# Stuff and Things > Cooking >  A tortilla press and a cast iron griddle

## Cedric

What do a tortilla press and a cast iron griddle have in common.  In this case they are from the same company -- of Chinese manufacture.  Sigh! -- and one is a piece of garbage and the other is just fine.

The wife grew us making corn and flour tortillas and then for a variety of reasons stopped doing that nearly thirty years ago.  For another set of reasons, of late I have been interested in trying my hand at producing both types of tortillas and pita bread.  Sooooooo . . . off we sent for a deluxe style cast iron tortilla press able to produce eight inch in diameter tortillas if one were so of a mind.  It arrived a few days ago and I took one look at it, recalled when I took a welding course at the local community college, remembered how brittle cast iron is in comparison to steel and said to myself, "I bet the first time I use this press the handle is going to snap."

I used the press for the first time this morning and the handle immediately snapped off.  Have I said "Sigh"?  Sigh!

So anyway I used a trusty rolling pin and flattened a few corn tortilla dough balls into reasonable renditions of flats disks and tried using a steel skillet.  It worked after a fashion, although I am NOT going to continue using an expensive Calphalon brand skillet for tortilla cookery as it was freaking difficult to clean up after the fact.  But the corn tortilla experiment was a success; meaning that operation Tortillas Production is now off and running.

To the local Hispanic dedicated super market we go -- or rather we went about an hour ago -- and what do we find?  A bunch of cast iron tortilla presses ranging from small capacity to six and eight inches in diameter capacity and also the exact same type that I broke this morning, but -- and here's the part that made me laugh and my wife curse -- for half the cost of what we sent off for.  Anyway I selected a style with a better looking handle and we shall see what we see in that regard in the morning.  It looks to me like it is likely to last for a while.

Now to the cast iron griddle, which we also purchased in the super market.  Now I grew up using cast iron skillets because I grew up poor and cast iron was what poor people cooked with.  That said my mother's skillets never had to be seasoned because she always used oil in them anyway.  Well in my neck of the woods, that was how poor people ate.  You fried everything that wasn't boiled or baked.  Saute?  What the hell is that?  

But times, they have changed, and this gray-haired old fart is trying to change with them.  So I read the directions.  Ah . . . you season a cast iron skillet -- thus making it naturally non-stick in nature -- by coating its surface in vegetable oil and then baking the skillet at 300 degrees for one hour; a time that still has about thirty minutes left to go as I finish typing this missive.  

I will add one more thing; I don't like store bought corn tortillas and living as I do in Texas one can find them EVERYWHERE.  But they always taste rubbery to me and taste of -- gasp -- corn.  Rubbery tasting corn is not my thing.  Thus I was not real keen on the idea of producing corn tortillas.  So I got the best corn tortilla flour I could find (White Wing) and gave it a shot this morning and . . . it . . . is . . . delicious, and not rubbery and not even particularly tasting of corn.  Nice!

As for cooking technique my wife shook her head this morning, smiled gently and said, "Not to worry.  What does an Italian-American know about producing tortillas anyway?  Keep working at it and you'll do just fine . . . some day."

Gotta love it!

----------

Toefoot (09-07-2015)

----------


## hoosier8

> What do a tortilla press and a cast iron griddle have in common.  In this case they are from the same company -- of Chinese manufacture.  Sigh! -- and one is a piece of garbage and the other is just fine.
> 
> The wife grew us making corn and flour tortillas and then for a variety of reasons stopped doing that nearly thirty years ago.  For another set of reasons, of late I have been interested in trying my hand at producing both types of tortillas and pita bread.  Sooooooo . . . off we sent for a deluxe style cast iron tortilla press able to produce eight inch in diameter tortillas if one were so of a mind.  It arrived a few days ago and I took one look at it, recalled when I took a welding course at the local community college, remembered how brittle cast iron is in comparison to steel and said to myself, "I bet the first time I use this press the handle is going to snap."
> 
> I used the press for the first time this morning and the handle immediately snapped off.  Have I said "Sigh"?  Sigh!
> 
> So anyway I used a trusty rolling pin and flattened a few corn tortilla dough balls into reasonable renditions of flats disks and tried using a steel skillet.  It worked after a fashion, although I am NOT going to continue using an expensive Calphalon brand skillet for tortilla cookery as it was freaking difficult to clean up after the fact.  But the corn tortilla experiment was a success; meaning that operation Tortillas Production is now off and running.
> 
> To the local Hispanic dedicated super market we go -- or rather we went about an hour ago -- and what do we find?  A bunch of cast iron tortilla presses ranging from small capacity to six and eight inches in diameter capacity and also the exact same type that I broke this morning, but -- and here's the part that made me laugh and my wife curse -- for half the cost of what we sent off for.  Anyway I selected a style with a better looking handle and we shall see what we see in that regard in the morning.  It looks to me like it is likely to last for a while.
> ...


