I wiped my boots on the rug.

 Okay, so I cannot exactly say that my addiction hobby of finding, collecting, and refurbishing cast iron started because I inherited Great Great Grand-Uncles stew pot he used during the Civil War and only on Sundays. It actually started because I wiped my feet on the entry rug when I entered a tiny little Antique Store in Sequim, WA. This place is called Two Sparrows. I live about 65 miles away. I was actually up near the Olympic National Forest doing some prospecting for gold. One of my other addictions hobbies. At any rate, I walked in to the place actually looking for Fiesta Ware for my wife. She collects the stuff. I like to find it for her. She likes Fiesta, I like Hollow Ware. It is one of those live and let live relationships I suppose. But here I go digressing again... When I entered the building, the owner noticed I wiped my feet. Without hesitation she says, "Would you rent a booth from me?"

  Naturally, I was quite taken aback. I had never been offered a business opportunity the moment I walked into a door so I asked her, "Why?".

  "Well, you wiped your feet on the rug. Not many people do that and if you respect my business that much I figure you would be a good vendor."

  The next question I had for her was, "What should I sell?" Her two word answer is what started it all:

 "Cast Iron."

  Well, that conversation became an obsession for me. I focused on cast iron hollow ware, started learning the different brands. I wanted to become an 'expert' knowing there when it comes to hollow ware, there really aren't any experts. There are folks that know more than others or know how to do things differently than others but no real experts. All I know is that I found a useful hobby, something that people can get a real benefit out of. Using and restoring cast iron preserves a little bit of American History. I get to talk to folks about how they use there skillets and pots and pan. I can help them find a skillet or kettle or dutch oven that is a perfect fit for their cooking style and family. For me it is quite a rewarding event.

 One of the most encouraging 'In the Wild' finds that I had while I hunting for cast iron was this little gem. No really, its a gem. This style of pan is called a "Gem Pan". Specifically this one is No. 9. Variation 6 Griswold Golf Ball Gem Pan. Otherwise known as the Brownie Cake Pan. PN 947. 

Griswold No 9. Golf Ball Gem Pan P/N 947. Before.

   The above picture is how I found this pan. As you can see there is some light surface rust. There is also the remains of some seasoning. Not a good way to display it. Here is a picture of the other side. 

The other side.

  Using some of the methods that i describe in this page of my website www.castironjim.com I was able to restore this neat little pan to a usable condition. Specifically, I implemented the Self Clean Oven and the Seasoning technique. The next couple of pictures are the result.

After Re-seasoning, Bottom.

After Re-seasoning, Top.

 I have this little guy mounted right above my stove in the kitchen. Much to my wife's chagrin, it probably the only thing in the house that I dust on a regular basis. There is simply something about finding that little gem in the wild, restoring it and having the pan available for use whenever I want.
  Well, that's all for today. Please send me your story of that exciting find! I would love to hear the tale. If you would like me to share it, please let me know, and I will pick a few for future posts. You can send your photo's and story to jim@castironjim.com.
 Happy Hunting! And until next time, Cast Iron Jim out.

Cast Iron Jim's Savory Cornish Game Hens



Cast Iron Jim's Savory Cornish Game Hens





Almost done!

     I truly enjoy cooking with my cast iron. One of the first things I attempted to cook in my Dutch Oven was a Cornish Game Hen recipe that I found a long time ago. I modified it to work well using in hollow ware. You can further modify this to use to use this in a larger or smaller Dutch Oven. Halve the recipe if cooking for one adult. Double the recipe if cooking for four adults. Cut one of these mini-chickens in half, length wise to serve to two mini-adults! You get the idea.

     You might notice that the lid to the Dutch Oven is sitting on the oven rack next to the pot. Truth be told you don’t actually need the lid for this recipe. Out of habit I preheated the pot and lid at the same time when I cooked these little chickens. I just set the lid next to the pot and left it there throughout the cooking. Wouldn’t want the pots lid to get lonely I suppose.

The things you need to make this happen.

1.  2 Cornish Game Hens, thawed

2.  Salt to taste

3.  Pepper to taste

4.  1 lemon quartered.

5.  4 sprigs fresh rosemary 2 for stuffing 2 for garnish if desired.

6.  About 3 tablespoons Olive Oil.

7.  12 large pealed cloves garlic (each should approximately fill a table spoon). You might

need to get two bulbs.

8.  1/3 cup white wine. Get the bottle. I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even use it as an ingredient!

9.  1/3 cup chicken broth. I use the low-sodium style. Helps have more control over the salt to taste part.

10.  About ½ tablespoon of Coconut oil.

11.  A little bit of flower if desired for gravy.

 

How to get it done.

1.    Preheat the oven and cast iron Dutch Oven to about 450F.

2.    Once the Dutch Oven is hot, coat the bottom or trivet if using with the coconut oil This will help keep the hen from sticking to the pan.

3.    Using about a tablespoon of olive oil rub down the hens. Season with salt and pepper. Stuff each hen with a sprig of rosemary and a quarter of the lemon. Place into the pre-heated and oiled Dutch Oven. Shimmy each mini-chicken after it has seared for a few seconds a little to keep the hen from falling apart when you remove it from the pot. Scatter the garlic evenly around the hens. Place the Dutch Oven uncovered and let roast for 25 minutes.

