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Saturday, April 20, 2013

No one pumps cast iron like a TrailerChix



 Fireside or in the galley, nothing beats a good set of cast iron



One of the most challenging rooms for me to downsize was my kitchen. I love cooking, canning, and baking. Nothing brings me more joy than feeding people. So when it came to packing my trailer, I had to make some tough decisions on which pots and pans would make the transition with me – so I decided to bring them ALL. You can’t be a tinker without pots and pans… right?
Like many families, the value of a good cast iron skillet and Dutch oven was passed down through generations. Some of my most treasured memories are of my grandmother’s sauerbraten and pichelsteiner cooking over a low heat for hours in her very well-seasoned, black cast iron pot she received as a wedding gift in the ‘20s.
Although with a little less oil then my grandmother, but with the same eye for quality, I found myself jumping into the Sonoma County dump at the age of 16 to rescue a perfectly good Dutch oven – the very one that I still use today.
I favor the standard black cast iron over some of the new more ‘classier’ versions. To me, they’re still the easiest to clean and the seasoning seems to be more to my taste. They’re also more versatile in that I can go from campfire to trailer cook top.
I’ve since whittled down my pan inventory to five that do more than I need. The big advantage of these pans is that I only need one lid for all of them – another space saver.


1) Flat irontoast, eggs, tortillas, quesadillas, pancakes (I use this every day)
2) #10 deep dishgo-to for breakfast, roasted veggies, frittatas, fritters
3) #10 fryertarts, crisps, breads, pizza
4) Dutch ovenroasting, jambalaya, paella, stews
5) 12# crepe panthe flat iron can cook crepes, but this is a beautiful pan

 If you think cast iron is only good for frying – guess again! I highly recommend the Cast iron Cookbook by Joanna Pruess. This is a fabulous full color cookbook that not only gives you a great history of cast iron cooking and how to take care of your iron, but also some very current recipes. You’ll find enough great ideas to take you from breakfast to dessert!
Trailer chicks will need to add a little cooking time when cooking with LPG or over a fire pit.
Let us know how you pump your iron!

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