Had a Chinese flat top that goes over two burners.  First you need to heat it covered with paper towels to remove the protective grease.   Read about seasoning it for use before you actually use it and that was by baking it for a certain amount of time (something like 20 minutes) at 500 in the oven a number of times letting it cool inbetween after wiping it with an oil so I tried it.  The best non stick oil to use to season it was flax oil after testing for non-stick after seasoning.  I didn't have any flax oil so just used veg oil.  

After doing that it turned the nice black color.

I have an old skillet that I cook most everything in after my non-stick pans all wore out.  I often just use olive oil or butter to cook with.  Some things stick a bit but never really a problem.  Julia Child once said that cast iron skillets were the first non-stick pans.  Some of the older people I know that used them in the past don't use them anymore because of the weight.

One think I learned is that meat will unstick when it is ready and you shouldn't try to unstick it before.  Also, cooking fish to get a crispier skin works better in a modern non-stick pan or you would have to use much more heat causing oil smoke in a cast iron pan.

----------

Toefoot (09-07-2015)

----------


## Cedric

> Had a Chinese flat top that goes over two burners.  First you need to heat it covered with paper towels to remove the protective grease.   Read about seasoning it for use before you actually use it and that was by baking it for a certain amount of time (something like 20 minutes) at 500 in the oven a number of times letting it cool inbetween after wiping it with an oil so I tried it.  The best non stick oil to use to season it was flax oil after testing for non-stick after seasoning.  I didn't have any flax oil so just used veg oil.  
> 
> After doing that it turned the nice black color.
> 
> I have an old skillet that I cook most everything in after my non-stick pans all wore out.  I often just use olive oil or butter to cook with.  Some things stick a bit but never really a problem.  Julia Child once said that cast iron skillets were the first non-stick pans.  Some of the older people I know that used them in the past don't use them anymore because of the weight.
> 
> One think I learned is that meat will unstick when it is ready and you shouldn't try to unstick it before.  Also, cooking fish to get a crispier skin works better in a modern non-stick pan or you would have to use much more heat causing oil smoke in a cast iron pan.


Thanks.  That's good to know information.  Yeah these buggers are freaking heavy and one can't handle them as casually as you can with stainless steel; which means no direct water immersion after cooking, not unless one wants to see one's cast iron whatever . . . crack.

Oh, and this skillet was already seasoned.  But after reading the directions that came with it -- about how one needs to periodically re-season them -- I decided to go ahead and do that as a precaution before cooking with it for the first time.

----------


## HawkTheSlayer

> What do a tortilla press and a cast iron griddle have in common.  In this case they are from the same company -- of Chinese manufacture.  Sigh! -- and one is a piece of garbage and the other is just fine.
> 
> The wife grew us making corn and flour tortillas and then for a variety of reasons stopped doing that nearly thirty years ago.  For another set of reasons, of late I have been interested in trying my hand at producing both types of tortillas and pita bread.  Sooooooo . . . off we sent for a deluxe style cast iron tortilla press able to produce eight inch in diameter tortillas if one were so of a mind.  It arrived a few days ago and I took one look at it, recalled when I took a welding course at the local community college, remembered how brittle cast iron is in comparison to steel and said to myself, "I bet the first time I use this press the handle is going to snap."
> 
> I used the press for the first time this morning and the handle immediately snapped off.  Have I said "Sigh"?  Sigh!
> 
> So anyway I used a trusty rolling pin and flattened a few corn tortilla dough balls into reasonable renditions of flats disks and tried using a steel skillet.  It worked after a fashion, although I am NOT going to continue using an expensive Calphalon brand skillet for tortilla cookery as it was freaking difficult to clean up after the fact.  But the corn tortilla experiment was a success; meaning that operation Tortillas Production is now off and running.
> 
> To the local Hispanic dedicated super market we go -- or rather we went about an hour ago -- and what do we find?  A bunch of cast iron tortilla presses ranging from small capacity to six and eight inches in diameter capacity and also the exact same type that I broke this morning, but -- and here's the part that made me laugh and my wife curse -- for half the cost of what we sent off for.  Anyway I selected a style with a better looking handle and we shall see what we see in that regard in the morning.  It looks to me like it is likely to last for a while.
> ...


