The Care and Keeping of Cast Iron

I mentioned that I seasoned some cast iron pieces during the recent ice storm. I found this great little heart pan at a thrift store a while back, and I had also been given this little fajita pan.  It appears that someone had used the heart pan without seasoning it, so they had trouble with their baked goods sticking. That didn't deter me a bit from buying it, since I love cast iron and I knew I could clean it up and season it easily. I had been meaning to season these pieces for a while, and there's nothing like being stuck in your house to spur you to get things done.

There's tons of information on the web about cast iron, but I think often it can sound really fussy. Actually, it's pretty easy to care for and almost indestructible. Seasoning cast iron is very simple. It involves coating the pan with a layer of fat, which bakes on (polymerizes) to create a non-stick surface. The first step is to remove any rust spots. Steel wool works great. Then wash it in soap and water, and dry it well.  Thoroughly coat the whole piece with shortening or lard. Coconut oil works well, too. Vegetable oil will do in a pinch, but it's not ideal for seasoning it the first time as it tends to get brown. Butter and margarine will not work. Once your cast iron is well coated on all sides, put it in a 300 degree oven for an hour. It's best to set the piece upside down, which helps to keep the fat from pooling. You might want to put a baking sheet or foil on a rack below to catch any that might drip off.

After I had baked these pieces for one hour, I let them cool a little, coated them again and baked them for one more hour. You don't have to do it twice, but if you have time, it certainly doesn't hurt.  The pieces won't seem much different, although they may have a few spots where you can see cooked on oil. That's fine. Also, water should bead on it. Here they are after being seasoned. A little darker and shinier perhaps (part of that may be due to this picture being taken after the sun went down), but I think the main difference you can see is that the heart pan is clean.

When caring for your seasoned cast iron, it's usually recommended that you don't use soap. Just scrape it out and rinse well with hot water. Definitely don't put it in the dishwasher. A bowl scraper is my main cleaning tool for my cast iron skillets. You can scrub burned on bits with salt or steel wool, if needed.  Also, I say go ahead and use soap if you feel it's called for.  It's really no big deal. I've washed old, well-seasoned pans with soap with no problems. I just give it a coat of oil afterward, and it's perfectly fine. I will try to avoid soap with these new pans for a while, though. You can see the difference in the color between the new pan and one of my old skillets here. Cast iron turns black with repeated use.

Do always make sure to dry cast iron very thoroughly before you put it away, because you don't want it to rust. For the same reason, don't store food in it, or leave it to soak. But if it does get rusty, it's not ruined. You can just clean the rust off and re-season it. Usually it's recommended that you lightly coat cast iron with fat before storing it, but for a well-seasoned piece that you use frequently, that's not really necessary. It is good to do that for pieces that haven't developed the black patina yet, or if it's something that you won't be using again for a while, though.

Naturally if it's St. Valentine's Day, and you have a freshly seasoned cast iron heart pan, the thing to do is bake a little heart-shaped something for your sweetheart. I hope your day was sweet as well.

18. Knit some more dishcloths--Check

Since I took a break from blogging, I had sort of forgotten my 33 before 33 list. I have accomplished a few of the things on the list, but several of the goals are definitely out of reach at this point. I only have 2 more months! I have knitted several new dishcloths, though, and I have another on the needles right now. This was definitely one of the simpler items on the list. I really enjoy knitting them, and James and I like using them, so I'm trying to build up a good supply. Since we favor them, they tend to wear out.

This is the pattern I've been using for the dishcloths.  I usually put the stripe off center. I've it made it in variegated yarn without the stripe, too. I've learned that I prefer darker colored yarn, like the one above, as the light colored ones show stains quickly. This is currently my favorite pattern and color combination.  I like knitting dishcloths because they're a very portable knitting project, and they're quick and satisfying.

Getting My House in Order: Refrigerator

So, as I mentioned, the ice storm last week gave me plenty of time to get some projects done around the house. The biggest accomplishment was cleaning out the refrigerator, which probably hadn't been done since some time in the summer. It was sorely in need of cleaning and organization, as you can see:

It was a pretty straight-forward project, but it took me a whole afternoon to get it done.  I pulled everything out of the refrigerator one shelf at a time, sorting things as I went.  Then I cleaned off each shelf in the sink before pulling out the next shelf.  Once I had cleaned all the shelves and drawers, I wiped out the interior, dried and reinstalled the shelves, and returned the keepers.  Then I repeated the whole process with the door. My dish washer was about 2/3rds full, and I filled it with the newly emptied containers and ran it immediately. That was handy for banishing odors from a few things which were spoiled.
 
As I was sorting, I paid a lot of attention to the things that I had let go to waste. I wanted to better organize things and establish a system to make sure we eat what we buy and don't let things turn into science experiments. The main trouble spots I identified were: leftover odds and ends, an insane number of lemon and lime slices, a surplus of homemade salad dressings, and fresh herbs.

The solutions I've come up with for these problem areas are:

1. I designated the top shelf for leftover odds and ends that need to be used up.  We don't usually have a problem with leftover meals going to waste. It's things like half a can of re-fried beans, leftover toppings and sauces, and way too many slices of lemons and limes in tiny containers that make their way to the back of the fridge to die. Hopefully having all these things corralled in one place will help us use things up, and will prevent us from slicing a new lemon when there's half of one already cut.  I'm trying to monitor the shelf and utilize the contents in meals or put things in the freezer before they've been hanging around too long.

2. I'm trying to make only enough dressing for the salad I've made that night. I realized that when I make too much, we just don't end up using it.

3.When I buy fresh herbs, I'm going to try freezing half the bunch in ice cube trays immediately after I've bought it. I almost never use a whole bunch of cilantro or parsley, so it turns to green goo in the produce drawer. Yuck.

So here is the after, almost one week later. The contents have rotated a fair amount. So far the new system is working well, although a week isn't really enough to know if it's standing the test of time.

I'm really pleased with the result. I haven't decided the best use for the top right hand section of the door, though. It has a really flimsy shelf, so I need to make sure I don't put anything heavy there. Right now it has essential oil and ginger for sushi. Also, I can't believe how soon I'll be finding a new use for the eggs/dairy section! Lent is quickly approaching. I'll probably put packed lunches there then. Right now I have that with the breads, just to distinguish it from other leftovers. 

What do methods do you find helpful for managing the refrigerator?