4.    Lower the oven temp to 350F. In a mixing bowl, whisk the wine, remaining olive oil and chicken broth thoroughly. Pour the mixture over the hens and put the hens back in the oven for 25 minutes. Baste the hens with the juices in the pot every 8-10 minutes.

5.    Once complete put the hens into a dish with foil or something suitable covering the mini-chickens to keep warm and let them finish cooking. Pour the pan juices and garlic out into a medium saucepan (AKA a Griswold or Wagner Deep Fat Fryer). Boil down the liquid into a sauce. You can slowly add a little flour while mixing if you want to make a gravy.

6.    Arrange your mini-hens and spoon sauce (gravy) over the hens. Garnish with the rosemary.

7.    Devour.

As always you can find a lot more information on cast iron hollow ware at my website: www.castironjim.com. Until next time, Cast Iron Jim out.

Cast Iron & Glass Top Stoves

'I Don't Use Cast Iron Because I have a Glass Top Stove.'

     Quite possibly the heading of this post is one of the most disturbing comments that I hear as a collector, user and seller of cast iron hollow ware. The observation that somebody cannot use cast iron because they have a glass top stove. So I have decided to create a post with visual proof that cast iron is okay to use on a glass top stove.



This is a glass top stove. It is about 3 years old.

    My wife asked me to make steak, rice and canned corn for dinner. Though I would not have thought to come up with that combination, I figure why not? So the first step is to get the rice cooking, because that takes the most amount of time for this dinner. About twenty - thirty minutes or so I figured. So here is the first cast iron pot. It is a Griswold Deep Fat Fryer. I use it as a sauce pot. Unloaded it weighs about 5 lbs. 3 oz. With the rice, water glass lid it weighs 6 lbs.



Rice getting ready to boil.


     I chose to use a No. 10 3-Notch Lodge Skillet to cook the steak. This skillet weighs in right at 7 lbs. Keep in mind that it is important to slowly heat the cast iron. Both the Deep Fryer and the Skillet will heat up over the course of about 10-15 minutes. The nobs have a scale of 1-8 on them. I have the rice set to a 3.5 and the skillet is at a 3. I almost never cook at anything hotter than these settings and I find that they are a nice slow heat up.


Heating up the No. 10 3-Notch Lodge Skillet for the steak.

     Next thing to get started is the corn simmering. I like to cook canned corn slowly. Perhaps it is a habit I developed elsewhere. Any rate, I only have one Deep Fat Fryer (Sauce Pan). So I will be using a heavy duty Commercial Brand Aluminum Ware 1.5 qt. sauce pan that weighs in at 3 lbs. with the food added.



Corn and rice simmering, with the Lodge warming up.

     Finally the pan is hot enough to add some steak. After adding enough LouAna Coconut Oil to cover the skillet, I added about 1.5 lbs. of steak. The weight of the skillet is now 8 lbs.



And now STEAK!

     The rice and corn is now done. The steak is finished cooking. All I used to season the steak was pepper and salt. As you can see, the top of the stove is still intact with no damage. Total weight sitting on the stove top is 17.5 lbs. The fact of the matter is it is not any more hazardous or dangerous to cook on a glass top stove using cast iron versus any other type of cookware. I have been doing it on this stove for years. 

All done!

     So how is it that I can be absolutely positive that this is safe? Well the picture below represents what I would consider the most hazardous type of cooking that I do. As in pressure canning. The two sauce pans on the left will weigh about 8 lbs. on their own when filled with water and whatever produce I am getting ready to can. The canning pot on the right will hold about 4 gallons of water plus however many quart or pint jars filled with produce that I happen to be canning that day. But for simplicity lets assume that there is a total of 5 gallons of water contained inside the pressure canner. The pressure canner itself weighs in at 10 lbs. Water weighs about 8 lbs. per gallon. That makes it about 40lbs of water inside the canner for a total of 50 lbs. Plus the 8 lbs. for everything else. When I do my seasonal canning, the top of that stove supports nearly 60lbs of pressurized, boiling liquids. And it does its job admirably. The final point is why I always stress to my customers that it is completely okay to cook with cast iron on a glass top stove. That being said, cooking in the kitchen no matter what the method is inherently dangerous. Things in there are all hot and boily. Be careful, use your gloves when necessary. Keep the kids under constant supervision. Don't let the cats sniff the pots. Please use caution when cooking.



Representation of my canning habits.

Good Bye to a Pancake

   I suppose I will start this blog by saying goodbye to an old friend. I found this Cast Iron Chuck Wagon lid pictured on the left a few months ago 'in the wild' as the folks in the cast iron collecting community will say. I had a particularly enjoyable time digging this lid out of an old dilapedated and closed down junk shop. I happened to be driving by the place when it was getting cleaned out. I stopped and asked if they had any cast iron. The folks doing the cleaning said they did! Boy, did I get lucky that day. I found this lid and several other items. I was even able to find a beautiful and large cauldron that day. You can see a few pictures of that beauty here.
  This particularly large lid is a No. 10 lid. It was made by Wagner Ware in the late 1950's after they acquired the Griswold Mfg Company. You wouldn't know that by finding a name anywhere on it. The only real identifying marking is actually the number 10 and the shape of the handle. Fortunately, I had some help myself with figuring out who made it from my friends over here at the Wagner And Griswold Society.. 

   The nice thing about this goodbye is that this will be going to somebody who needs this lid. I imagine they have a base that it will fit to, and they will be able to re-awaken a great piece of Americana.

   Until next time, stay safe and Cast Iron On!