Anybody out there grossed out with cast iron cookware?

[michaelman2]

Superocd, prob not the best of ideas to cook acidic things in cast iron. I have never tried, so only know what I have deduced and read. I have read the acidity can cause the seasoning to degrade and the contents will have an off taste in regular cast iron.

I have used a le creuset dutch oven for spaghetti sauce.

Other than that, the maintenance on cast iron is possibly more than say, stainless steel cookware. For many things, I believe cast iron is really a good cookware.

 

[stan]

Cast iron

If the pan is well seasoned a little soap and water won't hurt it. When ready to use, cast iron is pre heated first, then ur choice of fat is added, then whatever ur going to cook. Exactly the way stainless would be treated. Please explain what grand positive or gram negative bacteria will survive this process?

 

[earthling177]

Stan,

First off, there are some organisms, I forgot if they are bacteria or fungi, or maybe both, you can google and find out, but there are organisms that were found in highly acidic effluents from active volcanos.

Ah, there, found some examples, but there's more.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/robina...bility-of-life-inside-a-volcano/#30c484e51c1d

http://www.bitsofscience.org/extremophile-bacteria-archaea-volcano-6094/

http://all-geo.org/volcan01010/2014...-microbes-to-colonise-the-fimmvorduhals-lava/

https://www.newscientist.com/articl...es-discovered-on-volcano-soon-after-eruption/

Second, a professor of human psychology, I'm told, used to make his students go thru this experiment: they would take glasses right out of the dishwasher, or, when the classroom was bigger, distribute brand new disposable cups to the students.

The students were told to fill the cups with water and take a couple of sips. "All good?" he would ask. Everyone nodded yes. "Spit in the cups", he'd tell them, and they would. "Now drink the water", he'd say.

Very few people did. Most people were grossed out. By their own spit, which was inside their own mouths just a couple of seconds before.

A few questions that have been asked, in addition to the question asked by the original poster, and people dodged answering them.

Would you eat food cooked in a stainless-steel pot or aluminum pot with the same "patina" as a cast-iron pot? Or would you think the homemaker was subpar?

If it's not bad, why do we bother to wash all the other pots then? If the other pots *need* to be *cleaned*, why don't we clean cast-iron?

Now, going into a slightly different but related question: if the pot was soiled with mouse poo, or a bunch of mud or barn "junk", would you just chuck it into a roaring fire for an hour, wait for it to cool off, brush off the ashes and cook in it right away?

Or would you be too grossed out unless it was *washed* and *rinsed*?

There is no right or wrong answer here. One person feels it's "safe" and "clean enough" and the next person won't touch it until it has been cleaned and sterilized multiple times.

Sterile doesn't imply clean. One could dump ashes from a crematorium inside cast iron, brush it off, and I wonder how many people here would use that pot without washing? It's as sterile as it could be. It's still dirt, and it makes things it touches dirty. To me and many others anyway.

How about the rest of you? (No pun intended.)

 

[mrboilwash]

There`s plain cast iron and there`s enameled cast iron like Le Creuset skillets. The latter doesn`t leach extra iron into your diet and isn`t prone to rust easily but seems to have other drawbacks.

My grandmother had an enameled one in her electric range when not use. Apparently a seasoning is beneficial for this type of cast iron as well, as she only wiped it out with paper towels or washed it as a last item only when absolutely necessary which also left it with a thin coat of oil.
I vividly remember the rancid stench coming out of the oven when you opened the door. Yuck ! But I also remember she made the world`s best fried potatoes, schnitzels, potato pancakes and many other things in this skillet.

 

[gyrafoam]

Splitting hairs or trying to reinvent the wheel isn't going to change ages old cooking habits.

My take away is that seriously OCD,germophobic,or allergy prone people would NEVER eat out of their own home-----ever, or risk certain death by poisoning. After all, restaurants are known to be notoriously germ free environments.

 

[perc-o-prince]

I have a few cast iron pans that I use for cornbread. Basically, an 8" square, a round one that makes 8 wedges, and a cornstick one. All are well seasoned and the cornbread lifts right out. I wash them lightly with soap and hot water then dry them briefly on the burner and put them away when cool. The only oil/grease they see now is what's in the batter and whatever I use to lightly grease the heated pan before putting the batter in.

I love my enamel over cast iron as well. I have a few Le Creuset, mainly from yard sales, but also other brands like Olive & Thyme. The other brands are thicker cast iron. They're great for stewing and braising as they hold heat well and things will simmer on a relatively low setting. Plus, I can use them with gas, electric or induction! The only one I ever lost was one that was repeatedly put in the dishwasher. Maybe it was coincidence, but all my other ones still have a mostly shiny surface and clean up with ease.

