Cast Iron and Sticky Fingers

Where was I? Oh yes, leaving Nashville.

Our route home took us through Chattanooga which meant we would be driving right past the Lodge Manufacturing foundry and outlet store. I have posted on this before. Several years ago I had an opportunity to spend a day in the foundry touring it and picking it apart. Neat place. Afterwards I dropped a pretty penny in their outlet store. I have more than a complete "set" now. At the time you could still buy raw unseasoned pans, not anymore. I don't know why but I like seasoning my own for some reason. I don't always do the outsides either. Anyway, we stopped in, had a good look around and didn't spend as much money as I did before. I wish I had planned better and brought my buddy's business card with me and got an extra 10% off. Of well.

Dinah bought for me an enameled three quart casserole dish, in red to match other stuff I have, as an anniversary present. It had some nearly invisible blemishes in the coating. Amazon has this item "on sale" for $59.83, regularly $77.50. She bought it here for $29.95. For herself she bought an apple dutch oven which she has longed for for awhile. It almost matches our plates. Amazon has it for $116.70 marked down from $169. I think Dinah bought it for $60. Both broke my rule about buying Chinese iron but I didn't make the purchase. I don't turn away gifts! ;-)

I can't remember all of the things we bought and the prices. I know I bought this muffin pan for $8.95. I got it out of the back room where the casting defect stuff is.That's where the real bargains are. It's pretty easy for me to find stuff with meaningless defects since I used to do that for a living. I was compelled to buy another little witch's kettle. This one was seasoned of course. My old one is not which I use for keeping change in. I paid $7.95. I was tempted to buy a giant Dutch oven, but really don't have a need. They were less than half price. We also bought two mini-corn stick pans, about nine bucks I think, and a cast iron horse toy for Rose. That thing has a big sand inclusion in it's side. Damn Chinese castings. Well worth the stop if you are in the area.

After we left we opted to eat in Chattanooga. I take great joy in letting Rose pick where we are going to eat. It's better than a magic eight ball. I let her chose between Sticky Fingers and Big River Grill. It almost didn't work because she would change her mind every minute, even as we would pull into the parking lot. But I did get her to commit to Sticky Hands, as she called it. I got the ribs. This isn't the first time I've eaten at this chain but those ribs were some of the best I've had in a while. They were so good and so what I had been craving. Nobody has good Memphis style ribs where we live. I know I am going to be disappointed anywhere I get ribs until we travel out of town again.

Steak and Potatoes

On the weekends, while the rest of the house is napping, I like to watch cooking shows on PBS. Everyday Food is good. I really like(d) Primal Grill with Steven Raichlen. But my favorite is America's Test Kitchen and by extension Cook's Country. I can't really tell the difference between the two. I need to squeeze some coin out of the tight purse and make a donation to PBS/GPB in gratitude and maybe a subscription to Cook's Illustrated.

I like these shows better than many of the new shows now on Food Network which seems to have gotten a little campy trying to reach new audiences, read market. If you read on-line forums and reviews you find people have a love-hate following of the Cook's Illustrated family of shows and magazine and for that matter, Christopher Kimball. The things that people hate about them are exactly why I love the show; it's quirky, anal retentive and focuses too much on technique. I love it!

A week or so ago the show was about imitating a diner breakfast, fluffy omelet with home fries. I don't know what the potatoes' proper name is but they are the ones where the potatoes are cut into small 1/2 inch or so cubes and fried crispy brown. It was timely since I had just recently attempted the same meal for breakfast and my potatoes came out under cooked. The two big secrets I learned were to use yellow or white potatoes instead of baking potatoes and to microwave the potatoes before cutting and frying them. There was also a "hidden" secret in that some diners use a big heavy press when cooking their potatoes but on the show they did not have that luxury. Hmmm????

