Cast Iron Love

Last year for Christmas, Scott gave me this cast iron dutch oven. This thing is no joke either, it’s heavy!

I admit that I haven’t used it very much because it’s an odd size.  It’s not small but it’s not big enough to make soups in either. I was unsure what to do with it but I am making a promise to myself to use it more.

I do love it!

Sunday night I realized that this pot would be prefect for cooking up a huge batch of collards and I was right.  This cast iron dutch oven was the perfect size!

I’m going to try and find more ways to start using this pot.  My first thought is perhaps making some baked beans.  Anyone have any great baked beans recipe?  I would like to make the baked beans from scratch as this is something I’ve never done before.

I’ve got a great cast iron skillet as well that I’ve made cornbread in.

And I’ve used it to make pizza!

Cast iron can be so useful! Plus you can add iron to your diet just by cooking with cast iron.  Yup, it’s true! Foods cooked in cast iron will absorb the iron and then you take in that iron when you eat the food.  So if you’re looking to add a little more iron in your diet without having to take supplements, give cast iron cooking a try!

Have you cooked with cast iron before?

14 thoughts on “Cast Iron Love

  1. I have a cast iron pan but I don’t know how to use it. I did hear about cooking steak in it this morning. You get the pan really hot then sear each side of the steak then put the pan in the over to finish cooking the steak. Image that with some olive oil and garlic. You try it and let me know if it is good! :)

  2. Like Monica, we cook our steak in a cast iron grill pan using the Alton Brown method. You heat the pan in the oven, take it on and put it on a hot stove, toss the steak on and sear both sides, then finish off with 30 seconds to 3 minutes per side in the oven (depending on doneness…we like rare to medium).

    I also have a cast iron skillet that we use for cornbread and hopefully for fried chicken! We need to season both pans a bit more before we do anything like baked beans or things like that. Did you have any issues with the dough sticking to the cast iron pan when you made pizza in there?

    • Jess, I didn’t have a problem with the dough sticking though I did rub the pan down with butter before putting the dough in. I would imagine some olive oil would work well too.

  3. We use cast iron for almost everything. We cook eggs, quesadillas, bread and more in the skillet.

    The dutch oven is most oven used for large cuts of meat like pork butt. We sear it over the stove, add liquids and aromatics, transfer to the oven and come back in a few hours for falling apart meat.

  4. Cast Iron is awesome! I’ve got 2 skillets and a big-ass 7 qt Dutch Oven that’s great for making chili and for making slow braised things like pulled pork. I’ve also got a couple Le Creuset pieces from dumpster diving years ago that I just love. the 2 0r 3 quart dutch oven is perfect for making rice and the terrine/loaf pan? well, I’ve never found a use for that.

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