Chris's Life

It's not too far away...

I was over looking through Lodge Manufacturing's website at the various goods they have for sale. Curiously, though cast iron is very heaving, shipping is surprisingly cheap. Anyhow, if anyone shares my interest in cast iron, here are some especially nice selections:

12 Inch Round Griddle:

This griddle looks rather useful for making quesadillas (even when you make small ones, they still require a surprising amount of space to manipulate, and the lower sides would be very helpful for getting access with the spatula.

15 Inch Skillet With Assist Handle:

This is just a large skilled (with an assist handle to let you lift it). While there's nothing all that special about it, having a variety of sizes in skillet is always useful. Not to mention the large size will help if the US ever gets invaded and we need to use household items as body armor.

17 Inch Skillet:

Speaking of body armor, this skillet would work even better. I like the design with two loop handles; I think that at this size it is more appropriate. I'm not quite sure what one would use this skillet for, perhaps pan-frying turkeys. Actually, when cooking something like chicken teriaki for a large crowd, it would be great. Actually, at this size, it would even be able to double as a cookie tray. Well, not everything needs to have an individual use. Sometimes we own practical things for their beauty as well as their function, this should be one of those. Who could help but marvel at food cooked on an acre of cast iron?

Half Pint Serving Kettle:

For those who like salsa or other dips. I have no use for it myself, but the thing is just so darn cute! I'm sure that I could come up with some dish that I like that one would have some dip component. Perhaps it could also be used for serving small amounts of highly concentrated gravy, or dispensing grated cheese for those who want such things.

Handle Mit:

While not cast iron itself, this mit would be very helpful. Especially when you bake with cast iron skillets (one of the virtues of cast iron is that you're not going to melt the handle if you do this, and skillets are sometimes good bakeware), the handle becomes exceedingly hot. The same properties which make cast iron great for cooking food make it great for cooking hands, even through conventional oven mits (note: I'm only talking about baking where you are directly heating the handle, normal oven mits work fine for regular stove-top use).

Melting Pot:

I don't use butter in cooking very often, but this sure would be neat to use on the few occasions when I do. I think that this is largely another case of the thing looking really cool, rather than being explicitly useful, but wouldn't it be great to pour molten butter with the same sort of hefty ladle that one could use to pour molten lead or molten copper?

Muffin Pan:

I would really dig cast-iron muffin trays. The problem with muffins is that they always bake on to the muffin tin if you don't use those baking paper cup thingies. With regular non-stick, the scraping necessary to get the baked-on crud off is often sufficient to also remove the non-stick stuff. That's why cast-iron would be perfect: non-stick that you can take a knife to will certainly survive steel wool. Not to mention that the cast iron will probably allow one to cook at better temperatures and more evenly cook the muffin. Plus, the muffins will make a wonderful gentle thud when you put them down on the counter, letting everyone know to come running for fresh-baked muffins.

Oval Serving Griddle:

Now I want about 8 of these. Incidentally, Lodge conveniently sells wooden trays to go under them and protect the table from the heat, as well as keep the serving dish from sliding around. Anyhow, food served on cast iron just looks incredible (and does stay hot longer, if the cast iron is hot when served). This would work especially well for buffet-style food or the more indian style of serving a bunch of dishes and everyone taking as they want (buffet where you sit down at the buffet). While not high class dining (Cast Iron having so many frontier associations it could never be high class), it is quite impressive and after a certain fashion, fancy.

Perch Pan:

Ok, I included this just to be silly. But who wouldn't want corn bread or some other baked good served in the form of perch? In fact, what baked good wouldn't be improved by being shaped like a small fish? Well, yes, all of them. But still, it would be quite a novelty food for parties.

Pizza Pan:

Making pizza is a lot of fun because there is so much variety. Cast iron would undoubtedly make very good pizza and keep it warm much longer. Also, with its very even heat distribution properties, there will be a greatly reduced chance of uneven cooking. Not to mention that every piece of cookware should be cast iron, so why not this too?

Round Grill Press:

When cooking pieces of chicken for use on pizza (or in strombolies), it's a pain to have to use a spatula to press the chicken down. A grill press like this would really come in handy. Not to mention that the old-style look gives the food a flavor of the old days when we cooked with fat and it tasted good. Just make sure that everyone who eats the food sees the grill press, or the placebo effect will be lost.

Skillet Spoon Rest:

Spoon rests are really a decorative item, so I'm not going to make a pretense that cast iron is going to do this job better than any other substance (well, it would be better than styrofoam...). Cast iron just looks great, and for the price, how can you go wrong?

Square Skillet:

There are times when one wants to cook bacon, and square pans just work out much, much better. On a healthier note, it should also fit french toast much better than a round griddle.

Yes, christmas is coming...