Aldi cast iron frying pans

longshanks

I saw these badboys in Aldi earlier.
What do ye fine folks reckon, would they be any good?

cml387

longshanks wrote: »

I saw these badboys in Aldi earlier.
What do ye fine folks reckon, would they be any good?

Tried the griddle out this weekend on steak.


It was an Aldi ribeye steak as well...mmm.


Worked perfectly well, I would doubt the longevity of the enamel.

username123

Im a big fan of cast iron cooking myself, and they are priced well, cant see any problems unless they are not well maintained.

My own cast iron cookware is very plain and un-enamelled, but I can certainly confirm that if you stick with the correct methods of cleaning and seasoning cast iron is a wonderful way to cook!

TeletextPear

We've had the cast iron griddle from Aldi for a few years and it's brilliant. Once you take the time to season it, it'll last perfectly well.

GastroBoy

TeletextPear wrote: »

We've had the cast iron griddle from Aldi for a few years and it's brilliant. Once you take the time to season it, it'll last perfectly well.

How do you go about seasoning a pan?

username123

How to season cast iron cookware.

Also, when washing after use, just use boiling water and a soft scourer (not a metal one), no detergent or brillo pads as you will be breaking down the seasoning.

Ive been using mine 5 years or so and only had to re-season one once in that time, due to having to scour off rust from when himself left it sitting with water in it. Oh yeah, dry with a kitchen towel after washing as the iron rusts fast as anything if its left wet.

Deise Musashi

Flax seed oil or lard works well for seasoning, cover the pan in it after cleaning off any coating that may be on it from the makers.

Bake it upside down in a hot oven for an hour and leave to cool. May be repeated over a few times to build up a layer of polymerised oil on the surface, sealing all the little imperfections.
They get really non-stick this way.

Wipe out with kitchen paper while warm to clean them, maybe scour with a little table salt if stuff is stuck on. Leave oiled when not in use and they will last forever (unless dropped!)

vibe666

TeletextPear wrote: »

We've had the cast iron griddle from Aldi for a few years and it's brilliant. Once you take the time to season it, it'll last perfectly well.

ditto. we have the red griddle pan in the link above and it's been great.

the only problem we have now is that we moved into a new house recently and the extractor fan doesn't actually extract, it's connected to a charcoal filter and it's brutal at extracting (which is a serious flaw in an extractor fan imho!) so we have problems with smoke build up if we cook anything even remotely smokey, so the pan doesn't get that much use these days.

i actually store ours in the bottom rack of our oven (along with a pizza stone), so it gets an extra bit of seasoning every time we use the oven AND has the side effect of adding some thermal density to the inside of the oven which means it gets back up to temperature very quickly if i need to open it to check on whatever is cooking.

The Sparrow

I got one of these and spent yesterday seasoning it as per the instructions above. I did it twice and it seemed to have a decent covering.

Tonight, I'm going to cook some steak on it. But I'm wondering whether I need to add some cooking oil to it before I fry it or not? Obviously, you would with a regular frying pan but I'm not sure with this. And from what I've read, it seems best to season the pan with a bit of oil after cooking.

I know that to cook steak it is best to get the pan as hot as possible but I read somewhere that with a cast iron pan you should heat it gradually instead of just putting the hob on high at the start. Is that true?

username123

I always use a small bit of oil with mine to cook steak - and I never worried about putting it on a hot hob. It takes a little while to heat anyway because its as solid as anything.

vibe666

the best thing to do is to oil the steak when you are seasoning it, not the pan. that way you know you've got oil on every bit where the pan and steak will touch.

the way i was shown by a chef friend (which i've since seen done by tv chefs) is to cook it in a griddle pan on one side for 4 minutes and then lift it and turn it around (not over) 90 degrees and cook for another 4 minutes, THEN turn it over and repeat and finish in the oven using the finger test to check when it's cooked to your liking.

if you like it really rare, then either do the 90 degree turn after only 2 minutes, or turn it over after the first 4 mins before finishing in the oven.

or try it from frozen like this: http://lifehacker.com/5883796/for-a-perfectly-cooked-steak-sear-it-when-frozen-and-cook-it-in-the-oven

tried the above method a couple of weekends ago on a Lidl ribeye and it came out really well.

The Sparrow

Thanks will try that. My usual method for cooking steak was posted here I think in some other thread ages ago. I believe it is from Delia Smith.

The basic method is to season the steak at room temperature and heat the pan until it is smoking. Then sear the steak for one minute on each side at the high heat and then lower the temperature by about half and cook the steak depending on how rare you like it. I usually cook it for an extra minute and a half on each side.