Before you season today's cast skillets and Dutch ovens you should turn them upside down and heat the piss out of them. Especially if they are not Lodge brand and imported. They are coated with wax, if you're lucky but usually cosmoline. This keeps them from rusting. Its a good idea to put them on an open fire or the BBQ pit upside down until you burn that off. You can leave the item right side up and watch the Cosmoline pool in the center and then wipe it clean with a paper towel but I prefer to burn it all off before I start seasoning the pot. 
Nothing cooks like a good cast iron pot. Not even Magnalite. 
Enjoy the masa!

----------

Toefoot (09-07-2015)

----------


## Cedric

> Before you season today's cast skillets and Dutch ovens you should turn them upside down and heat the piss out of them. Especially if they are not Lodge brand and imported. They are coated with wax, if you're lucky but usually cosmoline. This keeps them from rusting. Its a good idea to put them on an open fire or the BBQ pit upside down until you burn that off. You can leave the item right side up and watch the Cosmoline pool in the center and then wipe it clean with a paper towel but I prefer to burn it all off before I start seasoning the pot. 
> Nothing cooks like a good cast iron pot. Not even Magnalite. 
> Enjoy the masa!



Thanks much for the information.  You are right about the Cosmoline of course, but fortunately this griddle was already seasoned and ready for use; a fact that I forgot to mention.  So what I am actually doing as I type this is re-seasoning it as a precaution.  I am looking forward to cooking with it tomorrow morning.  I haven't used a cast iron anything for cooking with since my teens.  So I'm sort of coming full circle.

----------



----------


## hoosier8

> Thanks.  That's good to know information.  Yeah these buggers are freaking heavy and one can't handle them as casually as you can with stainless steel; which means no direct water immersion after cooking, not unless one wants to see one's cast iron whatever . . . crack.
> 
> Oh, and this skillet was already seasoned.  But after reading the directions that came with it -- about how one needs to periodically re-season them -- I decided to go ahead and do that as a precaution before cooking with it for the first time.


My Chinese items were not pre-seasoned but I actually clean my cast iron using oil and heat instead of water unless I really made a mess.  If you use water, be sure to heat the pan with a light coat of oil before putting them away.  I also do this with my steel Wok.

The old pan I have is fine grained cast iron and really makes a nice surface to cook on.  The Chinese ones are coarser.  My Dutch Oven is Lodge and pre-seasoned and I like to use it to bake chicken and cook beans in.  For beans and ham hocks, I cook them at 225 for 8 hours and they are amazing cooked that way.

----------



----------


## Cedric

> My Chinese items were not pre-seasoned but I actually clean my cast iron using oil and heat instead of water unless I really made a mess.  If you use water, be sure to heat the pan with a light coat of oil before putting them away.  I also do this with my steel Wok.
> 
> The old pan I have is fine grained cast iron and really makes a nice surface to cook on.  The Chinese ones are coarser.


Dad-gum, hooiser8, between you and HawkTheSlayer I am getting some darn good information here!

----------

Toefoot (09-07-2015)

----------


## hoosier8

> Dad-gum, hooiser8, between you and HawkTheSlayer I am getting some darn good information here!


There is some controversy over pans from China and about iron from any cast iron pan leaching into food but I really don't give a shyte and do what I want.  I really like cast iron to cook with and use it almost exclusively anymore.

----------


## HawkTheSlayer

> Thanks much for the information.  You are right about the Cosmoline of course, but fortunately this griddle was already seasoned and ready for use; a fact that I forgot to mention.  So what I am actually doing as I type this is re-seasoning it as a precaution.  I am looking forward to cooking with it tomorrow morning.  I haven't used a cast iron anything for cooking with since my teens.  So I'm sort of coming full circle.


