Cast Iron Cookware

[OldChinaHam]

My one word response to the preceding several posts: GHEE

Please stop with the uncalled for excessive approbation and adulation.

Please just throw money.

No less or t'would be.........

An abomination?

Edited July 24, 2013 by OldChinaHam

[JLCrab]

[OldChinaHam]

For me, and a billion Chinese,

Never touch the stuff, even GHEEEEE

Keep it simple please,

Butter burns and turns black, so easily

To me it has a sickly taste,

Simply, probably, because I have lost my taste for it after not eating it for 35 years.

I do not miss it.

I think it too much flavors Asian cooking, and for western cooking, it overpowers and clouds the good flavors of the good itself.

Each to his or her own though.

But, OK, if I were to be forced to eat butter,

Then I agree, I would have GHEEEEEEE

Thank you.

[JLCrab]

If you look at a list of smoking points you will find that ghee or clarified butter has one of the highest available at

485°F

252°C

(C/o smoke_point on WikiPedia)

... and it is used maybe by a population all over South and South Eastern / Islamic Asia and the middle east greater than the population in China.

I like it because I don't use much butter and it keeps a long time in the refrigerator without picking up any incidental odors or flavors.

As for weaning oneself from butter when living in Asia, you can buy the 250g hunk of butter in every 7-11 and FamilyMart so somebody here in Thailand must be buying it as those places don't miss a trick on their shelf/refrigerator space.

Edited July 25, 2013 by JLCrab

[OldChinaHam]

If you look at a list of smoking points you will find that ghee or clarified butter has one of the highest available at

485°F

252°C

(C/o smoke_point on WikiPedia)

... and it is used maybe by a population all over South and South Eastern / Islamic Asia and the middle east greater than the population in China.

I like it because I don't use much butter and it keeps a long time in the refrigerator without picking up any incidental odors or flavors.

As for weaning oneself from butter when living in Asia, you can buy the 250g hunk of butter in every 7-11 and FamilyMart so somebody here in Thailand must be buying it as those places don't miss a trick on their shelf/refrigerator space.

Yes, you are right about this type of canned butter that will keep in the refrigerator for long periods.

Each to his or her own, I just have no reason or wish to use it, no matter where I am.

Of course, Asian style, like Thai style for example, does not use the butter you mention.

And for cooking western food, again it is probably just a matter for taste preference what type of butter is used, or if oil is still preferred for western cooking.

Baking, you need butter. But I am not so sure what kind of baking you can do in the skillet because I have never tried it.

In answer to your question what do Asians do with the FamilyMart sold butter, I have lived in many households, and I know they buy it, but they usually just spread it on bread and toast, and do not cook with it.

You will see if you buy sandwiches in the 7-11 or other convenience marts, that there is a thin spreading of this butter on the sandwiches. The Asians in their homes, do the same thing, spread it on bread and toast, but NEVER cook with it.

Good question I think.

[JLCrab]

Agreed -- Thais do not cook with butter. For the most part neither do I. I mostly use the butter if I have shrimp, crabs, oysters, etc. and pretend like back in US I am having Maine lobster with drawn (clarified) butter. I also use it on sandwiches as there is a style of sloppy-joe sandwich from New Jersey where you cannot get the authentic taste if you don't use butter and if you buy the regular butter and don't use it quickly it starts to develop an off-taste.

... and you can bake pies, quiches, and puff pastry things in a cast iron skillet but I don't have the kitchen facilities for that here.

(Sloppy Joe New Jersey style -- actually derived from Cuba in the 1920s)

Edited July 25, 2013 by JLCrab

[OldChinaHam]

Agreed -- Thais do not cook with butter. For the most part neither do I. I mostly use the butter if I have shrimp, crabs, oysters, etc. and pretend like back in US I am having Maine lobster with drawn (clarified) butter. I also use it on sandwiches as there is a style of sloppy-joe sandwich from New Jersey where you cannot get the authentic taste if you don't use butter and if you buy the regular butter and don't use it quickly it starts to develop an off-taste.

... and you can bake pies, quiches, and puff pastry things in a cast iron skillet but I don't have the kitchen facilities for that here.

(Sloppy Joe New Jersey style -- actually derived from Cuba in the 1920s)

Very nice!

Looks great! And I am very interested to read what you say here about New Jersey, being from Philly.

Also, I wonder where that great stuff came from, pictured, whether you made it here in Thailand, and where I can get a bite, because I am almost having a thrombosis from just looking at the richness.

I would give you two likes for this, but sorry I ran out earlier today.

Good image which makes us all drool.

[JLCrab]

That picture comes from this website:

http://www.townhalldeli.com/ -- go to 'About Us' page for background

Also discussed here: http://www.seriouseats.com/2007/08/serious-sandwich-sloppy-joe-to.html

Also where I last bought them in the 1970s discussed here

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/04njqbite.html

In Thailand I don't worry about which bread -- I make my own cole slaw and Russian dressing with smoked paprika and the obligatory butter and use ham and usually no cheese

Edited July 25, 2013 by JLCrab

[raro]

Right -- not great enough?. How many Guide Michelin Stars do you have?

