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Not long ago, I wrote about some of the virtues of a woodstove. Not only is a woodstove a great way to heat your home, it can also be used for cooking.
Since our woodstove has a flat top, we use it for cooking fairly often, especially when it is Really Cold outside.
There’s something very satisfying about cooking on a woodstove – I’m not sure what it is.
Maybe it’s the warmth from the stove coupled with the aromas that dance through the house.
Sometimes it gets bitterly cold here. It’s the kind of cold where, if you have to go outside you take greater care than any other time of the year.
If we have to go down to the barn, we make sure we have Yaktraxs on our boots. Although they are not failsafe, having them on our boots does make it a lot safer to be walking around on the ice.
For the most part, when it is that cold I do as little outside as I need to and then hunker down in the house for the day.
When we had that cold snap, Graham made us a fantastic breakfast on the woodstove. He started by frying up some shredded homegrown potatoes.
Then he added a few slices of homegrown ham, and some homegrown eggs.
I know I am writing “homegrown” a lot, but it always puts a smile on our face when we site down to a completely full grown meal.
Having a cast iron frying pan is wonderful! If you don’t have one, pick one up when you can find them on sale – you will be glad you did!
Lodge Cast Iron is very good – this is the kind we have. It’s made in the USA. Every time I wash the cast iron pan, I rub in some EVO oil using a paper towel and then put the pan away till next time.
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Amanda says
I’ve always been interested in using cast iron pans. I just don’t know anything about them!
Wouldn’t food stick to the textured surface, and be really hard to clean? I have a pan where the nonstick coating is wearing off (probably unhealthy??) and it’s a PAIN to clean it if stuff gets burned on! And since I’m not the best of cooks, there is usually a lot of burning food. :/
Also, isn’t it kind of hard to use them since they’re so heavy, or is that not really an issue? (I’m imagining holding it over the garbage while scraping the burned food off.)
I’d like to use them someday because everyone says they’re amazing and I want to see for myself.
Annie says
Hi Amanda, they are heavier than the “usual” fry pans, that is true. If it is full, I use two hands to lift it. But it’s worth it to be able to cook on the woodstove.
Food can stick, and it’s important to keep the pan seasoned. After washing, I always put a bit of oil on it and wipe it around with a paper towel and then just put the pan away. I would certainly recommend you getting one, especially if you have a woodstove.
Shelley says
Just a word of caution about washing your cast iron frying pan. My great grandfather cooked over many a campfire, as a game guide in the Interior of BC. You should never wash your pan with soap, use a steel wool or even those darling little scrubbers you can find at most craft fairs. Cast iron is porous and it will absorb the soap and as mentioned above coat it with oil. If you have a brand new pan, put it on a slightly higher heat than medium with oil in it and cook it for a long time, keep adding oil as you need it. The more oil that it soaks up the better the pan will be. The blacker the pan the better the cooking and the easier to clean with hot water and a scrubber.
Shelley
Annie says
Thanks Shelley for this, appreciate it.