditional electric stove, the burners aren't always level. So my eggs would always slide to the side of the pan. If the pan was bigger than the burner, then the side was not directly on the burner, and not as hot. What an aggravation!

(Yes, there was one large burner, but that was always being used for bacon while the eggs were cooking).

So for THAT stove, this pan was perfect for eggs.

But now I live in a new house with a gas stove. These burners are bigger, they're square, and they're always level.

As a result, I don't need such a small pan for my eggs anymore.

The above pan would perfectly fit the burners on my new stove.

I wouldn't use the grill side, as I already have a grill pan. Just the flat side for eggs.

Wait, don't you already have a double play griddle? Can't you just use that?

Yes, but just as with the large burner on my old stove... that's already being used for bacon!

sprinkle, sprinkle, pop

I love how easy it is to make baked fish or chicken in cast iron.

Sprinkle, sprinkle, pop. That's all you have to do. As in, sprinkle on your choice of seasonings pop in the oven, it's done.

I discovered the other day, when baking fish or chicken-- spray olive oil pam on the meat before you put it in the oven. It keeps it more moist that way.

I made tilapia the other night, similar to how I made wild caught drum fillets or flounder:

McCormick garlic bread sprinkle, dried minced garlic and rosemary. Into the oven at 350.

It was literally, sprinkle, sprinkle, pop. Yes, it was that easy!

My first time ever making bison (buffalo)

I tried buffalo once in a fine restaurant, but have never actually cooked it before.

I assumed it would be cooked in the same way as beef, but not necessarily; Since bison hasvery little fat, you have to watch that it doesn't dry out.

Suggestions for "adding fat" included soaking in olive oil, or milk. It was also suggested that you don't want to over-season because that takes away from bison's unique flavor.

I decided to go with what my late grandfather used to do with venison: soak in milk and minced garlic.

No seasonings were added, although in hindsight, black pepper probably would have been fine.

I soaked it for an hour or so, then grilled on the grill pan.

You don't want to cook it for too long; medium rare is recommended for bison, or no more than medium.

It was delicious! Although I won't be cooking it too often because it's very expensive.

practical use of the double burner griddle

Today was my first experience with a double burner griddle.

In a previous post I stated that these griddles were not recommended for use on electric stoves, and since that was the type I had at the time, I would not be getting one.

I now live in a new house, with a gas stove (yes!), so I decided to try one out.

Lodge sells two different double burner griddles: The double play, pictured above, and the "pro grid" which is 20 inches long and has handles.

I chose the double play because it was shorter and more likely to fit in my oven.

I found that it fit perfectly across the two gas burners. I preheated the pan so that the heat would be evenly distributed when cooking.

I tried it with pancakes and bacon, and am quite happy with it.

Since the griddle has no handle, and I'm used to using griddles with a handle, there was a bit of a learning curve. You definitely want to wear an oven glove on your other hand because the griddle will slide around a little when flipping food.

You also don't want to crowd the pan too much. Two pancakes at a time is fine, no more than three.

I purposely made a pancake in the middle to see if it was hot enough to cook, and it was.

I found it to be great for cooking four eggs at a time.

I conclude that if you have a gas stove, most definitely get one of these!

The double burner griddle is reversible, and has a "grill pan" on the other side.

As stated in a previous post, I'm not a fan of reversible grill pans due to seasoning issues.

However, I intend to primarily use this as a griddle. Perhaps I'll get another one to use primarily as a grill pan.

seriously, tuna helper?

Hi folks! No, I didn't drop off the face of the earth.

I suddenly had to move, yet again-- from Amarillo to Midland!

For a month and a half I lived in a motel room, with all my stuff in storage. During this time, I cooked with a portable grill and toaster oven.

In hindsight, Lodge tableware would have been quite handy to use with those, since it's small.

But I don't have any of the tableware, and being on the move, I had to "pack light" so I used disposable aluminum. Boy did I miss my cast iron!