 

Many of the USA chefs in the series have restaurants 2012 with 3 G-M Stars including Ripert, Keller, Boulod, Achatz, etc.

 

I used to have several cast iron skillets in USA which I often used for baking, roasts, casseroles etc. and found that the whole thing about not washing with water and never using soap is a bunch of hoo-ey.

 

BTW From the website of Lodge Manufacturing which has been making cast iron cookware for over 100 years: 

 

If no soap is too scary, wash with mild soapy water and dry and oil immediately -- Dishwashers, strong detergents and metal scouring pads are not recommended, as they remove seasoning.

they probably use the pans that come with the biggest promo package...

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[JLCrab]

Well you would have a good point there, Kuhn Raro, regarding choice of kitchen equipment if the PBS 'Great Chefs' series would be filmed today long after the advent of the celebrity chef. But the series was taped in the mid 1990s when even Emirel Lagasse, Jacques Pepin, and Bobby Flay were virtual unknowns. All those big endorsement deals didn't follow until many years later.

Edited July 26, 2013 by JLCrab

[harrry]

Well you would have a good point there, Kuhn Raro, regarding choice of kitchen equipment if the PBS 'Great Chefs' series would be filmed today long after the advent of the celebrity chef. But the series was taped in the mid 1990s when even Emirel Lagasse, Jacques Pepin, and Bobby Flay were virtual unknowns. All those big endorsement deals didn't follow until many years later.

The point is proabably that very few chefs use teflon or cast iron cookware. We all know that in most commercial kitchens they would be scared to trust seasoned cast iron to the dishwashers. We all know how shiny silver a Thai Wife can get a non stick frypan. New York dishwashers are probably even quicker that.

I did see a clip of Ramond Blanc cooking roasts in a beautiful cast iron baking pan but he is french and probably cannot cook Freedom Fries.

Edited July 26, 2013 by harrry

[JLCrab]

The Antibes, France native Eric Ripert's Le Bernadin in New York City is ranked among S. Pellegrino's 50 best restaurants in the world and has 3 Guide Michelin stars and my guess is he could cook -- for a price -- anything you might want, even Freedom Fries.

http://le-bernardin.com/

[craigt3365]

Just saw Anthony Bourdain's new show on Colombia. Great show if you have a chance to watch. One chef uses a cast iron pot for a fantastic dish.

Anthony mentions at one point why he can throw things so well. He's use to tossing pans over to the dishwashers from across the kitchen! 55555

[JLCrab]

Martha Stewart turned her catering business in Connecticut into a multi-billion dollar magazine and TV business. She insisted that everything be done perfectly and most often from scratch:

-- She interviewed a restaurant in Maryland famous for crab cakes: Martha Stewart(MS): Oh, do you make your own mayonnaise for the crab cakes. Restaurant guy: Nah, we tried that but we like using Hellman's better.

-- MS interviewed a restaurant in New Orleans famous for oyster dishes: MS Oh, do you shuck your own oysters? Restaurant guy: Nah, we buy them already shucked and in a bucket from the wholesaler.

-- MS interviewed a guy at the Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York City: MS: Oh, do you grate your own horseradish? Restaurant guy: Nah, we tried that -- too strong for our customers... we just get it prepared out of the bottle.

Restaurants seem to rarely use cast iron although many restaurants in US serve breakfasts of eggs and potatoes etc. in cast iron skillets which are brought to the table. If the famous high-end restaurants thought that they could get an extra star from the New York Times or Guide Michelin or get a better review from the local newspaper by using cast iron they would do it and make sure that their kitchen staff performed accordingly, but they don't.

[butterisbetter]

Martha Stewart turned her catering business in Connecticut into a multi-billion dollar magazine and TV business. She insisted that everything be done perfectly and most often from scratch:

-- She interviewed a restaurant in Maryland famous for crab cakes: Martha Stewart(MS): Oh, do you make your own mayonnaise for the crab cakes. Restaurant guy: Nah, we tried that but we like using Hellman's better.

-- MS interviewed a restaurant in New Orleans famous for oyster dishes: MS Oh, do you shuck your own oysters? Restaurant guy: Nah, we buy them already shucked and in a bucket from the wholesaler.

-- MS interviewed a guy at the Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York City: MS: Oh, do you grate your own horseradish? Restaurant guy: Nah, we tried that -- too strong for our customers... we just get it prepared out of the bottle.

Restaurants seem to rarely use cast iron although many restaurants in US serve breakfasts of eggs and potatoes etc. in cast iron skillets which are brought to the table. If the famous high-end restaurants thought that they could get an extra star from the New York Times or Guide Michelin or get a better review from the local newspaper by using cast iron they would do it and make sure that their kitchen staff performed accordingly, but they don't.

Another problem with using cast iron in a professional kitchen is that it's very slow to heat up. If you're on the line, you're fighting for every second. Cast iron is just too slow. Also, it's heavy and a lot harder on the wrists.