Burn or not to burn?

[timetraveler]

In[ The Caretaker] Grandma complains about the new fry pans.
she says thay burn everything and she would rather have her
Cast Iron . Alot of people claim cast Irons do the burning.

[Marilyn]

I thought you were going to talk about bra burning! I think any pan burns if you cook on too high of a heat and don't use enough oil...or use the wrong oil.

[Deleted]

I think that the real issue was that Grandma was not use to cooking in that house and that she really wanted to be at home where she was used to everything.

[River]

I have cast iron pans and love them! They don't burn unless you cook on high heat for long periods of time. They are wonderful and I wouldn't use anything else to cook with!

[lorijean]

I have one cast iron skillet and use it strictly for cornbread. I love it and just need to wipe it out with a paper towel and keep it seasoned with a tiny bit of oil. However, imagine my distress when I came home and found someone frying hamburgers in it...................grrrr. (he meant well though - LOL)

[Marilyn]

I don't dare try cast iron because it's such a fussy pan and requires special care and special conditions. I don't think I could keep any of it straight in my head. I use stainless for most cooking and keep one teflon coated pan for eggs.

[gina]

I have several cast iron skillets, dutch ovens, etc. I use them for my campfire, chuckwagon cooking. I even have one of the turkey cookers. With a few charcoal briquets on top and bottom it will cook a 12 pound turkey in a couple of hours. They are great for baking. Since you put most of the heat (charcoal or wood) on the top it doesn't burn the bottom. You can also bury them in a bed of charcoal and let them cook all day.

[davidm]

Keep in mind that back in those days they were using wood burning stoves. Grandma was use to cooking with cast iron pans with that particular stove/oven. And, as someone said, it was also her way of saying she really wished they were back home with the problems settled. I use stainless steel pans. Just what I had got when my mom passed away. I have a friend who uses a cast iron pan and he washes it right away when he's done, dries it, and coats it with oil to keep it from rusting. He said you can build a bonfire and put the pan in it to burn off any rust it it ever gets rusty. Since being diagnosed with cancer I was told never to use pans with non-stick coatings. I've been told this by several doctors and many friends who threw out their stickless pans in favor of stainless steel. The chemicals in the non-stick coating gets into the foods and you ingest it. The chemicals can cause cancer.

[dfnmeows44]

So sorry DavidM, I did not know

[Marilyn]

You're correct on the non-stick coated pans David. I tossed all mine out and just keep one for eggs. They're okay as long as you don't scratch them and release the chemicals in the coating. Use wood or plastic utensils only. When I get a scratch, I buy a new pan.

[lorijean]

I have trouble with the stainless steel. How do you keep the food from sticking? I hate when stuff sticks and I get work with it.

[Marilyn]

Stainless is tough to use for frying due to the sticking. Even when I spray the pan, or pour oil in it, there's going to be a certain degree of sticking. No way could I make eggs of any kind in a stainless steel pan. Can you imagine trying to scramble eggs or make an omlete? NO way!

[davidm]

Jan 12, 2011 21:47:46 GMT -5 dfnmeows44 said:

So sorry DavidM, I did not know

You don't have anything to apologize for. I've only told a few people. Until recently the topics didn't warrant me bring it up. Thanks so much for you concern though, it does mean a lot to me.

[davidm]

Jan 14, 2011 15:36:07 GMT -5 Marilyn said:

You're correct on the non-stick coated pans David. I tossed all mine out and just keep one for eggs. They're okay as long as you don't scratch them and release the chemicals in the coating. Use wood or plastic utensils only. When I get a scratch, I buy a new pan.

This is actually for you and someone else how I cook with stainless steel and keep food from sticking to the pan. I always use wooden utensils, it's gentle on the food and the pan, and you don't get the chemicals of plastic or aluminum leaching into your food. If you want to fry foods the best oil to use is extra virgin coconut oil. A big trick is not to set the heat up too high. I'll use eggs as an example. Sunday mornings I have oatmeal, eggs and a banana. I turn the heat up as high as it goes to get the water boiling. Once the water boils I pour some of it over the raw oats and put the rest of the water back on the burner. The burner ranges from 1-10, I turn it down to 4 or 4.5. Technically you can call what I do as poaching. If I want "sunny side up" style I just crack the 2 eggs open and drop them into the hot water, and I use the wooden utensil to move them about (the temp has been turned down) which prevents them from sticking. If I want scrambled eggs I scramble them in a bowel. I use the wooden utensil to move it all about, so that with reduced heat prevents it all from sticking. When they're done I pour all the contents of the pan through a stainless steel netted thing (I don't know exactly what you call it) very slowly. The water goes through the mesh but the eggs stay in it. You pour it slowly so if you want sunny side up the yolks don't break. Give it a minute to drain the little water that remains, shake it back and forth gently if you wish. Then slowly let the eggs slide onto a plate. I usually sprinkle some tumeric and whatever spices I want on the eggs and you end up with good tasting eggs rather than eggs fried in heavy oil.

I get my eggs from Mennonites that live very close to me, most of them are duck eggs, but some are chicken eggs. So they're organic.

They main things to prevent sticking is a) don't use too high a heat, b) watch over the food you're cooking, c) use a wooden utensil to move the food about (this is for using water or any kind of oil). When you're cooking eggs, they cook in very short time periods, so standing over them and moving them about every 20-30 seconds isn't really a problem. Some people use olive oil for frying because it's a healthy oil, and it is a healthy oil. However, when you heat it up for cooking it changes the chemical compound to a carcinogenic compound which can lead to cancer. Most oils do the same, but coconut oil doesn't, which it the best choice for frying. For me, even before I had cancer, fried foods were alway too heavy and ended up making me sick to my stomach. So now I either boil/poach, bake, or broil. If I make a soup or stew (which I often do) I use a crock pot. The leftovers I reheat on a burner at moderate heat, stirring every minute to prevent sticking. I hope this helps y'all.

[Marilyn]

I fry scrambled eggs in butter and fried eggs in olive oil. Butter isn't our enemy as we've been preached to all these years. It's a natural substance that our body knows how to digest and work with. We only use pasture-raised organic meats, dairy and eggs. To be sure though, don't just trust what people tell you, check it out to be sure. I've seen factory farm eggs that were called organic, and those poor chickens live in horrendous and cruel conditions. The chickens we get eggs from are fed a natural diet, no antibiotics or hormones, and are outside when it's nice, in the sun, scratching in the dirt and grass, just as God intends them to..