Important safety note

[Atropine Mama]

When a dish says "No Stovetop" on the bottom, that means "Don't cook with this on the fucking stovetop, you moron!"

:uhoh:

[DarwinOfMind]

Um, *keeping my mouth shut*

[Kastil]

Uh.... at least it's a flat top?

....and Corelle dinner plates will explode if left on a hot burner.

[shiningbrow]

Glass does not take well to sudden changes in temperature, i.e. you can't bring it into direct contact with objects of radically different temperatures, it can be re-melted and shaped, but only slowly through annealing. Those guys at Corning do produce the tiles that clad the space shuttle though, and I think it might have some relationship to Corelle Livingware, on some basic level. Still, you can't put that stuff on the stove. They do produce some kind of glass cookware for stovetop use, but I think it's not so great. Give me a stainless steel aluminum sandwich any day of the week--better heat conductivity. I do love to bake in Corningware, though. Super cornbread results.

[Atropine Mama]

I was melting butter. While I had four loaves of banana bread in the oven and my lunch in the microwave. Normally I melt butter in a glass bowl in the microwave or a little metal bowl on the stove, but today I was overly distracted and it turned into rampant stupidity. Just thought I'd share! :D

My first thought, Kastil, was "Thank FUCK I don't cook naked!"

And then, yeah, I was glad it was on a flat top stove. Heh.

Shining, I have glass pots, steel pots and aluminum pots and I vaaaastly prefer the aluminum, like you. One little hammered aluminum pot I have will get a new handle someday but I will never throw that thing away.

[shiningbrow]

I love my heavy aluminum cookie sheets. I'll never go back to stainless steel or those silly nonstick affairs. I have a gas stove and can melt butter in pyrex bowls just by sticking it in the oven for a few minutes. But like you I usually microwave it. That debris looks pretty scary. I hope you were far away when it shattered.

[Atropine Mama]

Nope, I was right there in front of it -- my t-shirt is now in the trash, butter and glass shards and all.

Oddly enough, I have ovular scars all over my stomach from about 13 years ago when I was transferring a boiling pot of eggs from stove to sink and the pot caught the lip of the sink, spilling on me. My shirt melted to my skin. Stupid synthetics. You'd think I would at least own an apron, but I don't.

Maybe I should!

:shock:

[Name Lips]

If it cooks evenly, I don't much care what it's made of.

I believe my pots are copper bottom, aluminum middle, and stainless steel surface. They work quite well.

I tend not to like non-stick surfaces, though, because they inevitably begin to flake off into your food after a few years.

[Lisa Nadazdy]

Cast iron. It's the only way to really go when cooking.

[Lady_Acoma]

Cast iron. It's the only way to really go when cooking.

I have been learning this, but as I cannot afford to buy a set I have been trying to find things at garage sale... Yup, I have one, left by an ex stupidly. YAY!

[Lady Fury]

Nope, I was right there in front of it -- my t-shirt is now in the trash, butter and glass shards and all.

Oddly enough, I have ovular scars all over my stomach from about 13 years ago when I was transferring a boiling pot of eggs from stove to sink and the pot caught the lip of the sink, spilling on me. My shirt melted to my skin. Stupid synthetics. You'd think I would at least own an apron, but I don't.

Maybe I should!

:shock:

Ouch! I've done similar things in the past.

The apron is a good idea but you know what will happen if you start wearing one right? The kids will use as a snot rag, towel, etc... or you could end up being clumsier and get the apron caught on things causing more harm then good. :o

Thanks for sharing your misfortune today. As a mother its therapeutic share things like this so we can all have a good laugh over it later.

[Black Angel]

Wow! I'm really glad you didn't end up seriously hurt!!! Did you end up cracking the stove-top surface too? It's hard to tell from the pic.

[Ancalagon]

A convincing argument!

I love my cast iron frying pan. I also like the fact that it's DURABLE. Like the thing will probably outlive me. And that's ok. I would rather have the thing be used for a few hundred years, than 50 teflon coated POS from wallmart... it's better for the environment!

I've never had the pleasure, but I hear that copper pots (not just copper bottomed, but whole copper) are *the shit*. They are also expensive and take a lot of maintenance, but I would like love having one, one day...

[Ergeheilalt]

I have some anodized aluminum pots that are awesome sauce.

All you cast iron folk, do you prime your stuff like AB recommends in his books/show?

[shiningbrow]

Bella, that egg disaster sounds terrible. I often wear an apron in the kitchen, like in chemistry lab. It saves a bit on the splashes. When I make jam, which requires alot of boiling stuff, both jam and scalding hot water, I wear sturdy shoes, long pants, long rubber gloves and an apron that covers most of my torso. I don't really like to wear synthetics, other than rayon, but I can imagine a case where you have kids scrambling for attention, and lots of other simultaneous distractions. All the more to dress defensively.

I have some cast iron pots, too. They are great for certain applications. We got some good stainless cookware when we married--Mauviel-- Williams-Sonoma was having a closeout. They are a French mfr that normally makes copper cookware. I'd be happy to have that copper stuff, too for the heat conductivity, but I do hear they are a bitch to keep shined, given their tendency to oxidize. The important thing is to have stuff that works well is easy to maintain and stick with it. I'm glad you weren't hurt more with that exploding glass. I took my students to a float glass factory once (they make window glass in vast quantities) and there were people running around with outer garments studded with metal grommets to prevent glass from penetrating too far if there was any flying around in an accident.

[Ancalagon]

I'm not sure how he recommended, but if you mean "put some oil on it and bake for a while", then yes I have.

