I learned so much from this post! My husband uses Dutch ovens for his breads and he takes good care of them. Hopefully, he will pass them down to the younger generations of bakers in our family. I'm going to share this post with my sibs and daughter, as they are bakers all. Thanks for such a great read in the early morning hours of Texas, accompanied with my favorite coffee.
I bought my first piece of cast iron from the basement of a junk shop in Knoxville. It was around the corner from the JFG food plant where I roasted and packed coffee and canned peanut butter and mayonnaise. Youth!
The upper floor of the shop held nice antiques, the basement, junk.
A long steel cable ran across one room that was reserved for cast iron skillet. A hundred or so, rusty, flaky, decrepit looking outcasts.
$1.50 for a 10" with twin spouts. I scrubbed it and seasoned it 4 times. It hasn't stuck anything yet in over 40 years.
For a while I lived in a house in the Blue Ridge mountains that had only wood for cooking and heating. I used that skillet and a cast iron griddle for everything. I cooked on an 1865 model Engman-Mathews Range Eternal wood cook stove. That is when I learned that the eye plates on the stove had different sizes that corresponded to the rims on the bottom of some cast iron pots and pans so if you removed one closest to the fire box and put the pan over the hole you had the fastest and hottest temperature for fast frying.
The farthest eye from the fire box was the "back burner" for keeping things warm.
I have more stories, but for now they'll just sit on that back burner.
Great post! Isbell, Foxfire, and precious memories.
The picture of the woman tending the potatoes in the Dutch oven looks so much like my great grandmother. She work the same shoes, nylons, apron, everything. She was the best cook and always used cast iron.
This is the first article of yours that I have read, and it was so interesting! My husband taught me the ways of cast iron, we didn’t have them in my family growing up but I have become educated and deem them superior to all other cooking materials now. We were at an Airbnb once and there was a beautiful cast iron skillet in the kitchen that we used daily for our meals while we were there. We cleaned, greased and seasoned it before we left and the hosts said we were the only guests so far who had showed so much respect for the cast iron. RESPECT THE CAST IRON :)
First of all Welcome, Megyn! I'm delighted you are here and that you found the piece interesting. "RESPECT THE CAST IRON" YES! Couldn't have said it better.
When I first visited my (soon to be) wife at her apartment in Manhattan, all she had in her refrigerator was a bottle of champagne and a bar of chocolate. On my next visit (I lived in Seattle) I brought her a 10" cast iron pan, a chef's knife and two quarts of hand picked blackberries. We bought some New Jersey peaches and made a cobbler. Long story short, we still have her pan and use it when we need more that one (I've been using mine for forty plus years), and we still look forward to peach and blackberry season.
So much good information! I don't know what happened to my Mom's cast iron pans, but I wish I had them. I do have a fairly new lodge skillet, and I use it all the time. Happy May Day, Kate❤️
I think my first cast iron pan came from Ikea! It had a wooden handle than meant it really wasn't suitable for going from the stovetop to the oven and was retired long ago. But it did covert me to cast iron. I've since expanded my collection with much better quality cast iron pans that I'm sure will long out last me.
I rescued a family heirloom pan that looked very much like the "before and after" photo in your post. I think that pan is close to 200 years old now. My mom just left it out on the patio and I watched it rusting under a pile of other stuff, for years. After she passed, I decided to see what I could do with it. Using just my instincts, I cleaned it and seasoned it (several times) and it has served me well for almost 30 years now. I love cast iron!
I love that you included a photo for Aunt Arie, and the Foxfire recipe for cornbread. I live in Rabun County , GA, home of Foxfire. There is a museum of log buildings and lots of classes ongoing, including one frequently offered on wood stove cooking. I took a class there, and we baked pies on a wood stove! https://www.foxfire.org/
I learned so much from this post! My husband uses Dutch ovens for his breads and he takes good care of them. Hopefully, he will pass them down to the younger generations of bakers in our family. I'm going to share this post with my sibs and daughter, as they are bakers all. Thanks for such a great read in the early morning hours of Texas, accompanied with my favorite coffee.
Mary, I hope they will be passed down as well along with some of his recipes for bread!
I bought my first piece of cast iron from the basement of a junk shop in Knoxville. It was around the corner from the JFG food plant where I roasted and packed coffee and canned peanut butter and mayonnaise. Youth!