I have so many cast pots, ovens and skillets, its insane. Some were my grandmothers. I rarely use any of them today. One of my faves is an old Dutch oven with a recessed lid of about an inch. I still use it for outdoor cooking over an open fire. Its very efficient in that the top is made for the addition of coals. Every so often you scoop up some coals and pile them in the recessed lid cooking from both the bottom and top. Works great on a cold windy night when your sitting around the campfire enjoying a fermented carbonated beverage or three.

----------

Rickity Plumber (09-07-2015)

----------


## Cedric

> I have so many cast pots, ovens and skillets, its insane. Some were my grandmothers. I rarely use any of them today. One of my faves is an old Dutch oven with a recessed lid of about an inch. I still use it for outdoor cooking over an open fire. Its very efficient in that the top is made for the addition of coals. Every so often you scoop up some coals and pile them in the recessed lid cooking from both the bottom and top. Works great on a cold windy night when your sitting around the campfire enjoying a fermented carbonated beverage or three.



Excellent!  I have some old cookbooks that are always recommending the use of dutch ovens.  Not having one I  make due with ceramic casserole items with glass lids.  Not the same by a long shot but the end results are tasty enough.

----------


## Jen

I had a tortilla press years ago.  It was cheap and stupid and I hated it.  So I just made them myself like my friends' mothers used to do (and I watched).   At first they looked like the map of the united states, but now I can do an excellently shaped tortilla that Tia Olivia would be proud of.  It just takes practice.  When we have tacos, I make the masa/ dough and everyone makes their own tortillas.  We do it on a griddle.  They turn out fine.  The key is the heat.  That surface must be very hot.

----------


## Cedric

> There is some controversy over pans from China and about iron from any cast iron pan leaching into food but I really don't give a shyte and do what I want.  I really like cast iron to cook with and use it almost exclusively anymore.


Aye and ditto.  I feel the same way about all these medical community announcements concerning cooking.  Most of the time it turns out that they were w-r-o-n-g, but only a decade or two after convincing people to change their ways.

----------


## hoosier8

> I have so many cast pots, ovens and skillets, its insane. Some were my grandmothers. I rarely use any of them today. One of my faves is an old Dutch oven with a recessed lid of about an inch. I still use it for outdoor cooking over an open fire. Its very efficient in that the top is made for the addition of coals. Every so often you scoop up some coals and pile them in the recessed lid cooking from both the bottom and top. Works great on a cold windy night when your sitting around the campfire enjoying a fermented carbonated beverage or three.


I bought the regular dutch oven without the lid that is specifically made for campfires like you have.  Might get one someday if I ever cook outside.  LOL

----------


## Cedric

> I had a tortilla press years ago.  It was cheap and stupid and I hated it.  So I just made them myself like my friends' mothers used to do (and I watched).   At first they looked like the map of the united states, but now I can do an excellently shaped tortilla that Tia Olivia would be proud of.  It just takes practice.  When we have tacos, I make the masa/ dough and everyone makes their own tortillas.  We do it on a griddle.  They turn out fine.  The key is the heat.  That surface must be very hot.


Yep, that's how my wife used to make them.  I did okay myself today with a rolling pin because I've done quite a bit of baking over the last few years.  But I think that a press will makes things go faster and since I intend to be making these on a daily basis I am shooting for production efficiency.

----------


## hoosier8

Man, when I lived on the border as a kid, I went over to one of my Mexican friends house and his mother was making flour tortillas.  She made them by hand, no press, and cooked them on the top of the stove over direct fire.  There is nothing better than freshly made tortillas off the fire.