I'm finally in my new house, with all my beloved cast iron finally unpacked. 100 pieces do take a long time to unpack!

Anyway, back to the subject. I haven't cooked tuna helper since I started using cast iron, and never thought to cook it in cast iron before.

But I craved some, so I tried it in the cast iron skillet. So, yes, you can cook tuna helper or even hamburger helper in cast iron!

Not that you'd necessarily want to, if you're an avid cook, but anyway.

omaha steak sirloin beef tips

So I got some sirloin beef tips from Omaha Steaks.

Since no recipe was included with these beef tips, I decided to wing it and make beef tips with rice and gravy.

The recipe was very similar to what I did with braised oxtail, as well as chuck roast cut into cubes.

In a 3 quart cast iron pot, I browned the beef tips in butter. Added salt, pepper and dried cilantro*.

*Fresh would have been better, but I only had dried.

Then poured in some beef broth and red wine, brought it to a boil, then reduced and simmered on low until the beef tips were done (about an hour).

Removed the beef tips, deglazed the pot, added wondra flour to thicken the liquid into a gravy*. Poured over the beef tips.

*I should have taken the time to refrigerate the liquid and remove the fat cap (before thickening into a gravy), as I had done with the oxtails. I skipped that step because I was short on time, but it caused the dish to be too "heavy" for me.

I made rice in some beef broth.

Similar to the oxtail recipe, but skipped a step or two.

yet another use for the cast iron loaf pan

I discovered yet another use for the cast iron loaf pan.

Have you ever had a frozen boneless turkey roast? The kind that comes in an aluminum loaf pan, and cooks in its own gravy.

It's recommended you put it on a baking sheet, so the gravy doesn't spill over in the oven.

Last night I found that it slips right into a cast iron loaf pan, like a glove.

Not to mention because of the heat retention, it will cook slightly faster that way.

Neat!

I entered a contest!

As if I need any more cast iron.

There's a contest going on right now on facebook: Whoever submits the best recipe for a camp oven, wins a free 6 quart camp oven.

The recipe must include carrots.

I decided to enter the contest with the following recipe, modified from a recipe I posted last october:

Heat up your camp oven over coals. Melt 2 tbsp butter.

Brown slices of flank steak in the butter.

Add canned potatoes and carrots. You can use raw cut up potatoes and carrots, but it will take longer to cook. You can also add mushrooms.

Mix 1 or 2 cans of cream of onion soup in milk, and pour over.

Put the lid on, put the coals on top and simmer for a few hours until done.

I don't know if I'll win or not, but if I do, I'll have another camp oven.

***UPDATE: here was the winning recipe:

Meatloaf Flower Dinner
4 lbs. extra lean ground beef 1 tsp. oregano
1 large yellow onion; diced 1 tsp. rosemary
2 cups bread cubes 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 cup milk 1/8 tsp. cumin
3 eggs 2 tsp. salt
1 small carrot; shredded 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 cup catsup 6-8 carrots
1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese 6 medium potatoes
2 tsp. thyme 10-20 asparagus spears
2 tsp. marjoram additional catsup as needed

In a small bowl add bread cubes and pack down. Add milk to bread cubes and allow to absorb.

To a large mixing bowl add beef, onions, bread and milk, eggs, grated carrot, catsup, cheese, and seasonings. Mix thoroughly. Place mixture in a 12" deep Dutch oven and spread it into a ring against the sides of the oven leaving a cavity in the center for vegetables. Cover the top of the meatloaf ring evenly with catsup.

Cut the carrots into halves lengthwise and the potatoes into quarters lengthwise. Trim the bottoms of the asparagus. Line the inside of the mealoaf ring with carrot halves. Inside the carrots stand potato quarters in a ring. Stand the asparagus spears in the center.

Roast using 12-14 briquettes top and bottom for 90 minutes. Rotate the Dutch oven and lid every 15 minutes.

an experimental chicken breast recipe

As I've said before, chicken breasts aren't my favorite thing.

