Cast Iron Skillets

[HossBackyard]

Hello All- Not quite a 'smoking' question, but still about cooking meat. After getting frustrated in trying to cook a perfect burger or steak on a grill, I have made the decision to try my hand at cast iron. The question I have is what size skillet should I get? Amazon has Lodge pre-seasoned cast iron skillets in various sizes. To do 4 burgers or 2 rib eyes in one setting, I assume a 12" is what I would need?

Thanks for any insight!

 

[Bludawg]

12 " is the way to go

 

[Stoke&Smoke]

First off, depends on how many steaks you want to cook at once.

You might look at a cast iron griddle...but I'd recommend looking at GrillGrates. Google them. They're made of anodized aluminum, and allow you to either give your meat yhose beautiful "attractive grill marks" that Steve Raichlin loves, or, if you flip them upside down will give you a gorgeous all over sear. They arent cheap, but are worth every penny. But search on reverse sear on this site first.

 

[mikerooooose]

Get this 17" cast iron skillet from Lodge:
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-L17SK3-Pre-Seasoned-Skillet-17-inch/dp/B00063RWVG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429583731&sr=8-1&keywords=cast+iron+17%22"]Amazon.com: Lodge L17SK3 Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet, 17-inch: Kitchen & Dining@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31480SYNESL.@@AMEPARAM@@31480SYNESL[/ame]

Two reasons.

1) It has small handles on both sides so it fits nicely in the grill. Opposed to all the others with a large handle on one side — good luck getting it centered.

2) You want a lot of surface area to keep the steaks moving around to hot spots. I get mine as hot as possible and cook a 1.5" steak for 5 minutes (one side) continuously moving it around the pan (kind of like a circular motion). This works better as the meat cools the pan and keeping it moving increase the overall temp it's exposed to. You'll know when you're getting a good sear when it glides easily around the pan. I also push the steak very lightly with my fingers to make sure all the cracks and edges are getting contact and to get a feel for how it's cooking.

If you throw two cold steaks (I like cooking them cold better) on a 12" skillet, the temp is going to drop a lot. 17" gives you a lot more heat retention with a little wiggle room.

Once it's cooked for 5 minutes on a side, it usually has a good crust. I then flip it and cook it until it's at the temp I want.

Salt an hour or two before it goes on. Rub off the salt and moisture with a paper towel. Add a lot of coarse pepper. Put it on the grill cold — this will allow you to get a better crust before the center warms up.

Just my .02. I love a good ribeye.

 

[IamMadMan]

Try "grill grates", get them hot and add the meat.

 

[Smoke Dawg]

Try to find some old Cast Iron. Garage sale, Goodwill, what ever. You can't beat a good seasoned cast Iron skillet.

 

[rookiedad]

imho the pre-seasoning on cast iron is not real seasoning. put it in the oven on self clean over night to burn that stuff off and re-season the right way with some lard.

 

[bradymartin]

this is lodge best deal i think.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Cast-Iron-Skillet-L10SK3ASHH41B-12-Inch/dp/B00G2XGC88/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429586332&sr=8-1&keywords=lodge+12"]Amazon.com: Lodge Cast-Iron Skillet L10SK3ASHH41B, 12-Inch: Kitchen & Dining@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31rt7mlIWLL.@@AMEPARAM@@31rt7mlIWLL[/ame]

 

[Faston]

I use cast iron all the time and have 12", 10" and 8" round plus a 10" square with the raised parallel lines for the nice sear marks on steaks. However I use the 12" round for larger steaks and the 10" round for smaller steaks for best results. The 10" square with the lines designed for steaks has not worked well for me due to only half the surface area transferring heat. The round skillets do a spectacular job on steaks.

Lodge preseasoned skillets still need to be seasoned in your oven with your choice of oils. Pick an oil with a high flash or smoke point. I never use detergent to wash my cast iron skillets. Hot water and a 3M Scrubbie cleans a seasoned pan well, dry and lightly coat with oil. Doing this will improve the seasoning with age. Heating the pan before cooking sterilizes.

FYI I never heat or cook with my electric stove top on high with cast iron. I warped and ruined a pan this way. Over-heating can also ruin your seasoning. Also allow hot pans to cool slowly.

 

[BBQ Bacon]

It's not cast iron, but I picked 2 of these up from Costco. I use one at the cottage over the fire and one at home on the grill. Makes for great crust on the burgers. Sears in the juices nicely. About 14" wide and 10" deep. Has sides and a back to help keep things in place. Light weight as well, so don't need to be a weight lifter to carry it around.

 

[rookiedad]

^^^^^^^^
worth the money!!! i got one from costco too and we cook everything on it!

 

[food4thot]

imho the pre-seasoning on cast iron is not real seasoning. put it in the oven on self clean over night to burn that stuff off and re-season the right way with some lard.

Most of my cast iron stuff is from before they offered pre-seasoned. Lard is definitely the way to go.

Have a Lodge grill pan that came pre-seasoned. Seasoned it with lard without burning off the factory treatment.

To the OP: Cast iron is pretty cheap cookware. Buy a bunch of sizes and you will find uses for all of them.

 

[frog13]

I have both Grill Grates and Cast Iron, both work really, really well. Mostly anymore I use the cast iron for stir fry, anything that requires oil in the pan and baking. The Grill grates are my go to for searing (flat side up) and grilled veggies and stuff (ribbed side up). Of course which side is up to the operator. Made burgers last night on the flat side of the Grill Grates on the Weber Genesis. Blasted them on high for about ten minutes, lid temp said just over 600 so you know those grates were hot. Dropped 6 oz. balls of ground sirloin on to the grate and smashed them to about 1/2" thick. Closed the lid, gave them about 2 minutes, flipped them, added cheese and pulled them about a minute or so later when the cheese was melted. Little crispies around the edge where the meat was rough, good overall sear, moist and juicy inside, IT of 165. Yummy!

 

[16Adams]

Cast Iron- The Original Non Stick