Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

I took advantage of the fairly nice weather the other day to reseason my cast iron cookware. Simply put, you heat the cookware up, slather the insides with Crisco, and then heat the stuff up so that it bakes on, forming a non-stick (usually) coating on the cookware. As you can imagine, if you do this in your oven at home it can be a bit funky and smoky. I usually dump a bag of charcoal in the barbecue, let things heat up nicely, and then go do my cast iron seasoning outdoors. A lot less muss n’ fuss that way. For the love of Crom be careful…that cast iron gets hot. I mean, really hot. I use a pair of channel lock pliers and oven mitts to handle the cookware in the reseasoning process and that is *not* being overly cautious. The cast iron stays hot enough to be dangerous for quite a while afterwards, so when you pull it off the grill and put it somewhere to cool make sure everyone knows to stay the hell away from it. Burns are nasty business.

I like the cast iron for its ability to hold heat, distribute it fairly evenly, durability, and utility. The classic Dutch ovens are wonderfully useful pieces of cookware that lend themselves to cooking in less-than-opportune venues. That is to say, whether it is on top of a gas burner or on top of a fire made from salvaged 2×4s the cast iron cookware handles things with equal aplomb. Another very nice thing is that with the cast iron I can use all my metal utensils without concern, unlike with some other types of cookware.

I’m a snob, so I usually go for Lodge brand cookware when I go for the ‘uncoated’ stuff. I love the ceramic coated cast iron (Le Crueset, for example) for stovetop use but it’s a bit delicate, in my opinion, for rough-n-tumble outdoor usage. It is also tremendously expensive but it sure is a joy to cook with. There are other brands of cast iron cookware, to be sure, but I stick with Lodge mostly out of familiarity and a staunch refusal to buy Chinese products whenever I can. (Theres tons of cheap cast iron cookware out there from China but I don’t mind spending a few bucks more for the American made stuff. I feel the quality is better and therefore the value is better. Additionally, with the Chinese, who the hell knows if its really cast iron or just the melted down slag from a recycled nuclear reactor?)

In the past, just for giggles, Ive used the Dutch oven to cook chicken and rice on top of my kerosene heater in the winter. I’ve also used it in the past in conjunction with my Volcano cookstove, which works out quite well The cast iron cookware lends itself very well to disaster-scenario cooking. I have a couple Dutch ovens and a few covered frying pans but the one cast iron piece of cookware I am currently drooling over is a cast iron wok. That baby, once brought up to temp, should be the bee’s knees when it comes to stir frying. Pound of chopped meat, some assorted vegetables, some peanut oil, and a bunch of spices should do pretty well in a blazing hot cast iron wok. My birthday is coming in August so perhaps the fates will smile.