----------


## Dan40

> What do a tortilla press and a cast iron griddle have in common.  In this case they are from the same company -- of Chinese manufacture.  Sigh! -- and one is a piece of garbage and the other is just fine.
> 
> The wife grew us making corn and flour tortillas and then for a variety of reasons stopped doing that nearly thirty years ago.  For another set of reasons, of late I have been interested in trying my hand at producing both types of tortillas and pita bread.  Sooooooo . . . off we sent for a deluxe style cast iron tortilla press able to produce eight inch in diameter tortillas if one were so of a mind.  It arrived a few days ago and I took one look at it, recalled when I took a welding course at the local community college, remembered how brittle cast iron is in comparison to steel and said to myself, "I bet the first time I use this press the handle is going to snap."
> 
> I used the press for the first time this morning and the handle immediately snapped off.  Have I said "Sigh"?  Sigh!
> 
> So anyway I used a trusty rolling pin and flattened a few corn tortilla dough balls into reasonable renditions of flats disks and tried using a steel skillet.  It worked after a fashion, although I am NOT going to continue using an expensive Calphalon brand skillet for tortilla cookery as it was freaking difficult to clean up after the fact.  But the corn tortilla experiment was a success; meaning that operation Tortillas Production is now off and running.
> 
> To the local Hispanic dedicated super market we go -- or rather we went about an hour ago -- and what do we find?  A bunch of cast iron tortilla presses ranging from small capacity to six and eight inches in diameter capacity and also the exact same type that I broke this morning, but -- and here's the part that made me laugh and my wife curse -- for half the cost of what we sent off for.  Anyway I selected a style with a better looking handle and we shall see what we see in that regard in the morning.  It looks to me like it is likely to last for a while.
> ...


Not poor people.

If one has a gas range, well seasoned cast iron cookware is the best.  Not so good on electric, and cannot be used on glass topped electric.

----------


## HawkTheSlayer

> Excellent!  I have some old cookbooks that are always recommending the use of dutch ovens.  Not having one I  make due with ceramic casserole items with glass lids.  Not the same by a long shot but the end results are tasty enough.


One of my sis in laws has a ceramic dutchy too. Its very thick and distributes heat very evenly. I really like it. Its super easy to clean, unlike cast. 
That is the only drawback to cast. Cleaning it, properly. 

They say to never use soap but a little doesn't hurt. After initial seasoning, i usually wash with water only then put the pot back on the stove to thoroughly dry it. After cooling , I put a teaspoon or two of oil in the pot and coat the inside and outside wiping away any excess. 

Im particular about having a thick seasoned coating of oil on the inside of the pots and this takes much time and many rounds of baking and cooling and reoiling. Its very smoky too! :-) In order to make the coating last, I highly recommend using only wooden or plastic utensils to cook and serve.

----------


## Calypso Jones

> Not poor people.
> 
> If one has a gas range, well seasoned cast iron cookware is the best.  Not so good on electric, and cannot be used on glass topped electric.


I use cast iron on glass topped electric.

----------


## Cedric

> One of my sis in laws has a ceramic dutchy too. Its very thick and distributes heat very evenly. I really like it. Its super easy to clean, unlike cast. 
> That is the only drawback to cast. Cleaning it, properly. 
> 
> They say to never use soap but a little doesn't hurt. After initial seasoning, i usually wash with water only then put the pot back on the stove to thoroughly dry it. After cooling , I put a teaspoon or two of oil in the pot and coat the inside and outside wiping away any excess. 
> 
> Im particular about having a thick seasoned coating of oil on the inside of the pots and this takes much time and many rounds of baking and cooling and reoiling. Its very smoky too! :-) In order to make the coating last, I highly recommend using only wooden or plastic utensils to cook and serve.


Yes, I'm going to work at keeping this griddle in good shape.

----------


## Calypso Jones

I need an electric knife.

----------


## Jehoshaphat

Here is a subject I know so little about, but reading the previous posts got me to thinking about some of the things said.  When Wendy used to introduce me it always included he is a _"DAMN YANKEE"_ so I couldn't tell you a good tortilla from a bad one.  Wendy had a few of the local Mexican restaurants around here where she would buy them fresh, and everyone else in the house seemed to like them.

I am also not a cook, but I am surrounded by a house of cooking stuff I will never know what to do with.  There are some things I don't even have a guess as to what they are for.  I'm pretty sure Wendy was in the dark about a few of the things too.

One thing we do have is a bunch of cast iron cooking stuff, and I know that the three cooks that used to be in the house used it on the glass flat top stove all the time.  I don't think I remember any of them ever saying it caused a problem.  

This has made me hungry, guess it will be hot dogs again, or maybe some spam.