So, having recently been inspired to run out and buy a bag of potatoes, I set out to make these for dinner Saturday night. I over estimated and used six potatoes when three probably would have sufficed. That resulted in having to do two batches because once I nuked the potatoes I was committed to cooking them. I fried them in my large cast iron skillet in two tablespoons of bacon fat that I had clarified for some extra flavor. Unlike on America's Test Kitchen, I didn't have the patience or ambition to turn over each potato cube to ensure even browning. So I just flipped them with a spatula and hoped for the best. BUT, remembering that comment about the press I took another cast iron pan and put it down on top of the potatoes to act as a press. It worked very well. The only thing that might have been better is if I had heated up the second pan to cook the tops as I used it as a press. Now I'm wondering about one of those George Foreman Grills?

To go with the potatoes I pulled out the other half of a chuck roast I had used for pot roast a while back. When I was a kid we ate "steak" a lot. But steak in my family was not an expensive cut like rib eye, porterhouse, T-bone or even sirloin but a comparatively inexpensive flat two inch thick chuck roast that my Dad would cook on the grill and then serve us slices. My roast was far too thick to cook that way so I sliced it down into inch thick slabs. They looked like boneless T-bone steaks. It turned into a great meal of cheap steak and potatoes.

So don't think Food Network is where it's all at, PBS is still pretty good too. That said, I watched Chopped for the first time last night. I had very low expectations. I mean, how many Iron Chef shows do we need? Never a good sign when your network starts ripping off its own shows. But, I was pleasantly surprised. I haven't really warmed up to Ted Allen as a show host, but I actually enjoyed the show.

Olvida Cookware

I'm a metal guy. I love all things made of metal. And my passion is lowly cast iron. On the cooking side, I have quite a complement of cast iron pots and pans, perhaps even too many. I've had the good fortune to tour the Lodge factory where most of today's US made pans are made. Lately I've been cooking with a cast iron pan at least three times a week and loving it more and more with each time. So I really perked up when I saw a new type of cast iron pan mentioned in passing on PBS' cooking show Cook's Country.

This new pan is not black but shiny bright. It's made by a company called Olvida. What makes Olvida's cast iron cookware different is that their pans are nickel plated. The reviewers on the television show passed on this pan because of its expense but the fact that someone could reinvent the cast iron pan which has existed for millennia caught me hook, line and sinker.

Some quick research confirmed that yes, this stuff is quite pricey, but really good cookware is. To compare, a 10" Olivida skillet from Chef's Resource is $99.95. A 10" Lodge skillet from Wal-Mart is $13.97. Wow!!! Not enough yet though to turn me off, if the quality is there. At first glance Lodge has two advantage for me, price and made in the USA. Just being an industry insider, I know there is no way the Olivda pans are made in the US, probably China.

I should probably take a moment to go a little sideways here and explain my feelings on China. While I rant and rave about China, I don't hate the Chinese. On the contrary, it is quite the opposite. I love their history, their culture, their beliefs. I can say that my very limited understanding of Tao has had an impact on my life (I read Eva Wong's book cover to cover and refer back to it often). What I do hate, and with proper use of the word "hate," is the their government, their business practices, their manufacturing practices and their human rights practices. But most of all I hate OUR country's shipping of jobs, income and products to China, devastating our economies, our families, our security. That's what I hate.

Lodge makes 99% of all cast iron cookware made in the US. If you see, buy, or own any cast iron cookware made in the last 10-20 years that does not say Lodge on the back, it was made in China. My fear with Chinese cast iron cookware is the potential lead content. I had a friend of mine who works in a foundry send me some lab results on some cast iron his company had purchased from China. These castings were not for skillets but who knows what any given Chinese foundry also produces. On these tests of a random sample the lead level was 0.004%. Most US foundries will run the potential of high scrap with those lead levels and those castings would never go out the door. But we are regulated here in the US, not so in China. The lead is elemental, so if lead is present in cookware, it could leach out. That's why I don't buy Chinese cast iron cookware. Lodge's enamel ware by the way is made in China. While the enamel would protect the iron, you need to ask yourself what is the potential lead content in the enamel from China or what if the enamel chips and you continue to cook with it?