Tonight I had two more to use up, so I tried an experimental recipe: marinated in worcestershire sauce, onion powder and garlic powder.

Hey, it works for steak, so why not chicken?

Put them in a skillet, with a lid so they wouldn't dry out in the oven.

Baked at 325 until done.

It was pretty good... for chicken breast.

Can crescent rolls be baked in a vienna bread pan?

This is a vienna bread pan.

Vienna bread pans are used for making... vienna bread!

I wondered if I could make crescent rolls (you know, the kind that come in a can) in the vienna bread pan.

Why? Can't you just use a cookie sheet?

Well, yes, but the vienna bread pan is specially shaped for making vienna rolls, which are very similar to crescent rolls.

The shape allows for better air circulation, than just laying them flat on a cookie sheet.

So I tried it tonight, and was happy with the results. They were rounded on the bottom instead of flat, and didn't overcook on the bottom.

Granted, the rolls were straight instead of curved, but who cares?

I've never actually made vienna bread. One day I will, I promise.

Do a little number on your chicken tonight

Chicken breasts aren't my favorite thing, but they are easy.

So I'm always looking for different ways to flavor them.

This time, I marinated them with Heinz 57 sauce.

Baked in the oven at 325 on a cast iron griddle.

Yes, it was that easy.

my first experience with enameled cast iron

Pictured above is an enameled cast iron pot.

I had written this article comparing enameled cast iron to regular cast iron.

Today was my first time using an enameled pot; I finally found one cheap enough to justify trying out.

I used it to slow cook beef brisket in the oven.

One thing I will say: It was fairly convenient to be able to put the pot directly into the fridge for overnight storage.

Usually I transfer the food to a bowl; You shouldn't store food overnight in regular cast iron.

Then the next day, I didn't have to transfer food from the bowl back into the pot, for reheating in the oven; It went directly from the refrigerator to the oven.

So, that did skip a few steps, since I didn't have to wash the pot or the bowl either.

I still stand by my regular cast iron, but I can see how enameled can be more convenient.

Yankee Ribs (smoked)

Tonight was my first experience with smoking meats outdoors.

I used the ultimate turkey roaster, a special dutch oven meant for roasting turkey.

It can also be used for smoking meats.

The instruction manual includes four additional recipes; one is for yankee ribs, which is what I made tonight.

Season beef back ribs with steak seasoning.

Put 1/2 cup of smoking chips in the bottom of the roaster*, then put the rack on top of the chips, then the ribs on top of the rack.

*I was told, after the fact, that it's best to soak the wood chips in water for a couple of hours before you smoke with them; As I'd never smoked before, I didn't know that, and the instruction manual didn't say to. Oh well.

Put the roaster on medium heat and leave the lid open a crack until it starts to smoke. Then put the lid completely on.

The recipe states that you can cook on low heat for 2 hours, or medium heat for 45 minutes.

I checked the ribs after 30 mins on medium heat, and they were done.

Keep in mind that since this pot has a convection cone, cooking times are faster. You could do the same thing in a regular cast iron pot, but it will take longer.

Coat the ribs with your favorite BBQ sauce and eat.

Honestly, I preferred the ribs I cooked three weeks ago.

These were OK, but I'm not a big fan of smoked meat. I prefer grilled or roasted, although I did want to try this recipe.

So at this point, I've used this pot to roast turkey outdoors and indoors, for ultimate veggies, and for smoked ribs.

The turkey, both times, was OK, although I prefer it fried or roasted in the oven.

The veggies were also good, but could have just as easily been done in a smaller pot.

This pot could be very useful as a smoker; I'm just not a fan of smoked meat.

I intend to try the recipes for cornish hen and ultimate roast soon.

After that, I don't know when or if I will ever use this pot again, although I don't regret buying it and learning about it.

I may sell it on craigs list. I'm torn, since it's discontinued and hard to find, yet it's also large, cumbersome, and a pain to clean.

But now I also have the ultimate dutch oven, which also has a convection cone, but is smaller, and includes a top rack as well as a bottom.