----------


## syrenn

> What do a tortilla press and a cast iron griddle have in common.  In this case they are from the same company -- of Chinese manufacture.  Sigh! -- and one is a piece of garbage and the other is just fine.
> 
> The wife grew us making corn and flour tortillas and then for a variety of reasons stopped doing that nearly thirty years ago.  For another set of reasons, of late I have been interested in trying my hand at producing both types of tortillas and pita bread.  Sooooooo . . . off we sent for a deluxe style cast iron tortilla press able to produce eight inch in diameter tortillas if one were so of a mind.  It arrived a few days ago and I took one look at it, recalled when I took a welding course at the local community college, remembered how brittle cast iron is in comparison to steel and said to myself, "I bet the first time I use this press the handle is going to snap."
> 
> I used the press for the first time this morning and the handle immediately snapped off.  Have I said "Sigh"?  Sigh!
> 
> So anyway I used a trusty rolling pin and flattened a few corn tortilla dough balls into reasonable renditions of flats disks and tried using a steel skillet.  It worked after a fashion, although I am NOT going to continue using an expensive Calphalon brand skillet for tortilla cookery as it was freaking difficult to clean up after the fact.  But the corn tortilla experiment was a success; meaning that operation Tortillas Production is now off and running.
> 
> To the local Hispanic dedicated super market we go -- or rather we went about an hour ago -- and what do we find?  A bunch of cast iron tortilla presses ranging from small capacity to six and eight inches in diameter capacity and also the exact same type that I broke this morning, but -- and here's the part that made me laugh and my wife curse -- for half the cost of what we sent off for.  Anyway I selected a style with a better looking handle and we shall see what we see in that regard in the morning.  It looks to me like it is likely to last for a while.
> ...


if you want that cast iron seasoned.... start deep frying chicken in it. 

for tortillas... you will do better with a cast iron.... griddle 

serviceable and very usable..
https://www.lodgemfg.com/griddles-an...on-griddle.asp

my choice and one i do have
http://www.amazon.com/Creuset-Cast-B...t+iron+griddle

----------

OceanloverOH (09-06-2015)

----------


## syrenn

> There is some controversy over pans from China and about iron from any cast iron pan leaching into food but I really don't give a shyte and do what I want.  I really like cast iron to cook with and use it almost exclusively anymore.


which is why i prefer le creuset enameled cast iron...

no leaching...and no need for seasoning.

----------


## Cedric

> if you want that cast iron seasoned.... start deep frying chicken in it. 
> 
> for tortillas... you will do better with a cast iron.... griddle 
> 
> serviceable and very usable..
> https://www.lodgemfg.com/griddles-an...on-griddle.asp
> 
> my choice and one i do have
> http://www.amazon.com/Creuset-Cast-B...t+iron+griddle


Oh indeed.  I did consider getting a cast iron skillet but then my wife pointed out that a cast iron griddle would be handier for making tortillas.  It makes sense.  I'm looking forward to giving this another shot tomorrow.

----------


## syrenn

> Oh indeed.  I did consider getting a cast iron skillet but then my wife pointed out that a cast iron griddle would be handier for making tortillas.  It makes sense.  I'm looking forward to giving this another shot tomorrow.



i agree with your wife...... the griddle would be the choice of equipment to use. And god knows...i love equipment!.. 

consider the le crueset if money is not an issue. 

the other thing i use that griddle for is....

a pizza stone in the oven
a flame diffuser on top of the stove for large pots of simmering sauce.

----------


## syrenn

and pics or it does not count!!!

----------


## syrenn

damn.. and i start looking at finding stuff...


omg... look at this. Thats a damn fine price 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Le-Creuset-M...item3ab120def5

----------


## Jen

> Yep, that's how my wife used to make them.  I did okay myself today with a rolling pin because I've done quite a bit of baking over the last few years.  But I think that a press will makes things go faster and since I intend to be making these on a daily basis I am shooting for production efficiency.


 If you find a good press, post the brand and where you got it.  I can't eat the store bought tortillas and since I'm originally from San Antonio .......well............that's where I learned to cook.

----------


## OceanloverOH

My very favorite small appliance is my waffle iron (Cuisinart, non-stick, 8" round).  I have a whole rack of ingredients for the waffle of the day....about nine flavors of waffle mix; more than a dozen flavor extracts; chopped walnuts or pecans; chocolate and butterscotch chips; and sometimes fresh fruit like mushed up strawberries or small chunks of no sugar added peaches. For syrup, I have sugar-free maple, coconut, toffee, strawberry, blueberry, and pecan. YUM! This is making me hungry..........!

