Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Glad to see Cast Iron is a shared topic here too!
In my mind, camping and cast iron are like peanut butter and jelly, they just BELONG together!

So, my question is how much cast iron do you actually travel with?

I've amassed a small collection... and if I wanted to pack it all with me, I'm afraid I am going to have to upgrade my tow vehicle and the axel on my trailer!


But seriously... what are you must have cast iron implements for camping?
For me, I always pack:

Lodge Tripod
Rome Pudgie Pie Irons (2)
Rome Double Pudgie Pie Iron
Lodge Combo Cooker set

And most of the time I pack my Lodge Cook-It-All

One spider skillet and one dutch oven ! I have an extra camp oven lid that will fit on the spider so it to can be used as a second dutch oven. Being shallow it get the heat up closer so desserts and pizzas are far better in that shallow skillet.

Been 10 years but all the info is still good...........https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trowX9DxwVI

Anymore we just take a Griswold #8. Sure works great and it's lighter than the modern stuff. We just tried the cold sear method for cooking a steak. Yum.

Bruce

bdosborn wrote:Anymore we just take a Griswold #8. Sure works great and it's lighter than the modern stuff. We just tried the cold sear method for cooking a steak. Yum.

Bruce

nice to see somebody else travels with a convection cooktop i think it's the only way to go we travel with it all the time It's easy and we never need propane and if we don't in a can't breathe with a short power we have a 22 100 watt honda generator that runs it just great.And it does work fantastic on cast fan I also have a very large collection of cast iron but I only travel with a couple of piecesto try and keep the weight down.

Since it's usually just me and my pooch, I only take my little 6" CI fry pan. Everything else is light weight stainless steel.

(PS. Most everything is cooked at home and taken to camp frozen, so all I have to do is warm it.)

One 14" skillet, one 12, one 10" and one 8" dutch oven. Waffle iron when on the menu.

We camp several different ways so it depends:

Backpacking - none
Car camping - depends on the meal plans
Tiny camper - depends on the meal plans
Cabin - has it's own full stock of every imaginable CI vessel

Most often we use a dutch oven or 2.

If you will excuse the pun, I am ironing out my Cast Iron collection for travel. I have it down the following pieces and associated accessories.

- Lodge 10.5 inch skillet with lid.
- Outdoor Gourmet 12 inch Deep presumably 8qt camp dutch oven.
- Outdoor Gourmet, Literally relabelled Lodge, it has Lodge cast into it, double sided griddle
- Ozark Trail 12 inch 5qt camp dutch oven.
- Ozark Trail 2qt bean pot.
- Stansport dutch oven lid lifter
- Stansport dutch oven tripod hanger
- Lodge 4 in 1 multi tool
- Lodge cast iron dutch oven trivet

I am very much not interested in scraping the seasoning off of my cast iron, so I am actually actively looking for some good quality silicone or other non toxic utensils to use in the cast iron...

Scraping the seasoning off of the iron doesn't even cross my mind as a concern. I look at it like painting a house. What do you do before applying a coat of paint? Scrape the existing coat, then wash the surface. Then you prime and paint. You are literally "painting" a coat of oil onto the surface of the iron and if you have prepped correctly the oil will grab onto the pores of the iron and hang on! I am also one of those renegades who <<<GASP>>> dunks a well-seasoned CI pan in a tub of hot soapy dishwater with nary a concern! If the iron is indeed PROPERLY seasoned a bit of mild dish soap isn't going to harm the surface one tiny bit.

As to the original question, depending on what type of trip and conveyance, I will usually have at least a skillet and a dutch oven.

I scour our cast iron frying pan with a ball of aluminum foil after each use (nearly every day), then rinse in water and re-oil. I doubt you can hurt them with regular metal utensils. That's what they are designed for!

Tom

I hope to some day make storage for this pile to start with;
have lots to learn with this stuff

rjgimp wrote:Scraping the seasoning off of the iron doesn't even cross my mind as a concern. I look at it like painting a house. What do you do before applying a coat of paint? Scrape the existing coat, then wash the surface. Then you prime and paint. You are literally "painting" a coat of oil onto the surface of the iron and if you have prepped correctly the oil will grab onto the pores of the iron and hang on! I am also one of those renegades who <<<GASP>>> dunks a well-seasoned CI pan in a tub of hot soapy dishwater with nary a concern! If the iron is indeed PROPERLY seasoned a bit of mild dish soap isn't going to harm the surface one tiny bit.

As to the original question, depending on what type of trip and conveyance, I will usually have at least a skillet and a dutch oven.

I use plastic scrapers to and a nylon brush to scrub down my CI... The corners on my skillet in particular the nice black seasoning doesn't quite stay and I end up with a more amber looking coating... I guess just keep chugging along with it, this skillet isn't all that old but it gets used as often as possible.

Re-seasoning is pretty easy too, if you want to try and get those corners black again. Basically you have to have access to a stove for a few hours.

First wash the pans with soap and warm water. Soap is okay because you are about to reseason them. Hand dry thoroughly. Oil the pans well (vegetable oil is good) and then bake them for an hour or so at about 400 degrees. Best to keep them inverted with a cookie sheet underneath to catch oil drips.

Many variations on the basic theme. See the interwebs for strong opinions.

Tom

Cleaning advice?
Read long ago about putting cast iron in coals till the morning for deep cleaning;
This thing is well used and the crust is (very hard) wondering if it's a prime example

I've seen a bunch of YouTube videos on using electrolysis to clean cast iron. Seems to be an easy way to clean really crusty stuff.

https://www.castironcollector.com/electrolysis.php

Bruce