The can cooker challenge continues - tamales

Tonight's can cooker recipe was very simple: Tamales steamed in beer.

Yes, that's it! It doesn't tell you how to make the tamales themselves; You buy them premade from the store for this recipe.

I used the Lodge 7 quart pot, and a bread cooling rack for the steaming rack.

Pour 2 cans of beer in the bottom of the pot, and place the 12 tamales on the rack.

Set heat to medium high, then reduce to medium when you see steam.

Steam for about 30 minutes.

The beer gave it a nice flavor!

How many pounds of beef in a loaf pan?

Another search term that led to this blog was, how many pounds of beef can fit in a Lodge cast iron loaf pan?

When I make meatloaf, I use approximately a pound and a half of ground beef.

So I would say, up to two pounds, depending on what you're making.

Can I leave soup in cast iron overnight?

One cool feature about this blog, is the ability to see what search terms have led readers to it.

Someone apparently wanted to know if they can leave soup in cast iron overnight.

To answer that question, I personally would not, since cast iron rusts.

It can stay in the pot while dinner is being served, but I always transfer what's left into a plastic container, for overnight storage.

Hope that helps!

ultimate veggies

The makers of the ultimate turkey roaster figured you'd want to use it for more than just roasting turkey.

So the instruction manual included four additional recipes.

I would have liked more, but anyway.

One of those recipes is called "ultimate veggies".

This seems like an awfully big pot to cook what I consider a side dish, but I finally tried it.

This recipe was modified from the manual:

You need red potatoes, baby carrots, yellow onions quartered, whole mushrooms, grated cheese, 1 cup sour cream, 1 can cream of mushroom soup*, 1/2 stick butter, seasoned salt, and worcestershire sauce.

*I would have preferred cream of chicken soup, I think.

The original recipe called for white potatoes as well, and no worcestershire sauce.

It didn't call for whole garlic cloves, but I should have added those too.

Pour 1 cup of water at the bottom for steaming; I dissolved a spoonful of "better than bouillon" chicken flavor in the water.

Quarter the potatoes and add them first. Then the baby carrots, then the quartered onions, and the mushrooms. Mix 1/2 stick butter with the can of soup and sour cream*, and pour over the top.

*I should have diluted the soup with some milk. I didn't, and it had too much "bite".

Wait until it's almost done before you add the grated cheese.

I let it steam on the stovetop for 1/2 hour, checked for doneness, let it go a little more. When the carrots were soft, I added the grated cheese and let it go 10 more mins to let it melt.

Then added seasoned salt* and worcestershire sauce for flavor.

*The recipe called for a special camp chef seasoning, but "season all" seasoned salt worked just fine.

Because this pot cooks by steaming, the cheese didn't melt the way I like. The cheese would have been better melted under a broiler.

This recipe could have just as easily been done in a regular cast iron pot in the oven, although maybe not as fast, since the convection cone speeds up cooking.

The other recipes, besides turkey, are for smoked ribs, cornish hen, and ultimate roast. Eventually I'll try those too.

roasting turkey on the stovetop? no way!

I never dreamed it was even possible to roast turkey on the stovetop.

But the ultimate turkey roaster is meant to be used on a propane burner, which is essentially a stove. So why not the stovetop?

Before I go any further, let me say that this was NOT my preferred method of cooking turkey, and I probably won't do it again. But, it is indeed possible.

This should not be done in just any pot; The ultimate turkey roaster is specially designed for turkey.

It has a convection cone in the center, to allow for air circulation.

First I preheated the lid in the oven at 250.

Preheating the lid is absolutely essential, or it will be undercooked; I probably should have preheated it at 350.

I seasoned the turkey by melting a stick of butter in the microwave, then adding sage, seasoned salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and "better than bouillon" chicken base to the melted butter. Then stirred, and poured on the turkey.

Then I heated up the bottom part on the stove, and placed the turkey on the cone. Put the meat thermometer into the side, and then the preheated lid on top.