Yesterday I had a wonderful phone conversation with the owner of Olvida. And yes, my assumption was correct, the raw castings come from China. I can't blame him from a business perspective, the cost of a pan is 1/3 what a domestic foundry would charge. He does have a double edge sword though. The Chinese castings have a high scrap rate and he can't return them. After discussing with the owner his unique process, I feel much better about buying an Olvida pan even if they originate in China. The nickel coating permanently bonds to the iron surface, sealing it and eliminating any risk of potential lead leaching out into food.

All of the finishing of the pan is done in North Carolina. It is quite a labor intensive job which explains part of the price but also means at least a few American employees are making a buck. The coating's use on cast iron was originally developed for the automotive industry but it is the same coating used on many nickel plated pieces of equipment in the food and pharmaceutical industries. The coating is not pure nickel so any fears of nickel allergies can be put to rest. The process is technically called Electroless Nickel (EN) coating and uses a nickel-phosphorous alloy. The coating makes the pans non-stick, non-reactive and scratch resistant. The big selling point to me is that the Olvida pans are NSF certified. This means that they can be run through a dishwasher, a requirement for restaurants. You can't do that with regular cast iron. Think about that next time you order fajitas.

So the newest thing on my wish list is a 10" Olvida skillet. I hope that it will exceed my expectations. If I get one, I'll report back. If it exceeds my expectations, I'll probably have some Lodgeware I'll be selling.

Hash Brown Secrets

I've been making a lot of hash browns this week. Why? Well number one is because I'm broke and have half a bag of potatoes laying on the counter. Ordinarily I would forget about a bag of potatoes until they started to rot and then throw the bag away. Almost like a government subsidizing program. But since I am penniless I thought I should do a better job of utilizing what I have. Not the best way to feed a family but it works for two meals a day for just me.

I LOVE hash browns. Especially extra crispy with cheese and onions. But homemade hash browns are amazingly difficult to make. I suspect that restaurants use frozen shredded potatoes to make theirs which is significant. I suppose I could do the same thing but then I lose out on the challenge, the reward and have to pay extra for it.

If you just shred your potatoes and then fry them you'll either end up with a soggy mess or burnt potatoes and pan if you're going for that extra crispy style. Believe me I know. Try to add more oil to prevent the burning, it only gets worse and oddly, sometimes your hash browns smell or taste like fish.

I think I have found three keys, the potato, the pan and the fat.

On the potato it isn't which potato you use but how you use it. I've made great hash browns with Idaho baking potatoes, Yukon Golds, even blue potatoes. The problem with potatoes is that as soon as you cut them, they begin to oxidize. They go brown very quickly. Therefore you need to shred your potatoes and then put them in a bowl of water so that they avoid air contact. Even better is to shred them directly into water. If I'm not up to using my box grater, I use my food processor with a grating disc but fill the bowl half way or more with water. That way the potatoes shred directly into the water. If you want the whitest potatoes, add a dash of white vinegar. You won't be able to taste it but the vinegar will prevent the potatoes from browning once you take them out of the water. Good if you aren't moving fast.

There's one more key to the potato. As I said, I suspect restaurants use frozen potato shreds. Why is this significant? Because in order to get any crispiness to your hash browns you need to have DRY potato shreds. This is doubly important after you've had your potato shreds soaking in a bowl of water. At the minimum, spread your potato shreds out onto paper towels and press them dry. But if you really want to do this right, you need a potato ricer. The difference is night and day. Save your money and skip that cheap aluminum one at the store. I busted one of those on my first press. Get a nice stainless steel one that you can run through the dish washer. I have this one. And please don't make the mistake of many a moron and try to press a whole potato through your ricer. You will break it for sure. Ricers are for pressing boiled potatoes into fine mush before whipping into mashed potatoes. This ensures no lumps. But they are also great for squeezing the moisture out of some foods. After you've pressed the water out of your potato shreds, spread them out on a paper towel and pat out any remaining surface moisture.