One of the things I like about cast iron is that you don't have to baby it. You can go nuts with a spatula on it or a fork, unlike those wussy teflon pans... "oh noes, the coating!!1!" pffff.

[Harry]

All you cast iron folk, do you prime your stuff like AB recommends in his books/show?

I haven't been a cook in ages, but I used to be a real Nazi about my frying pans. NO one was allowed near them. It took me forever to get them seasoned just right, but one asshole with a Brillo pad and some Dawn could ruin all that work in one swipe. No one was allowed near them, seriously. If someone fucked up my frying pan, I knew it in a heartbeat. A couple of times I just tossed the ruined pan and bought a new one, and started over from scratch.

I don't know how TV cooks do it, but with me, it involved paper bags, extra virgin olive oil, lots of King Cotton Bacon, and time.

One of the things I like about cast iron is that you don't have to baby it. You can go nuts with a spatula on it or a fork, unlike those wussy teflon pans... "oh noes, the coating!!1!" pffff.

You. You are not allowed near my frying pan. :gnasher:

[Ancalagon]

I haven't been a cook in ages, but I used to be a real Nazi about my frying pans. NO one was allowed near them. It took me forever to get them seasoned just right, but one asshole with a Brillo pad and some Dawn could ruin all that work in one swipe. No one was allowed near them, seriously. If someone fucked up my frying pan, I knew it in a heartbeat. A couple of times I just tossed the ruined pan and bought a new one, and started over from scratch.

I don't know how TV cooks do it, but with me, it involved paper bags, extra virgin olive oil, lots of King Cotton Bacon, and time.

You. You are not allowed near my frying pan. :gnasher:

Pfffff... you aren't doing it right obviously :tongue:

[shiningbrow]

My grandfather told me that one needed nothing more invasive than a paper towel to clean a cast iron skillet properly. Brillo is pretty radical and it really tears up your hands.

Ancalagon, you need more fat in that skillet. You shouldn't have to scrape or pry stuff off of it.

[Ancalagon]

Oh, I rarely have to do so... but the important thing is that I can. I like using a fork to move stuff around in my pan, and I like not having to worry.

[Harry]

My grandfather told me that one needed nothing more invasive than a paper towel to clean a cast iron skillet properly. Brillo is pretty radical and it really tears up your hands.

That is my rule as well. Not even water should touch a skillet. If you've seasoned it right, you shouldn't need water to clean it. A ruint skillet is a sad, sad thing to see and nothing does that faster than scraping, rinsing, or soaping one up.

The skillets makers know this. That piece of paper folks like Ancalagoon the Skillet Hater throw away when they buy it? It tells them right there. You don't need to do anything fancy. Follow the darned instructions. And once done cooking, thoroughly wipe it down and let it sit for a spell on the stove. After that, store it in the drawer on the bottom of the stove or in a paper sack.

[bunny]

I've never used cast iron, so I shouldn't even be speaking, but the way you make it sound my mind just pictures all this baked on stuff on the bottom of your pans that you refer to as "seasoning." I'm sure I have the wrong of it, but that's immediate image that came to mind. Cleaning with nothing more than a dry paper towel just doesn't sound food safe (tm) to me.

But I'm a stickler for my old school pyrex glass pots. Their old, unscratched, well taken care of and pretty shades of burgundy. They clean easy too and are dishwasher safe. I don't know how many times I've scalded milk to the point of burning and they still come up clean without a mark. I loves those pots.

No brillo pads, though. My SO isn't allowed near the pots with one of his nasty green scrubbies.

[Harry]

I'm in the food business, and I can assure you it's safe. A properly seasoned skillet carries a film of oils. If the skillet is being used to cook foods to a safe temperature, any bad "critters" are cooked away. The film of oils allows cooking residues to be wiped away safely. It is clean. And the oily film is referred to as seasoning because it adds its own flavor to the food being prepared.

Once you wash that skillet with detergent, all you taste is the detergent. Iron skillets are not smooth and naturally sealed. Tastes will "stick" to them. Seasoning makes sure the skillet is both clean and cleanable, and makes sure it's got the taste you want it to have.

[Caliphis]

I have been learning this, but as I cannot afford to buy a set I have been trying to find things at garage sale... Yup, I have one, left by an ex stupidly. YAY!

Try your local military surplus stores. They tend to have a lot of strange things and I have had some luck in them for cast iron.

I picked up a nice 18 inch pan for 12$.

[Kastil]

Cast iron. It's the only way to really go when cooking.I love my cast iron!

I have been learning this, but as I cannot afford to buy a set I have been trying to find things at garage sale... Yup, I have one, left by an ex stupidly. YAY!Keep looking... we found some last year. You just got to get out of the house early. Ask for them as Christmas gifts. I think I only paid for two of the cast irons and we have about 8 in various sizes.

Bunny... I have a dish towel that no detergent touches to clean out the iron skillet but if they're properly seasoned, nothing sticks. We rinse them, throw them in the hot oven for a few minutes and wipe oil lightly inside it. Good to go!

[DarwinOfMind]

On the subject of Cast Iron being Durable all my Cast Iron is past down from my Grandmother, it's like from the 40's!

[Lady_Acoma]

My mother has several that she got from her grandmother, amongst some other ones that she has picked up herself. I have informed her that I will be murdering any of my siblings that try to take them upon her death. I have also told her to not count them to closely while she is alive because she is definitely going senile and has fewer then she remembers.

[Dawnstar]

Bella dear - I am so glad that you were not really hurt. That could have been so much worse than it was. Be very glad you have a flat top. I told Enk we needed a flat top and he asked why, that is when I reminded him of how much crap gets onto or under the burners causing issues.