There's a small opening in the side, so you can have the meat thermometer readily visible, as you can see in the picture.

30 minutes into cooking, I added a 1/2 cup of water to the bottom to prevent scorching, per the instructions. Don't add too much liquid, because the result will be "steamed" turkey instead of roasted*.

*Once I tried it, it still tasted like "steamed" turkey instead of roasted. Dry heat in the oven is really the way to go.

It took about an hour and a half for the thermometer to reach 170.

When I removed the turkey and started carving, I noticed there was a hint of pink, so just to be sure, I put it uncovered in the oven at 300 for about 20 minutes. This helped to crisp the skin a little.

The turkey turned out pretty good, but I can't say that I care for this method of preparation.

I've tried several different methods to see which one I like best, and so far, the oven bag in a large cast iron skillet is in the lead.

Next time I will try "breast side down."

Italian venison feast, that wasn't venison

This was my 3rd can cooker website recipe, modified.

The recipe was called "Italian Venison Feast", but I didn't have any venison, so I used beef brisket.

My one mistake was putting too much stuff in the pot; The liquid bubbled up and spilled over the side of the pot. Don't make the pot too full!

I used my 9 quart pot.

The ingredients were: Brisket cut into cubes, cut up red potatoes, baby carrots, quartered onions, minced garlic*, half ears of corn, a bottle of Italian dressing**, a can of beef broth, seasoned salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder.

*whole garlic cloves would have been fine too.

**I should have used less than a full bottle. It would have been just as flavorful, believe me.

The original recipe called for celery but I left that out. I prefer beef stew (which is basically what this is) without celery.

Marinate the meat overnight in some of the italian dressing.

Put the everything into pot, on the stove on medium heat.

I reduced to low when the liquid spilled over, but it still spilled over. The pot had too much stuff in it*.

*That's why I should have used less than a full bottle of dressing.

In this case, I can see how the "vented locking lid" of the can cooker would have been an advantage. I didn't have the spillover issue before. It still cooked good though.

At some point I added a couple of spoonfuls of "better than bouillon" beef base and let it dissolve.

The italian dressing gave it a wonderful flavor.

This was my first time using brisket in stew, and I was impressed. I usually get a roast and cut it up; I'll definitely be using brisket from now on.

It was even better the second day, since the liquid thickened in the fridge overnight.

It would have been good with added mushrooms.

The can cooker challenge, part 2

My last post was about the can cooker; I am trying out their website's recipes, to prove that anything you can cook in a can cooker, you can cook in a cast iron pot.

This is a modified version of their ribs recipe, cooked in my 9 quart pot:

Full rack of ribs, pork or beef - I used beef back ribs.

Add Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, one quartered onion, minced garlic*, and 2 cans of beer.

*minced garlic, or whole garlic cloves.

Let the ribs steam in the beer for about an hour. Remove, place on a cast iron pizza pan, add your favorite BBQ sauce. I used KC masterpiece.

Place under the broiler until done.

The ribs were awesome. As with the seafood dish, I don't know if they would have been better done in the can cooker, but probably not; the cast iron pot worked wonderfully.

As for the can cooker's featured vented locking lid, which lets steam escape: With the cast iron pot, the steam escapes through the side of the lid.

the can cooker

This is a can cooker.

It's literally a 16 quart aluminum can, than can be used to cook food on the stove or outdoors.

It's very easy to use; You put your food in the can, put it on the stove or BBQ grill, and it cooks.

Which sounds to me, exactly like what you would do with a cast iron pot.

Food is cooked in the can cooker by steaming; You add a sufficient amount of liquid along with your food, to make a steamed one-pot meal.

I had a theory, that anything you can cook in a can cooker, you can cook in a cast iron pot.

I wondered if there was any "secret" to this can cooker; Does the shape of the can make a difference in how the food turns out? What about the vented locking lid?

I would soon find out, when I tried a modified version of the first recipe on the website.

