Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[LowSlowJoe]

Someone in a group I belong to had pointed out that Aldi would have a 'sale' on their preseasoned cast iron 5.5 quart dutch ovens starting today.   Sure enough, I looked at a weekly advertisement they have on their web page, and they are selling for $24.99.      I don't know anything other then that...   I might consider going to buy one, as it kinda would be nice to have a dutch oven that I could more or less devote to using on my pellet grill.

 Anyone ever own one of these, or have any other comments or advice about using cast iron in a pellet grill type situation?

[Canadian John]

 Don't have an Aldi. We have several seasoned CI dutch ovens..The seasoning must be built-up and maintained.. Once done it is, it is almost impervious to most kinds of cooking..What turns people off w/ CI is the ability to develop proper seasoning. It takes time, and during that time, certain precautions must be followed to not destroy the developing seasoning..We find the food cooked in/on CI tastes better in most cases.

[bregent]

I use this lodge in my pellet grill all the time for things like baked beans and cornbread: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LEXR0K/
I like that the top is also a skillet.

Also makes great no-knead sourdough:

[LowSlowJoe]

I have a couple enamel/cast iron dutch ovens , but I don't really like to put them in my pellet grill, as the get to dirty/smokey.      Although, I must say I never got the hang of cooking bread in one.

I can certainly see where the top doubling as a skillet, or small shallow pan of it's own could be nice.   But then, it's also $17 more,  and me being cheap..

I'll probably go by Aldi  and give the one they have a look at least.

[bregent]

>I have a couple enamel/cast iron dutch ovens , but I don't really
>like to put them in my pellet grill, as the get to dirty/smokey


Yeah, we got a le creuset for a gift that I used in the smoker once - probably took an hour to get it cleaned up.

Those are also great for bread, used in the oven of course...

No knead bread in cast iron is really simple and almost foolproof.  It is hard to bake bread and keep the weight off

[pmillen]

Yeah, we got a le creuset for a gift that I used in the smoker once - probably took an hour to get it cleaned up.

Me, too!  I replaced my CI stuff with Le Creuset (a frying pan, dutch oven and a thing that's sort of a combination of the two).  I only put it in the smoker once.  Since then I've only used a Little Griddle ceramic coated aluminum skillet in the pit.  It cleans up easier.


Little Griddle Ceramic Skillet

[Bentley]

That is a breath taking loaf of bread!  That and a pound of butter would be a great dinner!

[ZCZ]

A loaf I did last weekend

 [ Invalid Attachment ]

Z

[Bar-B-Lew]

Can you guys start a bread recipe thread? I have one of those le creseut pots and would like to give that bread a try if it is really easy.

[bregent]

Can you guys start a bread recipe thread? I have one of those le creseut pots and would like to give that bread a try if it is really easy.

Sure, good idea.

[Bobitis]

Can you guys start a bread recipe thread? I have one of those le creseut pots and would like to give that bread a try if it is really easy.

Sure, good idea.

Agreed! I can't make a loaf of bread regardless of instructions or container. 

[bregent]

I just looked at the recipe I use and realize that it's just a copy/paste from the famous NY Times recipe of Jim Lahey - so not sure posting it again here is appropriate. You can easily find it with a web search. What I have done is convert the volume measures to weight, and made a few tweaks. Here are those:

• 3 cups (16 oz)(454 Grams) all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting (16 oz)
• 1.5 Cups (12 Oz) (340 grams) cold water
• ¼ teaspoon instant yeast (.75 grams)
• 1 ¼ teaspoons salt (9 grams)

-The original recipe called for 1 5/8 cup water which I've reduced here a bit.
-I also sometimes use up to 25% whole wheat flour.
-Often substitute sourdough starter for yeast.
-I no longer use a towel for the final rise - I let it rise in a large bowl and turn it out directly from the bowl into the hot dutch oven using a rubber spatula. There's less mess and no problems with sticking.
-I also use a shaker to dust the top with a little flour - strictly for aesthetics.

Again, you really don't need bread making skills to make loaves like the ones I posted previously in this thread. And there are plenty of youtube videos that walk you through the process if you like to watch.

Some variations out there include using warm water and more yeast so that the total rise time is just a few hours. While this works and makes great bread, letting is slowly ferment for longer will bring out more flavors.

[ZCZ]

My recipe is almost identical.  I sometimes use one cup of whole wheat then 2 cups of white.  I always buy raw organic wheat for the whole wheat and grind it to flour in my dry Vitamix.  For the white flour I use the organic flour from Costco.  You can also add craisins, walnuts, etc.

Mix incredients in bowl. Cover with a towel and let sit 24 hours.  Punch it down, roll into a ball and place in your baking container.
Put in the oven at 170° for 40 minutes in a COVERED container - bread will rise.  After 40 minutes leave the bread covered then crank up the oven to 375° and bake for 26 minutes.  After 26 minutes remove the lid and crank up the oven to 425 and bake for 20 minutes.

Pretty easy.

Z

[ZCZ]

A loaf I did with whole wheat. Sunflower seeds on top with Craisins, sunflower seeds and walnuts inside

 [ Invalid Attachment ]

 [ Invalid Attachment ]