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When your husband passes out because he's had too much to drink you can get in a few licks with that pan and he'll wake up with new aches and pains not knowing where he got them from.
True story told me by a sweet little old lady who said she always felt a bit guilty about that.
Sadly, the house in my alternate universe not only has (the horror!) ELECTRIC burners rather than gas which I will likely never get completely used (it seems weird not to have FIRE to cook with), it has one of those glass cooktops, and cast iron is not recommended.
Our current house has glass cooktops too which I rarely use. I do almost all my cooking with two portable induction cooktop (setting them on top of the glass cooktops to utilize the exhaust fan and light).
Those portable induction cooktops are quite inexpensive. I bought one 10 years ago for something like $25 and another 4 years ago (for about $40). They both came with a 3.5Q stainless steel pot. The current price is $54.
I cook with my cast iron skillets (and all clad stainless steel pots) on the induction cooktops daily. The cast iron skillet heats up very quickly with the induction cooktop. I had also roasted coffee beans on the cast iron skillet on the portable induction cooktop outside (because of the heavy smoke).
The nice thing about the cast iron cookware is that I can sear meats on the cooktop, add other ingredients then put the whole thing in the oven for bake recipes. I also use the cast iron skillet to provide steam for baking French breads.
The cast iron skillet which I use the most came as the lid for my Dutch oven.
When I first saw this thread, I thought it was about the cast iron frying pan, with that rough surface and I was wondering how that replaced the griddle since it didn't seem spatula friendly......but then I read closer. That frying pan is history but always thinking of getting another.
My husband brought his old cast iron pans/skillets to our marriage (almost 45 years ago). He had them for at least 10 years (his mother gave him the set when he went to college). The large frying pan had a rough surface until I figured out that it was due to burnt residue. I scraped/chipped off the old residue then reconditioned the pan. It did not take long for the cleaned and seasoned pan to become perfectly smooth and have a great non-stick surface.
I have an old 10" Griswold skillet, a slightly smaller 8" Wagner skillet, and modern Lodge Dutch oven and wok.
The skillets are great for eggs, pancakes, baking corn bread and biscuits, and searing meats. They are good for roasting potatoes or vegetables in the oven. I also use them to flambe reduction sauces. They make a great refried bean, but I don't do that very often. Searing spices for Indian food to release the taste works well.
I use the Dutch oven for soups and stews, as well as baking no knead crusty bread. Couple of times a year I will use it for deep frying.
The wok is great for stir fried anything. Might be rice based, potato based, or just a mess of vegetables. It is also a pretty good surface for cooking flatbreads like naan.
The one thing I don't do that has been mentioned upthread is tomato sauces. I find the tomato sauce to be too acidic, it is hard on the seasoning.
In the oven: frittata, pineapple upside-down cake, cornbread
On the burner: sauteed mushrooms, carmelized onions, fried potatoes, fried & scrambled eggs, pancakes, French toast, potato pancakes, homemade pasta sauce, stir fry before I had a wok, tortillas, grilled cheese sandwiches, best fried chicken ever, burgers, pork chops, fried catfish, fried rice, breaded fried zucchini, pan-seared steak. I am sure there's more, can't think of it right now. And it was always the cookware of choice on family camping trips.
I have cooked on a glass electric cooktop & electric oven, which I hate, for 11 years now. I had cooked on natural gas before then for years & still miss it, but never stopped using my cast iron or my copper-bottom Revereware when I had to start cooking on electric- no problem with my cookware. But I still hate electric.
Although I would use a small nonstick pan for just a couple of eggs, I love my cast-iron skillet. I use it for a lot of things, in the oven or on the burner. You can cook just about anything in cast iron. I've made batches of stew and soup on the stovetop in my large skillet. It just seems like everything tastes better.
Sadly, the house in my alternate universe not only has (the horror!) ELECTRIC burners rather than gas which I will likely never get completely used (it seems weird not to have FIREi to cook with), it has one of those glass cooktops, and cast iron is not recommended.
I use my cast iron pans on my glass cooktop ALL THE TIME. I have had the range for oh, 3 or 4 years now, and I use my cast iron often, on both my and my BF's (we have the same range) glass cooktop. I don't even understand why anyone would think that they could not. Maybe if your pans are not FLAT - I could see where that could be a problem. Our pans are perfectly flat, and they cook great!
About the only thing I cook on a griddle are my cornmeal pancakes and for those, since they land thick from the bowl and on the flip I press them flatter with the spatula, more space is nice.
So if not recipes......then suggestions.
When I first saw this thread, I thought it was about the cast iron frying pan, with that rough surface and I was wondering how that replaced the griddle since it didn't seem spatula friendly......but then I read closer. That frying pan is history but always thinking of getting another.
So again, suggestions please.
You need to re-season the pan. A good, properly seasoned cast iron pan will have a nice smooth surface. Mine have almost a mirror smooth finish. The clean up with a paper towel LOL.
Our favorite use of our inherited cast-iron pans is replacing the toaster. We just grill any bread or buns on the griddle. Makes perfect, crispy toast.
I make my own tortillas and grill them on the same cast-iron griddle.
Nothing is better for re-heating leftover pizza. We think it's better the second time around, after 5 min. on the cast-iron griddle.
I also bake bread in the Dutch oven. We took a smaller Dutch oven horse-camping and it certainly holds up to the campfire like nothing else will. I made everything in it, over the campfire.
Advantage: put the pan into the oven to bake or broil.
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