Was just browsing Lodge cast iron, wondering if there are some pieces I should splurge on. Are there non-standard pieces people actually use? Normally it’s just me for dinner but my two teens are back summers
I have the three standard skillets that I use frequently, with lids I use occasionally. I got the small Dutch oven thinking it would be good for beans, veggies, maybe a small bread loaf, but have to admit I’ve never used it.
What about
- the minis, like 5” or 6.5” - do you actually do like individual apple crisp or anything? Which size is actually useful? How many?
- tall frying pan - I’ve been afraid to try frying, but is this significantly safer than the regular skillet, for fish or something? Or should I just stick to the air fryer? Do people use this?
- does anyone like the baking pan or cookie sheet? Do you use it enough to be worthwhile?
Only unusual one I have by lodge is a 15 inch skillet for bigger batches or unusually large ingredients. It’s a maybe twice a year usage, but it’s very nice to have instead of trying to make batches of things while also juggling sides and such.
Have a griddle too, but it isn’t Lodge, it came with the stove. Kinda nice in some ways, especially since we have a dedicated burner for that kind of thing in the center, between the other ones. But if you aren’t going to be doing a ton of short order style cooking, I think it’s a waste of space tbh.
I’ve had smaller pans in the past, lodge and otherwise, and they’re handy for one person meals. But not handy enough for me to keep one around with limited storage space. A 6 inch was the sweet spot, imo. Big enough for two eggs, or a single pancake at a time, things like that. But, again, not worth the limited storage space it takes up for me to keep one.
Proper frying pans tend to not be much better than a skillet imo. You have to be a little more careful putting things in, but unless you’re frying at monthly, I think it’s a pointless thing to have both. If I really want a deeper frying container, a dutch oven gets the job done and isn’t competing for space with a skillet the way a dedicated fry pan would. Mind you, a fry pan can essentially replace the skillet, so there’s that.
Never had baking/cooking sheets in cast iron, so nothing useful to say.
I have had cast iron muffin pans, and currently have some loaf pans in CI. The muffin pans were too single purpose for our amount of shelf space since we don’t do a lot of the kind of baking that benefits from a cast iron version. Only thing it was really great at was cornbread muffins. Super, super dark and yummy bottoms on those.
But the loaf pans are bomb if you make a lot of bread, particularly really crusty sourdough. Preheat the suckers, throw the loaves in, and hello nurse!
If I was setting someone up with essential cast iron, it would be a 12 inch skillet, and a dutch oven (4 or 6 quart). If they wanted more, I’d prioritize a ten or eight inch skillet as the next purchase, expanding up or down in size before switching to a different kind of pan or pot. Hell, I might even say a second 12 inch and a second size of dutch oven might be a better choice than different sized or type of pan. I run into needing multiple full size pans going more than I need smaller ones. 80% of the time, I have my cast iron amd carbon steel skillets both in use, both 12 inches.
I don’t have a Dutch oven, but it don’t think I’d use it. I don’t cook a lot of the things you typically use a Dutch oven for and am not interested in them. I do have a crock pot, which works well for chili and similar. The biggest reason I’d have is bread, but I don’t yet cook bread so who knows. I had way too much home made bread over pandemic, and am torn between going all in, or resisting
I agree with the multiple skillets, I frequently use both my 10” and 12” cast iron at the same time.
I tend to agree about heavy dutch ovens. For most things, a similar sized pot will do as well or better, while being lighter and easier to maintain. I guess if you could only have one big pot, it might make sense for it to be a dutch oven because they are slightly more versatile, if the person would actually make use of it as something other than a regular pot.
Ngl though, they really do make nice bread. I tend to prefer a more convenient loaf shape and size, hence my cast iron loaf pans, but a dutch oven really does maximize rise in a way you can’t get without some kind of steaming.
If you do decide to start making bread, the early stages of learning don’t need a dutch oven, you can just place a pan of water in the oven, which gives enough steam to keep the crust soft until the rise is finished. It won’t be as lofty as in a dutch oven just because the boule will expand sideways as well as upward, but you’ll still get almost the exact same crumb inside, and the crust should be equally developed.
So you’d likely want to wait until you figure out if you enjoy making bread before investing in a DO. If you don’t enjoy the process, why shell out for it?
Plus storage. Those things are huge and I already have too much clutter, too few places to put things. If I enjoy it or use it regularly, fine, but if I don’t’ want t takes up a lot of space