The AeroPress. Makes excellent coffee and there's not much to clean. I use it every day.
+1.
If you like milk drinks, you can get a $5 battery operated milk frother (e.g.
from Ikea) that pairs well with the small volume strong coffee you can get from the Aeropress (something like the original recipe and not 'fill the chamber with hot water' recipes).
Hmm. Maybe those aren't just good pans. Or maybe I should try the oil frying method. The way I did it was by backing them for an hour with a thin oil coating. Thought doing it 4 times would be enough.
I have one of these and I have no idea how to use it.
Beloved cast iron pans are very smooth on the cooking surface— they used to be milled smooth after being cast, but many modern cast iron pans skip the milling and so are very rough. I didn't know this and bought some Lodge ones and they did not live up to the hype— I also under the mistaken belief that you couldn't use soap to clean them, so between food sticking during cooking and hard work getting them clean they were very much oversold by people as far as I was concerned.
I eventually saw or read something that lead me to sand them flat (as best as I could) with a small random orbital sander and re-season them. Another cast iron myth is that flaxseed oil is the best seasoning oil, but it doesn't work for a lot of people— it flakes off very easily after a use or two. I have successfully use lard, shortening, and boring old (non-virgin) olive oil.
Knowing now how easy they are to clean with dish soap and how wonderful they are to cook with when smooth am very happy.
Some useful youtube videos if you want to dive down this rabbit hole:
1.
Cast Iron Restoration and Cleaning; 2.
Cast iron pan care and revival tips
As for actually cooking with them— I mostly wing it, but it's important to preheat them on fairly low heat, as they don't heat particularly evenly. So as the first step of meal prep I put the pans I need on the stove and turn them on the lowest setting. Depending on what I'll do I'll increase the temperature closer to cooking (e.g. to sear a steak).
I never wash it with anything but water and I never let it sit for long with acidic foods such as tomato sauce in it.
A good way to clean it is to put some water in it then put it on the stove. When the water starts boiling use a heavy wooden utensil and scrub hard. Then rinse and wash with a brush. Works well
Soap is fine on cast iron; the myth that you shouldn't is from when soaps were made with lye which is incredibly caustic and will peel the seasoning off. I use hot water or the stove top to warm my dirty pans up, then place them in a sink of warm soapy water, maybe soak a bit, then scrub them easily with a microfibre cloth or rougher scrubbing cloth. I used to use a lot of elbow grease but almost never need to anymore unless I really screw things up.
You don't really want to cook eggs in a cast iron skillet but if so, make sure to have plenty of butter or bacon fat. I have cooked breakfast for 20+ while camping and it worked out just fine.
Eggs cook fine in a smooth, well seasoned pan. Barely need any butter/fat. I make omelettes and scrambled eggs all the time in mine as well as normal fried eggs.
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