Now the pan. I've tried every pan I own and I think I've got it now. The pan does make a difference. Stainless steel and anodized aluminum (Calphalon) will give you nice crisping of your potatoes but they will also stick to your pan, no matter what temperature you use or what you fry in, oil, butter, Crisco, lard, doesn't matter. They'll taste good, but you'll be frustrated. A non-stick pan removes the frustration of your hash browns sticking but you'll have a hard time browning them. That's the nasty secret no one tells you about non-stick cookware, it doesn't brown. The only way you can get any browning with non-stick is to use butter. But you have to be careful of not burning the butter. So if you must use non-stick, use a 1:1 combo of butter and oil. Just remember by the time you get the butter to brown your hash browns, they'll most likely be burnt.

So which pan works? Good ol' seasoned cast iron. I fried up my hash browns in my 12 inch cast iron skillet this morning and not even the first shred of potato stuck. It was beautiful. I found it works best to spread the potatoes over the full surface of the pan (scattered a la Waffle House) and then after they have begun to brown, scrape then back to the center into a patty just bigger than your spatula. Let them continue to get brown and crispy on the bottom and then flip the patty over to brown on the other side. Ideally you only want to flip once. This method gives a crispy outside with tender cooked hash browns in the center.

Last but not least, the fat that you use for frying is important. Forget spray, it won't work. Butter has two problems. One it burns at a low temperature and two, part of butter is water. Remember, you need dry potatoes. Adding oil to the butter helps, but the results are disappointing. Oil is an option but then you end up with your potatoes floating in oil and my experience is they soak up the oil by the time it's time to flip and then the potatoes burn after you flipped them.

So today I used my recently rendered lard. Cool, huh? Just a tablespoon. And at $2.38 to make my tub, it was far less expensive than oil or butter. And using only a tablespoon, it's probably better heath-wise than either the oil or the butter. But the result was amazing. The hash browns were perfectly crispy but lighter than any hash browns I've made before. WOW!

So to recap, to make great home made hash browns:

1. Prevent your potatoes from browning by plunging under water.
2. Press your potatoes shreds dry with a potato ricer.
3. Use a large cast iron skillet.
4. Fry in a tablespoon of lard.
5. Only flip them once.
   

Pot Luck

Yesterday I made another batch of lard. I picked up a three pound bag of fat trimmings from my local meat shop and now have a tub full of premium homemade lard. Still no cracklins though. Haven't figured that out. Now I'm ready to be a biscuit and pie making fool.

But the process got me to thinking about equipment. You can find a lot of information out there, read books, read reviews, but nothing is more informative than experience. Being a more serious home cook than the average person, I thought I would take the time to relate some of mine.

Generally people have a slew of pots and pans. Maybe they were given a set as a wedding gift. Chances are most of them sit and gather dust. Chances are most of them are junk also. In the past five years or so I started to get a little more serious about the equipment I use. But unlike most others, my perceptions are colored my the fact that I am an engineer, and specifically a metallurgist. A dangerous combination when it comes to kitchen equipment.

If I could pass on one and only one mantra it would be:

All you need to be successful 80% of the time is ONE good knife and ONE good pan.

So focusing on pots, what have I learned?

I have several pots. I do not have any copper pots because they are extremely expensive and they are time consuming to clean and I'm not interested in all of that maintenance.

For boiling pasta and potatoes I have a tall aluminum pot, which I can't seem to find right now. In my opinion, only use aluminum for this purpose. There's some hype out there about aluminum being linked to Alzheimer's, (in conclusive in my opinion) but the bigger issue is that aluminum is reactive, meaning it reacts with acids in foods and can leach in to them. This will cause some off flavors and discoloration in light colored foods. Because aluminum conducts heat so well, it it perfect for bringing large amounts of water to boil. But because it conducts so well, I find it is difficult to fine tune the heat and things burn easily. I consider having a pasta pot to be a luxury so there's no need to have this pot if you don't have one.

