25 POOR MAN’S Cast-Iron Cooking Tricks That Make Pricey Camping Cookware Look Ridiculous

1위@flyingbeaver571 day ago

Some good tips here. I have a few others that might be of use. I learned to cook on cast iron. When I left home at 17 my Mum gave me two gifts: a Wagner cast iron frying pan and a good dictionary. Both very useful for decades. The Wagner frying pan was not new from the factory. It was one inherited from her Dad, who through the 1930's used it to cook for a family of six girls and one boy plus visitors. Often he'd be cooking after a 12 hour shift as a locomotive engineer on the Canadian National Railway, running freight trains between Edmonton and Jasper (inside Jasper National Park). He was chef mainly because (unusually for that time) my Gran was not a very creative cook. She did basic meals, but feeding a family of 7 kids plus adults on Depression-era wages took imagination and skill. My Grandfather was an expert cook; he could conjure big meals and special dishes from limited ingredients, and keep everybody well fed, healthy and happy (that after running trains through the Prairies and mountains at all hours). In that house, there was always a big pot of soup on the stove. Living close to the rail yard, hungry men 'riding the rods' knocked on the door. Everyone got a big bowl of hot soup from that pot, with warm bisuits. Grannie always had that soup on the stove, but what went into it? Everything. Grannie would say 'God provides' if I asked. It still amazes me: for years hungry men came to the door daily and always got hot soup and biscuits. That's an entirely different kind of talent. So I got my Grandfather's favorite Wagner cast iron skillet, and I was very glad to have it. I already owned one other pan, an 8 inch one cast around 1920 by a foundry in Montreal, Quebec. These were common in western Canada and widely used because of their high quality finished surface and excellent balance. I often took that one when I went camping or fishing. Tips: Trivets. The method you describe is a good one; I came across another almost by accident. I had a bed frame from a box-spring mattress bed, one that had been put out for the garbagemen. There was nothing wrong with it, but I had no immediate need for a bed frame. The raw material was what I wanted. This frame was made from angle iron, with sides about one inch high x 2-1/2 inches high. I cut four sections of this, each about 7-8 inches long, then filed off the burrs on the cut ends, and put them in a fire out back to burn off all the paint. That gave me 4 trivets, if the angle was laid 'pyramid style' with the angled corner up. For more height, these could be stacked or else laid 'cris cross.' The steel angle was thicker than 'light duty' steel angle iron. less than 'heavy section' angle iron. The sides were of uneven depth, so further height adjustment was possibe by shoving something under the 'short side.' These were very useful, not only for camping but in the kitchen. The angle iron was trash picked, paint removed and end edges filed smooth. I also cut a few short (1-1/2 inches long) and finished them the same way. These were occasionally useful. My camping kitchen kit over the next 4-5 decades has always included the 10 inch Wagner pan and two of the 7-inch 'bedframe' trivets. I've cooked thousands of breakfasts, lunches and suppers in that pan when camping, and many more in my home kitchen. It's my go-to pan for almost any cooking. I've aquired other cast iron pans over the years, includng an oddball 7-inch one cast by the Martineau foundry (in 1930's Ontario) and 3 or 4 cast-iron dutch ovens of various sizes. One is a monster that has a raised-rim lid to hold coals. That one will hold a whole small turkey, or a big plate of buscuits or cornmeal muffins. It weighs a lot, so it doesn't go camping as much as I thought it would. I made a fold-up 'haybox' for camping. It will hold a dutch oven that's been brought to full heat for 3-1/2 to 4 hours, lined with a wool blanket or other insulation. I used leftover lumber pieces and some small hinges to make it into a fold-flat gadget; even the lid folds in half. I drilled holes in the side boards so rope handles can be fed in. If I cook up a big pot of stew before lunch, I can put it in the hay box and it will continue cooking for up to 4 hours. Very handy to go for a hike or canoe ride and come back to dinner. One final item about storage, and 'hot pads.' One time, I found myself looking for a paper bag to carry the skillet, I found a heavy-duty cardboard box that held the 10 inch pan niccely, box ends open. Hopefully somebody can make use of the trivet idea. It's proved to be very useful since I made them early-mid 1970's. I still see similar bed frames being put out for garbage collection, so somebody is still making and selling beds that use them. The price - free - is hard to beat. The only 'caution' is to burn off the paint, as there's no way to know what it's made of. If the trivets get used as stand-offs with an open fire and a dutch oven, paint fumes could be a problem. Thanks for posting this. I learned several of the tricks from my Grandparents and my Mum and Dad, but there were 2 or 3 I didn't know or had not tried.번역 보기

2위@ronv66378 hours ago

You are correct about the metallurgy of the cast iron being different after 1950's. The iron being mined in Minnesota ran out of the high grade ore and lower grades mined. This is why scrap dealers will pay much higher price for proper vintage scrap번역 보기

3위@skeets60608 hours ago

Krist have you been talking to my Great Grandmother? Well ,you would have to be a medium, but everything you covered was passed to my Grandmother and my Mother and I picked it up from her. And have been cooking at deer camp in iron for over 50 years, my daughters already have claims on my Iron, but old Dad aint giving them up just yet. A very good informational video !번역 보기