Although it will be interesting to see how it works on a cast iron pan because I believe they hold onto heat much better than lighter pans so lowering the heat may be a bit useless.

corblimey

Back on cast irons for a minute (and apologies for hijacking) but I was showing someone my nicely seasoned cast iron the other day and was cooking a steak with the oven gloves on to hold it and they asked me why it just didn't come with a handle that could be held with a bare hand. I had no good answer for that, mumbling something about heat induction and then showing them something shiny. Is there a particular reason why cast iron pan can't be fitted with a nice handle that doesn't get too hot?

The Sparrow

corblimey wrote: »

Back on cast irons for a minute (and apologies for hijacking) but I was showing someone my nicely seasoned cast iron the other day and was cooking a steak with the oven gloves on to hold it and they asked me why it just didn't come with a handle that could be held with a bare hand. I had no good answer for that, mumbling something about heat induction and then showing them something shiny. Is there a particular reason why cast iron pan can't be fitted with a nice handle that doesn't get too hot?

I agree. I've been wondering the same over the past few days as I get used to the pan and keep having to find a towel to hold the handle. It makes no sense to me but there must be a reason because all cast iron pans seem to be the same.

Loving it so far too. Steak on Monday was quality and I succesfully cooked some pancakes in it yesterday so I'm thinking that means it is seasoned quite well. Lovely bit of fried fish tonight too... .Yum!

hardCopy

The Sparrow wrote: »

I agree. I've been wondering the same over the past few days as I get used to the pan and keep having to find a towel to hold the handle. It makes no sense to me but there must be a reason because all cast iron pans seem to be the same.

Loving it so far too. Steak on Monday was quality and I succesfully cooked some pancakes in it yesterday so I'm thinking that means it is seasoned quite well. Lovely bit of fried fish tonight too... .Yum!

It could be so that the pan can be put in the oven to finish cooking certain dishes, as recommended in a lot of recipes. Plastic handles would melt and wooden ones would crack or char.

The Sparrow

hardCopy wrote: »

It could be so that the pan can be put in the oven to finish cooking certain dishes, as recommended in a lot of recipes. Plastic handles would melt and wooden ones would crack or char.

Yeah you're right. That's probably it.

username123

The Sparrow wrote: »

Yeah you're right. That's probably it.

Id say that it is, you cant season them easily with non iron handles either! That said, my griddle pan does have a wooden handle, but it it the one pan that I wouldnt be putting in the oven to finish off a steak say!

I do find the cast iron pans make the best omlettes - on the hob initially to do the bottom part, then under the grill to do the top - perfect!

Does anyone know if ALDI still has the cast iron roasting trays? I see on their website that they are in a section called Hurry While Stocks Last.

JackN688

@username123, i dont know where you are in the country but Aldi in Blackpool in Cork still have them

username123

JackN688 wrote: »

@username123, i dont know where you are in the country but Aldi in Blackpool in Cork still have them

Thanks JackN688, Im in Dublin, theyre not in my nearest ALDI but I may drive to one a little further and check.

numorouno

A small query. It says on the box its electric compatible but i'm presuming its not induction suitable?

Honey-ec

hardCopy wrote: »

It could be so that the pan can be put in the oven to finish cooking certain dishes, as recommended in a lot of recipes. Plastic handles would melt and wooden ones would crack or char.

They could just use bakelite.

the beer revolu

numorouno wrote: »

A small query. It says on the box its electric compatible but i'm presuming its not induction suitable?

Cast iron should be good on induction hobs.

DM-BM

I don't know if this applies to all stores that still have these, or if it's an individual thing,but these are reduced to €8.99 at the moment.

MrsAccounts

Deise Musashi wrote: »

Flax seed oil or lard works well for seasoning, cover the pan in it after cleaning off any coating that may be on it from the makers.

Bake it upside down in a hot oven for an hour and leave to cool. May be repeated over a few times to build up a layer of polymerised oil on the surface, sealing all the little imperfections.
They get really non-stick this way.

Wipe out with kitchen paper while warm to clean them, maybe scour with a little table salt if stuff is stuck on. Leave oiled when not in use and they will last forever (unless dropped!)

Do you know is it still ok to use this method even though the Aldi ones have a enamel coating on the outside???? Just got mine and I'm afraid to use this method as I read some where to heat enamel coated cast iron pans slowly as not to crack the enamel!!!!! Has anyone tried it!!!

Deise Musashi

Enamelled pans should not need seasoning, just pre-heat them and use oil/butter/lard/goose grease to facilitate heat transfer to your food.

Dizzyblonde

MrsAccounts, we generally don't revive threads that are more than 6 months old and since your question has been answered now I'm closing this one.