I have several large stainless steel pots. These are all pretty big stock pots and I only use them when I need a big pot like for big batches of stew. Since I don't use aluminum pots there really is no other option for material. Yes, there are large anodized aluminum pots out there. I don't like anodized aluminum any more because 1) most are made in China, 2) most have riveted handles and I hate cleaning around rivets, 3) anodized aluminum is hand wash only. You can't run it through the dishwasher.

So the one pot I grab over and over, my Staub Round Cocotte (Dutch oven). I bought mine cheap from the Amazon Friday Outlet Store, patience paid off. Because I wasn't picky about the color, I got a good price. Mine is a nice green. Growing up, my parents had a set of Copco enameled iron cookware, made in Holland, which I would love to have now, chips and all. I have a bunch of Lodge cookware. You can buy it cheap from their factory store, but you have to make the trip to South Pittsburg, TN. But Lodge ware is not enameled and so you have the reactive issue. DO NOT BUY Lodge's enameled line. It is made in China and you risk lead contamination. Same with any Food Network line and the Mario Batali line.

I think Le Crueset is just as good as Staub, but it is pricier. I also like the dimples on the Staub lid that returns condensation back to the pot.

Reasons I always reach for this pot: you can boil and simmer at much lower heat settings on your stove. The enamel is non-stick. You can easily go from the stove to the oven with this pot. However, Harold McGee showed that cast iron is not a perfect distributor of heat, so it is possible to burn to the bottom of this pot, but it is just a matter of practicing lower heat settings. Oh yeah, no rivets! Yes, it is heavy. Get over it. Heavy is good because it won't warp and if you have a heavy boil, the pot doesn't move around. The more you use this pot, the less heavy it seems. And you can really do anything in this pot. There's no need to brown your meat in a skillet and then transfer to the pot to make a stew. You can brown the meat right in this pot.

If you could have only one pot, get a 5-7 quart enameled cast iron pot. Doesn't matter if it is called a Dutch oven, French oven or Cocotte. Just make sure it isn't made in China. I'm serious about that. China does not regulate their lead levels in their iron.

It's my favorite pot and I'm sure it would be yours too.

Lardy, Lardy!

Last night I attempted to render some lard. Good God Why! you might ask. Why not is my answer. I've been dieting heavily for the past few months and cooking and the thing that I am becoming more sure of is, there is nothing bad for you, well except for HFCS and aspartame and to some degree soy, but that is another post. It is all, ALL, a matter of moderation.

I don't know why we have become so antilardian. Damn food Nazis. Recipes that do call for lard call for reasonably small amounts. I suppose there is an issue if you eat the entire pan of biscuits, but then again your issue is greater than just the lard content. Lard has no trans fatty acids, less total fat than butter and has less negative cholesterol impact on you (don't take Wikipedia's word for it, check the USDA). And I can make it myself.

I read up on-line about rendering your own lard. See below for some of my references. In the end I did it my own way, for boetter or for worse.

As an initial experiment, I didn't want to invest a lot, so I used salt fatback which is as common as candy down here in the South at every grocery. Not the best source but cheap and easy to get. I thought being packed in salt would be an issue so first I rinsed the two slabs well and then I blanched them in boiling water for a minute.

Now that I had removed the salt as best I could, I scored the two slabs into cubes and then sliced the cubes off of the thick pork skin. Then I threw it all into my Staub Round Cocotte (Dutch oven)and covered the fat with water. I'm not sure if throwing the skin into the pot was smart or not but this was my first attempt.

I set the pot on the stove on low heat (3 on my electric range) and let it simmer away until there was only about a half inch of water left. It took probably six hours. I chose to use the stove rather than the oven just so I could keep an eye on it easier.

I strained the renderings through a fine sieve and put the half cup or so of lard in the fridge to solidify. Cheesecloth would probably have worked better. I think it turned out ok. I'm not sure, I didn't get the cracklins that everyone talks about. Now I just need to make some bread or something to try it out. If it seems like it's right, I hit a local butcher up for some proper pork fat.

Next I'm going to try making tallow.

Online references:
Make Your Own Lard
Homemade Lard
Rendering Lard: A First-Timer's Guide