Chuck

 

[jamiel]

"Dirty" and "clean" are very interesting concepts as you mention--there then is ritual cleanliness where, as a f'rinstance, orthodox Jews will immerse newly purchased cookpots (to kosher them) into the same mikvah (ritual bath) where people (primarily women) have just immersed their bodies. I always find it interesting strolling through wet markets in China/far East and seeing.observing the cleanliness of the activities while my nose twitches at the odors. I'd imagine the same type of twitchiness from someone from a non-dairy-intensive region visiting a dairy/cheese shop...you can see the gleaming stainless steel while still not registering a "clean" smell.

 

[gyrafoam]

Jamie

I don't know where you source your information, (perhaps Henry Fords Dearborn Independent of the 1920's),however, nothing could be further from the truth about the koshering process.

Everybody immerses their pots in a large kettle of boiling water. In the event a pot is made tref it can also be boiled. The old timers would bury it in the earth for a week and then clean and boil them. Anything can be made kosher simply by exposure to flame. So you can bake or broil some things with a gas stove or grill.

As an aside, a mikvah for human immersion must be constantly flowing fresh water------- not a pool!
Usually well water a stream or lake. If anyone did use the same source of water as the mikvah they would certainly use it before it got to human immersion.

 

[michaelman2]

Gyrafoam/Steve... thank you, I was wondering the same. So back to the issue at hand...I find cast iron a very durable, clean and functional choice for cookware.

Steve, thank you also for your wisdom on the koshering process. I don’t necessarily follow Kashrut, however I am familiar and I am glad you provided the facts/truth regarding Kashrut law and the actual process and thought behind the process.

Cookware made of cast iron is typically a nice standard in which to cook. Again, one can incur a bit more maintenance than other cookware, however I find it very durable and clean.

If proper cast iron maintenance is a bit too much... stuck with another cookware. It is quite simple. If it skeeves someone to think about cast iron cookware.... don’t stress, simply use something else.

 

[jamiel]

Sorry but I scarcely think Chabad.org equates to Henry Ford's antisemitsm….kindly withdraw your aspersion.

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/82673/jewish/Tevilah-Immersion-of-Vessels.htm

 

[gyrafoam]

Jamie---

you said and I will quote you "Jews will immerse newly purchased cookpots (to kosher them ) in the same mikvah (ritual bath) where people (primarily women) have just immersed their bodies". THAT is a LIE. Now, whatever reason you chose to distort the truth to fit whatever your agenda (anti-semite) is, you should at least "own" it.
I don't care a thing about what you "think". I do care about spreading that kind of prejudice especially amongst people who may not know any better.

 

[gyrafoam]

Returning to the topic at hand--------

I just used my iron roaster to make a fabulous brisket tzimmes loaded with sweet potatoes, prunes and carrots. There is just something special about using my old cookware.

 

[jamiel]

Fair point...term is the same, I misinterpreted the distinction.

 

[eurekastar]

I have my Grandmother's cast iron skillet that was a wedding gift to her and my Grandfather in 1920.  I never wash it with soap and water.  Sometimes I just wipe it clean.  Other times, I will scour it with hot water only and then dry and oil.  My favorite go to skillet is a carbon steel pan.  I have two of different sizes.  I've never washed with them soap and water either.  Just hot water and scour.  They get better with each use!

 

[norgeway]

you can bet

If you ever get to eat at Steves house you will be in for a real treat!!!

 

[mrboilwash]

When I come to think of it I`m not grossed out of my waffle iron either which is much harder to keep clean than any cast iron cookware, but I hate the rancid smell it leaves in the cupboard so much that I wouldn`t want to have anything else in my kitchen that requires an oil film.

So it`s only Teflon pans for me as they can go into the dishwasher.
Needless to say that anything you want to fry crispy in a thin Teflon pan sucks compared to cast iron.

 

[stan]

Superocd

Don't want to add stress to ur OCD
But I really think your better off concerning yourself with kitchen sponge or dish cloths.
These are often over looked, and can be more worrisome than cast iron cook ware.
A quick fix can be..Kitchen sponge can be wet, and put into the microwave to kill bacteria.
This saves having to replace, or bleaching the sponge.

 

[norgeway]

The real issue about cast iron

Is the new Lodge stuff is to my mind, worthless, its as rough as sandpaper and all the seasoning in the world wont make it useable, All mine is ancient...and smooth as silk, All of my Grandmothers cast iron is Griswold, and I also have some Wagner, None of the new junk.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

AMKrayo-Kast I-Ron:

This small pan here came with a brownie mix that I bought and made long ago, and is genuine cast iron, though probably ranking with the inferior new stuff...

As for whether or not it's reusable, I don't know... So being fraught with the high maintenance Iron demands, after that brownie came out, it (as shown in the second photo) just became used as a (and appropriate for a kitchen) wall decoration...

-- Dave

 

[stan]

Dave

Not sure I'd say it's inferior..it may be compaired to the old stuff?
My cast irin is all old smooth stuff, and I have 7 different pans.
What I do know is that once the pan is seasoned, their fairly low mantainence
I also know that the best thing you can do for cast iron pans is to...use them.
More they get used the better they perform
You may get a good pan out of it by just cooking in it.