Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Paul Revere and Dirty Dishes

I mentioned in Monday’s post that I spent the weekend on a historical reenactment (a.k.a. a Rendezvous).  One of the joys of these events is cooking with cast iron skillets, pots, and ovens — eating what we cook is another other joy! 



No one can say with certainty when cast iron was first used to make cookware, but we do know that simple cast-iron utensils were being used in China more than 2,000 years ago.  Paul Revere is given credit for refining the Dutch oven after it came to the Colonies. He improved the lid to the flanged lid in order to better hold the coals placed on top of the oven. Over time, the pots grew legs so that the oven could be elevated above the coals — which allows it to be used as a baking oven.  Like the long knife, ax, and rifle, the Dutch oven was a basic necessity and cherished possession for early American settlers.

Our group starts every day with the most delicious breakfast you’ll ever eat -- every morsel cooked in these blackened iron skillets, pots, and Dutch ovens.  Usual fare is biscuits, sausage gravy, sausage, bacon, potatoes, eggs, cooked apples, pots of coffee, etc.   Dinners include stews, side dishes, and plenty of bread and desserts.

After? Relaxing by the fire; A full belly and fully content.  That is until reality sets in. A large pile of dirty cast iron awaits!  Where’s Paul Revere when you need him to help clean? 
Caring for cast iron is counter-intuitive to my nature in many ways.  It involves:

1. Clean immediately after use (usually, while I’m too full and too lethargic to move).
2. Wash by hand using hot water and a sponge or stiff brush. Avoid using the dishwasher, soap, or steel wool, as these may strip the pan's seasoning (in other words, a method that is very slow).
3. To remove stuck-on food, scrub the pan with a paste of coarse kosher salt and water. Stubborn food residue may also be loosened by boiling water in the pan (again, taking more time while my buddies are BSing around the fire).
4. Thoroughly towel dry the skillet and then dry thoroughly near the fire (at which point my friends are asking me where's my apron and warning me not to catch my skirt on fire).
5. Next, using a cloth or paper towel, apply a light coat of vegetable oil or melted shortening to the inside of the skillet (see yesterday's post on forgetting something.  More ridicule as I have to beg for oil).
6. Store the cookware in a dry place (this means putting things back where they belong).

The consequence of not doing these steps?  RUST! And rust is corrosive.  Rust ruins perfectly good things. Rusted cookware takes 10 times more work to clean and season than it does to take care of it in the first place!

Again, I am the antithesis of the above instructions.  I am a procrastinator.  I'm am not the old idiom, “A stitch in time saves nine.”  I cause rust.  

Stitch in time . . . Darn, that reminds me that I not only have some cast iron to clean from this past weekend, but I also have some socks that still need mending.

Good luck with your projects. Don’t be like me.  Don’t cause rust!

Carpe Diem Life,
David Kuhn



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