Cast Iron

This week, I've spent much of my time away from work cooking in our cast iron skillets and watching videos of others using cast iron to cook with.

I typically buy cast iron from thrift stores and garage sales. I appreciate the way the food cooks up in it and generally love the way it tastes. I have a small collection compared to many and the heaviest pieces I own are our Lodge Dutch Ovens which are over on the bottom shelf of the pie rack.

When purchasing cast iron, I usually look for smoothness as this makes it easier to be seasoned well. 

To season cast iron - put your iron on the stove and let it heat up a few minutes -don't do it to 'hot though.  Lard is an excellent coating for cast iron. Since I don't have any lard around here, I've been using organic coconut oil.

When using cast iron, know that water left on cast iron will make it rust so after it's cleaned make sure and dry it well. Heating it up on the stove will help with evaporation. But if it's rusty using a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water in a 10-minute water bath may help it.

 I think many of you know I like the educational elements seen on homesteading blogs and vlogs about gardening, cooking, and raising animals in areas I do not live in. 

To give you an idea of what it is like in my neck of the woods this February, we received 10 inches of snowfall this week. The last time we had received that much was in January of 2014. The current highs are getting in the teens and the forecast is for the 30's next week.

I generally have about 5 homesteaders I watch. What homesteaders do you watch?