I am thankful for my iron skillet.
I grew up cooking in iron skillets. In fact, I didn't know they made any other kind. We crisped our bacon, fried our potatoes, and cooked our pancakes in them. We browned our hamburger, wilted our lettuce, and creamed our sausage gravy in those iron skillets. And every morning, we fried our eggs over-easy, and when the leaves started to turn, we fried our green tomatoes in them. too. Because they were well seasoned from years of use, nothing ever stuck.
A couple of years ago, I got one of my mother's iron skillets and I use it all the time. For this piece of family history, and very useful skillet, I am thankful.
Note: The skillet belonged to my grandmother before my mother.
It's amazing that you are still using your grandmother's skillet! I have a couple of cast iron cookware too, a skillet that I used to use quite often but I'm avoiding it right now with my bad shoulder. It's not old, though, it's a Lodge. I also have a dutch oven with the fryer insert. Several years ago I bought a small cast iron frying pan at an Antiques Fair that looked very old and that I had to recondition. The seller told me it was more than 100 years old and indeed my research showed that if the foundry seam mark is visible, it's a sign of it being quite old. I suspect it's a fake, though. It's small so I never use it although it's quite lighter than my big Lodge skillet!
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, I think it's neat that you can reminisce about your childhood while cooking your dinner in such a way... and that you'll be able to pass this piece of family history on to one of your sons someday. My mom has my great great grandmother's cast iron on their little cast iron stove (the irons being for ironing clothes, not cooking) and I'd love to have that some day for the family history part of it, but there is no way I could have her ship it all the way to the States.
The one drawback to cast iron pans is the weight. They are heavy, especially if you have a bad shoulder. That may be why I got my mothers. It got too heavy for her.
DeleteIt's nice to have well used cast iron. I have purchased a few pieces new and don't like them nearly as much as those that saw a lot of wear before I got them. I wish I had been the "winner" of my grandmother's "corn bread" skillet. Since I had 21 first cousins and I was slap dab in the middle the chance of me winding up with it were slim to none anyway. Oh well!
ReplyDeleteCornbread is always better cooked in an iron skillet. The outside crisps up just right. I have 23 cousins on my father's side, so I know about there not always being enough to go around. I don't like the new cast iron stuff very well either. Nothing beats decades of seasoning.
DeleteI like cast iron skillets, too, but not the weight of them. We found an old skillet and a griddle in my parent's attic so my hubby had to clean and re-condition them. They work great for cooking when we camp!
ReplyDeleteSomeday I will have enough arthritis in my hands that they will be too heavy for me. Then I will pass them onto Theo who has an interest in cooking. I don't think there will be much competition from his brother who is perfectly happy eating peanut butter from the jar for supper.
DeletePB is good mixed with frozen yogurt ... not that I've had personal experience with "creative" dinners or anything ...
DeleteI don't know about frozen yogurt, but I have been known to put a big spoonful of peanut butter on vanilla ice cream more than once.
DeleteI have my grandmother's cast iron skillet too - it's a super deep one, almost like a dutch oven. I cooked dinner in it tonight in fact! I also have a whole set of them that I picked up at an estate sale, and they're wonderful. I grew up with teflon, and I find cast iron to be superior in every way, except maybe the weight - but honestly, you just can't cook well in a thin skillet.
ReplyDeleteWhen the cast iron got too heavy for my parents, they got some nonstick ones. However, those would wear out every couple of years. Cast iron certainly wins in every category except weight.
DeleteIts nice to be able to use your grandmother's skillets. Cast iron skillets are great but too heavy for me to use all of the time.
ReplyDeleteI think you just summed up the consensus here. "Cast iron skillets are great but too heavy for me to use all of the time."
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