Long and Low Boils

W. Hilditch

Active member
Proud to say that all my iron is good to well seasoned. I do make chili in my DO cooking for about 3 hours with no noticeable affects to the seasoning. The chili is removed shortly after it is finished into a SS pot to chill until the next day. More better that way.

When it comes to boils longer than 3 hours for stock or the Chicken & Dumplings recipe below, I chicken out of the cast iron. Has anyone done a boil for 6 or 8 hours without any noticeable damage to their seasoning?

Hilditch
 
Although the wrong time of year for the boiled peanut vendors to be out I kept thinking about the cast iron cauldrons they use in North Georgia. They are black. Inside and out. And the water is black. Bingo! Magnetite or what is called black rust combined with the oil from the peanuts is the barrier between the water and the iron. (Thanks Spurgeon.) They keep the pots full, let them sit full overnight and when dumped refilled immediately. Contact of the water to iron and getting the iron flavor is thus buffered and minimal.

Ref: http://sherylcanter.com/wordpress/2010/02/black-rust-and-cast-iron-seasoning/

The really great part about learning this is that some black rust would also create a lining in cast iron tea pots, water kettles, sauce pans, etc. to minimize the need to maintain an oil based seasoning and retard red rust.

Maybe we should bake that flash rust on before seasoning.

Hilditch
 
My last post was meant to encourage all y’all to try this recipe as I experiment with my pot. If for some reason you can’t cook it on Sunday and are in the ‘hood, I’d be happy to share. There WILL be enough to share. I miss the smaller chickens.

Hilditch
 
A half hour warm up time. 7 1/2 hours at a low boil and 2 hrs. cool down time before emptying. After doing the popcorn a mess of bacon was fried without washing before adding a gallon of water. There is no perceptible damage to the seasoning. It’s hard and actually looks better than it did yesterday. At one point the inside was coated with residue after the dumplings were added, but that all disappeared. Cleanup was rinse and wipe leaving me surprised and impressed.

We could have used some help at dinner as it made over 5 qts.



Hilditch
 
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