I put the following in my 9 quart pot, on my indoor stove:

1 lb shrimp, 1 lb scallops, fresh broccoli, 8 half ears of corn, a quartered onion, some minced garlic*, fresh basil, dried basil, seasoned salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, 1 can beer, 12 oz white wine, 2 squeezed lemons.**

*fresh garlic cloves would have been fine too.

**leave the lemons in the pot while cooking, and remove when done.

The original recipe also called for crab legs and lobster tails; I omitted those to save money.

I let it cook on medium heat for 30 mins, then reduced to low until it was done.

It didn't take long, maybe an hour.

It was delicious. I don't believe there's any secret magic to the can cooker, that would have made it that much better; The cast iron pot did a fine job.

It could have used a little less liquid, but that's just a learning curve.

More recipes to come.

cast iron bake pot

This is a cast iron bake pot. As you can see, it looks exactly like an indoor dutch oven.

Because that's exactly what it is, with one notable exception: The bake pot, while the lid is not flat, it does have a distinct lip around the edge for holding coals in place.

Bake pots are sold in South Africa, where cooking outdoors in a potjie is very popular.

The main dish is cooked in the potjie, while the bread or dessert is cooked in the bake pot.

Potjies have a rounded bottom usually have legs; Bake pots have a flat bottom and usually have no legs.

Instead of putting the pot on a trivet over coals, as with traditional American dutch oven cooking, apparently they make a ring of coals around the pot.

The suggested baking technique is to grease the inside of the pot with butter or margarine, and put flour on top of the dough so it doesn't stick when rising.

A size 10 bake pot is 3 liters; Size 12, 5 liters; and Size 14, 9.5 liters.

What I learned today about the ultimate dutch oven

This is the ultimate dutch oven, by Camp Chef.

I've tried to research this particular piece of crockery, only to find a lot of hype, and not much practical stuff. I had questions about it, that I never could find answers to:

Does it fit in a volcano stove? Can it be used on the stovetop? Can the top be used on the stove as a skillet?

I finally got to hold one in my hands today and see for myself.

Yes, it fits in a volcano stove, which is designed to hold dutch ovens up to 12 inches.

It technically is not made for the stovetop*, due to the legs, although if you turn up the heat it's possible. But that is an inefficient use of fuel.

*On a gas stove it's OK, just remove the grate.

It can be used in the oven, if you take out the top rack, and put the bottom on the lowest tier.

The lid can be used over coals as a skillet as well as a griddle; Most dutch oven lids can only be used as a griddle.

And since the lid has its own legs, you don't need a lid stand to use it as a skillet or griddle.

But, you cannot use the lid on the stovetop, because of the handle. It will not sit level on the burner; The legs are too short.

Eventually I will actually use the ultimate dutch oven, to see if it really does cook so much faster than a regular dutch oven, as the company claims.

They also claim you don't need top heat for this, except for baking. I may try that out, or just use top heat anyway, since it's so windy here in North Texas.

Grilled pork steaks

I made grilled pork steaks last night. It's cold, so I grilled them inside.

Seasoned them with thyme, paprika and rubbed sage.

Heated up the cast iron grill pan, grilled the steaks, then finished off in the oven at 300.

Yes, it was that easy.

TV dinners on cast iron?

It's been so long since I've had a TV dinner; this was the first time, since I started using cast iron.

I've always commented that TV dinners come out of the microwave half cooked, half frozen.

They were originally meant to be cooked in the oven, but that was back when the trays were made of metal, not plastic.

So tonight, I dumped the contents onto a cast iron skillet, and baked in the oven at 350.

Much better that way!

Leftover sauce pork steaks

I had never seen or tried pork steaks before, but from what I'm told, they are prepared the same way as pork chops.

I used the sauce that I had cooked my crock pot roast in: cream of mushroom soup diluted in milk, with Lipton onion soup mix.

Laid out the pork steaks in my 13 1/4 inch skillet (since the 12 inch made them too crowded), poured over the sauce and baked at 350.

