Products I love: Cast Iron

Hands down, dollar for dollar there is no better deal for cookware than cast iron. People can say what they want about any other cookware and short of some specialties like a carbon steel wok, some bakeware or the odd stainless saucepan I'm going for cast iron. Aluminum? No way, I'm not touching it, I've heard all I want to about aluminum. Teflon impregnated pans? Sorry, a long time ago I worked with Teflon and the warnings on the barrels were enough to never permit me to let food touch it. Fancy copper-clad stuff? Right, for the cost of one saucepan I could outfit an entire kitchen in cast iron and never miss the copper.

I'm opinionated when it comes to cast iron. I'm religious when it comes to cast iron. I come from a long line of down-home, swamp-yankee, cast-iron-cooking-and-loving people. Chances are if I'm cooking in it tonight, it is cast iron.

Cast iron, like wood, cotton and leather has stood the test of time. There's a weird purity and soul in that stuff you know? Cast iron is still out there and available. There's a reason for that. It is because it is SIMPLE and it WORKS. In fact it works well.

As I sit here typing this entry I am surrounded by my cast iron cookware. It inhabits every burner on my stove and there are seven pieces hanging on one wall alone! All manner of frying pans, friers, cauldrons, dutch ovens, griddles, comals and combos.

I love cast iron!

I LOVE cast iron!

I LOVE CAST IRON!

There's no excuse not to use it. It holds heat, it's non-stick, it's inexpensive, and now it come pre-seasoned. Plus it's nearly indestructible! Sure, restaurants need stainless and aluminum because they need heat fast and they need it to cool fast. However, in your home kitchen, where food better than ANY restaurant can be cooked at your will, you want cast iron.

Hey single guys, do you want to buy one pan that you can cook everything in? Then grab a decent-sized cast iron dutch oven guys. You can fry, braise, boil, roast, stew, soup, sauce, sauté and almost every-other-dang-cooking-thing in it. Plus, you'll still be cooking in it when you're a grandfather!

In the old days like the 1980's you had a choice between a few well-known manufacturers. There was Wagner and Lodge. Today, in my opinion there is one choice: Lodge. Sure there's the fancy French stuff and one pan can set you back a couple of hundred dollars, but that same pan produced by Lodge can be had for about fifty bucks at your local Hellmart or other outlet.

Sincerely and honest-to-God, I only recommend what I believe in on this blog and I'm giving you my number one, hands down, first choice for a product I love. Buy cast iron folks! Buy it new, by it antique or ask your old aunts and grandmothers for the stuff they don't use. You will not be disappointed.

Oh, and if its rusted? If it looks funky? It can be refreshed, do not throw it away! Scrub it, sandblast it, do anything but throw it away! The stuff has soul people, It absorbs those who use it into it. It becomes part of your family. It deserves to.
Products I love: Cast Iron

Product Review: Escali Primo Electronic Scale

Looks

Out of the box, the Escali Primo is small. At 1.25" high, with a small 8" x 6" footprint, the sleek and compact Primo isn't going to hog a lot of space in your kitchen. Offered in 11 different colors it's probably going to match any kitchen is rests in. Now let's take a look at the other features:

Features

• Capacity: 11 lbs./5 kg.
• Resolution: .1 oz./1 g.
• Reading: ounces, grams and pounds
• Auto-off feature extends battery life
• Uses 2 AA batteries-INCLUDED!
• Tare function allows you to put an empty container on the scale, then zero so you can obtain the weight of its contents placed in it.

Operation

Operation couldn't be easier. The unit has a two button control panel. One button turns the unit on/off, and adjusts for tare, the second button is used to switch between ounces and grams.

Let's say you want to weigh up some flour. Turn the scale on, then using the ounce/gram button switch to your desired reading. Place an empty container on the scale surface. Then hit the "tare" button and zero the scale. Now as you scoop and add flour to the bowl, you're getting an accurate reading of the flour only.

Testing

I basically tested the unit in a manner fitting its intended use. I don't get these things for free, so I'm not dropping it from six feet or immersing it in hot pea soup. Instead I tested it practical use in my kitchen.

My first test was to take something with a known weight and compare it to the scale's reading. I did this with three different known weights and each time the Primo read true.

My second test was to check the readings as they relate to the weight of a known object placed on various areas of the weighing surface. Here I used two different specimens. A heavy one of 1 lb. and a light one of 2 grams. The readings were accurate across the weighing surface of the scale. It helps to know that you don't have to center everything you intend to weigh. You can place it anywhere on the weighing surface.

Summary

I don't purchase stuff without doing some initial research. As I mentioned above, I'm spending my own money on this stuff, it's not free. So I had expectations regarding this product and they were firmly met and I was satisfied.

If I had one complaint about the Escali Primo it would be that the LED can be a teeny bit hard to read. It's no where near a deal killer though. I am satisfied with this product and because of that I recommend it for your home kitchen.

Sure, there are snazzier, more expensive scales with all kinds of bells and whistles out there. Escali even makes a few. On simple items, bells and whistles are often unneeded distractions that lack real functionality. Yes, this is made out of a lot of plastic but it doesn't hamper the accuracy and it is priced accordingly. I like quality, economy and simplicity. The Escali Primo delivers on all counts.

You can order it here if you like.
Product Review: Escali Primo Electronic Scale by Henry Krauzyk