The upper floor of the shop held nice antiques, the basement, junk.
A long steel cable ran across one room that was reserved for cast iron skillet. A hundred or so, rusty, flaky, decrepit looking outcasts.
$1.50 for a 10" with twin spouts. I scrubbed it and seasoned it 4 times. It hasn't stuck anything yet in over 40 years.
For a while I lived in a house in the Blue Ridge mountains that had only wood for cooking and heating. I used that skillet and a cast iron griddle for everything. I cooked on an 1865 model Engman-Mathews Range Eternal wood cook stove. That is when I learned that the eye plates on the stove had different sizes that corresponded to the rims on the bottom of some cast iron pots and pans so if you removed one closest to the fire box and put the pan over the hole you had the fastest and hottest temperature for fast frying.
The farthest eye from the fire box was the "back burner" for keeping things warm.
I have more stories, but for now they'll just sit on that back burner.
Great post! Isbell, Foxfire, and precious memories.
Thanks so much, Michael! And thank YOU for the glimpse into your cast iron and wood cookstove history. Back burner stories are the best!
The picture of the woman tending the potatoes in the Dutch oven looks so much like my great grandmother. She work the same shoes, nylons, apron, everything. She was the best cook and always used cast iron.
I remember some older women from my earliest years that looked like that and were great cast iron cooks, too.
yes! i inherited several and bought a newer, Lodge, one. great so far....50 years for most of them
They are affordable investments. Here's to 50+ more years!
This is the first article of yours that I have read, and it was so interesting! My husband taught me the ways of cast iron, we didn’t have them in my family growing up but I have become educated and deem them superior to all other cooking materials now. We were at an Airbnb once and there was a beautiful cast iron skillet in the kitchen that we used daily for our meals while we were there. We cleaned, greased and seasoned it before we left and the hosts said we were the only guests so far who had showed so much respect for the cast iron. RESPECT THE CAST IRON :)
First of all Welcome, Megyn! I'm delighted you are here and that you found the piece interesting. "RESPECT THE CAST IRON" YES! Couldn't have said it better.
Cast Iron for the win! Rabbit(hole), Rabbit (hole), Rabbit (hole)!!! 🐇 🐇 🐇 😉
Yes! Happy May to you, Jolene!
When I first visited my (soon to be) wife at her apartment in Manhattan, all she had in her refrigerator was a bottle of champagne and a bar of chocolate. On my next visit (I lived in Seattle) I brought her a 10" cast iron pan, a chef's knife and two quarts of hand picked blackberries. We bought some New Jersey peaches and made a cobbler. Long story short, we still have her pan and use it when we need more that one (I've been using mine for forty plus years), and we still look forward to peach and blackberry season.
What a thoughtful gift and beautiful story, Thomas! May you have many more sweet and savory years together.
So much good information! I don't know what happened to my Mom's cast iron pans, but I wish I had them. I do have a fairly new lodge skillet, and I use it all the time. Happy May Day, Kate❤️
Thanks, Pam, and Happy May Day to you, too.
I think my first cast iron pan came from Ikea! It had a wooden handle than meant it really wasn't suitable for going from the stovetop to the oven and was retired long ago. But it did covert me to cast iron. I've since expanded my collection with much better quality cast iron pans that I'm sure will long out last me.
Oh the stories they could tell!
I rescued a family heirloom pan that looked very much like the "before and after" photo in your post. I think that pan is close to 200 years old now. My mom just left it out on the patio and I watched it rusting under a pile of other stuff, for years. After she passed, I decided to see what I could do with it. Using just my instincts, I cleaned it and seasoned it (several times) and it has served me well for almost 30 years now. I love cast iron!
Now THAT is wonderful, Mel!
I’m quite taken by the Gem Pan…
I think it’s rather sweet, too.
I love that you included a photo for Aunt Arie, and the Foxfire recipe for cornbread. I live in Rabun County , GA, home of Foxfire. There is a museum of log buildings and lots of classes ongoing, including one frequently offered on wood stove cooking. I took a class there, and we baked pies on a wood stove! https://www.foxfire.org/
This is wonderful to hear! I love Foxfire and it is wonderful the these important skills and traditions are being kept alive.