After about 45 minutes I lowered the heat to 300 until done.

Yes... it was that easy.

Two things I did not cook in cast iron this time

I actually cooked a couple of things this week, NOT in cast iron.

I used a crock pot and rotisserie, respectively, to cook two different roasts.

The rotisserie I got last Christmas as a gift, and never used it. So I never realized how easy it was to use.

The first roast was a rump roast, which I first browned in butter in a cast iron skillet.

Then in the crock pot, I added a can of cream of mushroom soup* mixed with milk, and one envelope of Lipton onion soup mix.

*you could also use cream of chicken soup.

Added the browned roast to the liquid, and set it on low.

The above could also have been done in a cast iron pot in the oven at 250 to 300.

The second roast was a bone-in prime rib, which I seasoned with garlic salt and that's it.

Stuck it on the rotisserie center, turned the dial and let it cook.

After it was done, I put it on "no heat rotation" to let it cool. Served with horseradish sauce.

This also could have been done in a cast iron pot in the oven.

How do you keep a cast iron charcoal grill outside?

My most recent acquisition is the Lodge sportsman's charcoal grill.

But I wondered how I could keep it on my back porch without it rusting?

There is a protective cover you can buy, but that would only protect the top; The bottom would still be sitting on patio stones, which get wet when it rains.

So I got the idea to order two of them. I put the first one on the bottom, and then the other over the top.

They are elastic on the bottom, so it fits snug.

Now it's nice and protected from rain and snow.

Does the water make a difference when boiling pasta?

Boiling pasta is one of the few things of which using cast iron is optional.

In other words, it doesn't make any difference in taste or consistency, whether you boil pasta in cast iron, or another kind of pot.

But I wondered if the water used to boil the pasta, made any difference.

See, the city water at my new house is terrible. I can't drink it, even with a filter. So we got a water cooler.

I wondered how that would affect boiling pasta; Would it make any difference in taste, if I used bottled water or city water?

So I experimented by dividing my pasta into two pots: one boiled in bottled water, and one in city water.

I sampled each batch several times. I don't know if it was a mind thing or not, but I did notice a very slight difference.

The pasta boiled in city water had a slight salty aftertaste, that the pasta boiled in bottled water did not have.

The difference was barely noticeable, mind you, but to me there was a slight difference.

I guess in the future, if I'm in a hurry and don't care, I'll use the city water.

But if I happen to be in a cook-off, or if someone happens to come over wanting to try my great cooking... bottled water it is.

I may or may not do this same experiment with rice. Actually, I prefer cooking rice in broth or stock.

One very little known advantage of cast iron

Here's an advantage of cast iron that almost no one realizes:

I've moved twice in the last five years, both times with a moving company.

Anyone who has used a moving company knows, they use tons of packing paper!

At the time of the first move, I used aluminum cookware, which is lightweight; unfortunately, one piece got lost in the mounds of packing paper, and inadvertently thrown away.

That will not happen with cast iron! It's so heavy, you won't miss it when unpacking!

I'm glad my kitchen finally resembles a kitchen, instead of a storage room with a stove.

I will be cooking daily again soon, and believe me that can not come soon enough!

Cooking on a gas furnace - do not try this yourself

First of all, please do not try this yourself.

If you try this, you do so at your own risk; I'm not responsible for any damages.

This should ONLY be done in a cast iron pot, WITH a lid. Use oven gloves.

Do not fill more than halfway; spillovers can cause a fire. Do not leave unattended.

I have a floor gas furnace in my new house, and it gets pretty hot. I decided to see if I could cook on it.

That is, if you call heating up a can of tomato soup, "cooking".

I figured, if it doesn't work, what do I lose-- a 50 cent can of soup?

It was slow to warm up, but when I checked it about 40 minutes later, it was boiling!

So I enjoyed a bowl of hot soup for lunch.

It's not ideal, since you have no control over the heat. But, if your electricity goes out and you have no gas stove...