Bossy’s Cast Iron Skillet. Actually Bossy has two of these amazing skillets in different sizes, 10 1/4″ and 8″. Both of them are Lodge skillets, which are inexpensive and available everywhere including hardware stores.
There are brands with haughtier cachet which you can find at auctions and yard sales, such as Griswold–but Bossy thinks, ack, why?
And Bossy isn’t into purchasing cast iron pre-seasoned, because it really doesn’t take long and it’s part of the fun! Bossy knows every inch of her now-black skillet was seasoned thanks to her very own elbow grease, hold the elbow.
The basic idea to seasoning cast iron: soap is only going to hit your new pan one time: when you bring it home from the store. Scrub well with dish detergent, dry, and apply a thin layer of shortening to the entire pan, inside and out. Place upside down in a 350-degree oven for an hour with a piece of tin foil on the oven rack underneath to catch any funky drips. Cool to room temperature in the oven.
From this point on, you need only apply a very thin coating of vegetable oil or olive oil between use to prevent rusting. To clean the pan, Bossy fills with a bit of water and returns it to a flame and cooks away any stuck bits from the sides and bottom. Then she dries the pan and wipes the cooking surface with a small amount of olive oil, which she applies with a napkin.
Done.
Iron skillets allow for browning in a way that ordinary skillets don’t, and they throw a nice crunch on sauteed things while not requiring deep frying. Check one out today!
Caroline Wright says
November 18, 2008 at 10:47 amI was afeared of cast iron because it’s so heavy and big and OLD-FASHIONED!
Then I got my very own little skillet and now it is my favorite pan EVER.
Mindy says
November 18, 2008 at 10:57 amI bought my 10 1/4″ Lodge a lid and an official wooden Lodge scrubber. It deserves to be spoiled.
Debby says
November 18, 2008 at 11:35 amI wonder if I buy this and put it under the tree if anyone else in the family will think it’s odd?
Acher says
November 18, 2008 at 11:53 amIf you ever run into a rusty cast iron skillet, say at a garage sale for a great price, (or because you mistreated the poor dear) you can re-season it pretty easily. Pour a good amount of kosher salt in the skillet and put it over high heat until the salt gets rippin’ hot. Then use the hot salt to srub out the badness. Rinse and re-season. Also works on carbon steel woks, which is how I learned the trick!
Lauren says
November 18, 2008 at 12:08 pmTotally adding this to my Christmas wish list.
Lisa says
November 18, 2008 at 12:17 pmPioneer Bossy!
MamaMo says
November 18, 2008 at 12:35 pmI could cry… when I was young and foolish, I sold the entire set of my inherited, grandparents, WELL-SEASONED cast iron cookware for about $15 at a yard sale, just ’cause I was tired of it taking up space in my kitchen. No wonder that neighbor went away with a big ol’ smile on her face!!
margie says
November 18, 2008 at 1:00 pmNot good for those ceramic top stoves, though. But I cheat and still use mine sometimes.
Reeb says
November 18, 2008 at 1:36 pmDebby (#3), I was envisioning you putting your skillet under some tree outdoors! In fact I went back to the photo to check Bossy’s photo to see if she’d posed her skillet under a tree. I’m a dope. Guess I haven’t been in all the tricked-out-for-Christmas stores enough yet to remember which tree you’re talking about!
Okay, I’m going to overcome my laziness about my cast iron skillet and use it again.
Biddy says
November 18, 2008 at 1:53 pmi have my great-grandmother’s cast iron skillet somewhere in my storage building. it kills me to know it’s out there and I can’t lift anything to get to it!
so, i use my el cheapo. and yes, i heart it.
jan8mr.lootiato says
November 18, 2008 at 5:14 pmThe best. And here’s what Bossy’s grandma used to do for stubborn stickiness.. to clean…quickly rinse out, fill with an inch of water, bring to simmer for a minute or two, drain and wipe with paper towel.
Cactus Petunia says
November 18, 2008 at 5:20 pmA friend gave me a couple of Griswold and Erie skillets (he’s a collector) I love em’! They’re much lighter than the new ones and easier to lift with my arthritic hands. I had no idea they were worth so much! Someday I’ll sell them to pay for my retirement…
nono says
November 18, 2008 at 10:59 pmI just bought my first one about a month ago. I’m really enjoying it…although the natural urge to wash it with soap is hard to overcome.
Stephanie says
November 18, 2008 at 11:15 pm1) We have a small cast-iron skillet we love
2) My husband’s grandmother had a well-seasoned skillet that was her mother’s. She recently “cleaned house” and gave said skillet to goodwill, without asking her grandson (i.e. my husband) if we wanted it. I was grieved beyond repair.
3) Bossy’s skillet on the little “favorite things” button looks a bit like a egg being fertlized
3)
Beth says
November 18, 2008 at 11:31 pmOh, yeah. My big ol’ cast iron skillet was a present from the first great girl-love of my life, and she taught me how to season it. So sexy.
Helen + ilana = Hi says
November 19, 2008 at 1:30 amWhat an inovative use for Kotex.
Oh
You mean a serviette!
My mistake
Hi
(Who is Cdn eh!)