Looking to get a cast iron skillet

workaccount

I can't find any for sale really from Irish sites. Ebay does not have many. Amazon.co.uk only ship to UK. Aaaaagh.

I'm just looking for something that does not break the bank, is non-stick...pre-seasoned maybe.

Anyone know where I should look? I am in Galway city...I'm not sure if there is a market there that would sell them. I do know there is a food market on Saturdays...I might check that out.

dudara

Years ago I got a set of cast-iron skillets (3 different sizes for €20) from a housewares stall in the English Market in Cork. Have a look around cheap homewares stores - they might be lurking in there. Best money I ever spent. They are fantastic.

Plus, you have the sales coming up now, so maybe some of the department stores, i.e. Debenhams, might have skillets reduced in the sales.

workaccount

Oh I didn't think that those kind of stores would sell them. So you think the cheap ones are as good as the more expensive or do you reckon you were just lucky?

rockbeer

Hardly worth buying cast if you want non-stick, I wouldn't have thought.

Nisbets do traditional season-it-yourself cast skillets for pocket money:
http://www.nisbets.ie/products/ProductList.asp?TopGroupCode=C4&ParentGroupCode=S58&GroupCode=1561

workaccount

rockbeer wrote: »

Hardly worth buying cast if you want non-stick, I wouldn't have thought.

Nisbets do traditional season-it-yourself cast skillets for pocket money:
http://www.nisbets.ie/products/ProductList.asp?TopGroupCode=C4&ParentGroupCode=S58&GroupCode=1561

Very cheap these alright. I will give them ago I think.
Anybody know if these would be non-stick though. That would be necessary as I plan on using it for omlettes etc.

rockbeer

I have a couple of these, and no they aren't non-stick, at least not in the teflon sense, but properly seasoned cast is the best cooking surface you will ever use imho. I use mine for omelettes (and just about everything else) no problem now they're well seasoned - you probably wouldn't want to do this in the first few weeks though.

What I would say is, if you've never used raw cast iron cookware, it may take a bit of getting used to. But again I have to ask why would you bother buying cast if you want a teflon-coated pan? The whole point of cast, to me at least, is the fantastic cooking surface of the raw metal.

If you're tempted and need advice on how to season them, just ask.

workaccount

rockbeer wrote: »

I have a couple of these, and no they aren't non-stick, at least not in the teflon sense, but properly seasoned cast is the best cooking surface you will ever use imho. I use mine for omelettes (and just about everything else) no problem now they're well seasoned - you probably wouldn't want to do this in the first few weeks though.

What I would say is, if you've never used raw cast iron cookware, it may take a bit of getting used to. But again I have to ask why would you bother buying cast if you want a teflon-coated pan? The whole point of cast, to me at least, is the fantastic cooking surface of the raw metal.

If you're tempted and need advice on how to season them, just ask.

Yeah it's the cooking surface that I want (I think - proper heat distribution etc.). I've also heard they can give better flavour.

When it's well seasoned will stuff still stick to it?

rockbeer

workaccount wrote: »

Yeah it's the cooking surface that I want (I think - proper heat distribution etc.). I've also heard they can give better flavour.

There are a couple of things to consider:

1. The material (e.g. cast iron, aluminium, stainless steel etc.). This affects the way the pan works with the heat e.g. how fast it heats up, how well/evenly it distributes the heat, how long it retains it,how hot it gets etc. etc.

2. The surface (e.g. bare metal or non-stick teflon coating). This affects the way food behaves in the pan, flavour etc. Some bare metal surfaces (aluminium, stainless) are not great for frying as stuff tends to stick. Personally I hate teflon as you can't go near it with metal and I'm never convinced bits of it aren't flaking off into the food. Cast iron, however, is slightly absorbent and develops a natural non-stick coating which imho cooks food better than any other bar none and gives it wonderful flavour if the metal is treated properly.

So to answer your next question

workaccount wrote: »

When it's well seasoned will stuff still stick to it?

No, not if you look after it right. This involves:

1. Seasoning it properly from the very start.
I personally use a good thick coating of olive oil on a new cast pan, and bake it in a low oven for three or four hours. Then turn the oven off leaving the pan inside while both cool down, and wipe out the excess oil when it's cool. Do this twice and you should be good to start cooking. However it will take time (how long depends on how often you use it) to really build up the seasoned coating, which leads me to...

2. Being very nice to it after every time you use it.
Never wash it in detergent - I would advise you to just use a clean brush under a running hot tap. You'll be amazed how easily it cleans up. And always oil it after washing it. Every time. Just wipe a light coating of (again I use olive) oil over it with a kitchen towel before you put it away.

If you follow these steps religiously, over a short time - say ten or so uses - it will start to build up the most amazing natural non-stick cooking surface and stay that way for ever. If you don't, it will turn into a heavy, useless, rusted hunk of metal in the back of the press that you will never use or enjoy - except possibly as a weapon

So whether cast is for you depends firstly on whether you can be bothered to look after it, and secondly on whether you can persuade everyone who lives in or visits your house not to wash it in detergent and destroy the beautiful surface you've spent all that time building up.

Of course it will withstand the occasional battering in detergent - just oil it up straight away and expect it to misbehave a little for a use or two. But if it's regularly subjected to "cleaning materials" (tm) it will never work well and you'll hate it and wonder what all the fuss was about.

Good luck - hope you go for it. It sounds like a lot of trouble but it really isn't once you get into the swing of it, and the rewards are well, well worth it... it just depends on your ability to season it and keep it away from over-zealous washer-uppers

workaccount

Your advice has been of priceless value! I have now decided 100% to get one. Just went to nisbets site there and it's not working correctly when I try to put the item into the basket (aaarggh).

Anyways I will keep trying. One last thing what kind of brush do you use to clean it under the hot water. I'm assuming just a normal dish brush?

rockbeer

Yep just a normal nylon dish brush - or I'll sometimes take one of those nylon or metal scourers to it if it needs a bit of an extra clean, but I never seem to need to scrub it hard. Really vigorous scrubbing will start to cut through the seasoned surface, so take it a bit handy.

Excellent decision, go for it, you won't regret it.

Strange about the Nisbets site, I've ordered from them loads and never had problem. Probably just a glitch over the hols while nobody's around to fix it up.

Good luck. Let us know how you get on.

dudara

workaccount wrote: »

Oh I didn't think that those kind of stores would sell them. So you think the cheap ones are as good as the more expensive or do you reckon you were just lucky?

I don't see how Le Creuset (spelling?) can charge the amount of money that they do for their cookware. Cast-iron is cast-iron after all.

My skillets are absolutely non-stick as long as I keep them well-seasoned. Their solidity and heaviness ensures that heat is well distributed for cooking. Plus, there is an extra flavour added to the food from cooking in a skillet that you just don't get from anything else. I use mine for everthing from omelettes and gravies all the way through to starting a stew, covering them and placing them in the oven.

I really dislike using non-stick pans (i.e. Teflon and the like) for two reasons. 1 the pans are often lightweight aluminium which doesn't hold and distribute heat very well for cooking and 2, the non-stick coating will inevitably come off at some stage.

To keep the skillets well seasoned, I rinse them the minute I've stopped cooking, while still warm with a brief rub of a nylon scouring pad. This is enough to take off the dirt without destroying the coating. If a heavier scrub is required, then I re-season with some oil.