----------


## Jen

> My very favorite small appliance is my waffle iron (Cuisinart, non-stick, 8" round).  I have a whole rack of ingredients for the waffle of the day....about nine flavors of waffle mix; more than a dozen flavor extracts; chopped walnuts or pecans; chocolate and butterscotch chips; and sometimes fresh fruit like mushed up strawberries or small chunks of no sugar added peaches. For syrup, I have sugar-free maple, coconut, toffee, strawberry, blueberry, and pecan. YUM! This is making me hungry..........!


 I have one of those.  And Dang............ya just made me hungry.  I need me some flavored waffle mixes.  And stuff.

----------


## OceanloverOH

[QUOTE=Jen;703507]I have one of those.  And Dang............ya just made me hungry.  I need me some flavored waffle mixes.  And stuff.[/QUOTE @Jen, I ordered the pancake/waffle mix and the syrups online at Amazon.  I love Amazon!

----------


## Jen

[QUOTE=OceanloverOH;703551]


> I have one of those.  And Dang............ya just made me hungry.  I need me some flavored waffle mixes.  And stuff.[/QUOTE @Jen, I ordered the pancake/waffle mix and the syrups online at Amazon.  I love Amazon!


I love amazon too.  My grocery store doesn't have much selection.  I wondered where you got them.  Thanks.

----------


## Cedric

> i agree with your wife...... the griddle would be the choice of equipment to use. And god knows...i love equipment!.. 
> 
> consider the le crueset if money is not an issue. 
> 
> the other thing i use that griddle for is....
> 
> a pizza stone in the oven
> a flame diffuser on top of the stove for large pots of simmering sauce.


Darn good ideas!

----------


## sargentodiaz

When you prepare the _masa_, see if you can find some piñon nuts in a health food store or your Latino supermarket. Crush them up and add them to the corn flour. Great taste.

----------


## Dan40

> I use cast iron on glass topped electric.


Our glass top electric said cast iron, VERBOTEN!

----------


## Rickity Plumber

> Yep, that's how my wife used to make them.  I did okay myself today with a rolling pin because I've done quite a bit of baking over the last few years.  But I think that a press will makes things go faster and since I intend to be making these on a daily basis I am shooting for production efficiency.


My wife makes what she calls empanadas (a meat pie sealed around the edges for deep frying). 





You can purchase the "discositos" in any bodega or finer grocery . . .






You take a "discosito", fill it, fold in half and seal with a fork like this:




The Puerto Ricans put in a picodillo (ground meat con sophrito y Adobo) but the Colombians put in a little meat and potatoes. I like mine without the potatoes. We both share in the making of these empanadas and we will make a boat load of them also. Can be frozen and ate at a later date. The holidays are when we usually share in these treats. Time consuming to seal the edges properly but I did see a little machine on some Spanish cooking show that shows it being sealed mechanically. I wish I knew what those were called. 


Sorry about the size of the pic.

----------

Toefoot (09-07-2015)

----------


## Jen

> My wife makes what she calls empanadas (a meat pie sealed around the edges for deep frying). 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You can purchase the "discositos" in any bodega or finer grocery . . .
> 
> 
> ...


I am going to have to look for those.  Empanadas with pumpkin inside are great for the holidays.  Just about anything can go into those.  Polish people call them pierogies.  They are filled with potatoes and cheese and sometimes just browned then cooked with butter and onions.  And I guess the whole concept isn't all that much removed from ravioli, although the ravioli shape is different.

I don't know for sure if we have the Goya brand here in OK.  I remember it from San Antonio but can't remember seeing it here.  Hope I can find it.  I would like to make the picodillo ones.

----------


## Pepper Belly

If you want a good piece of cast iron, go to an antique shop and buy one made in Erie, PA a hundred or more years ago.

----------

Toefoot (09-07-2015)

----------


## Toefoot

Most of my cooking is with cast iron. Once seasoned nothing brings the flavor out like iron. Must have twenty pieces of different shape and sizes hanging in the kitchen.

Edit: If you do not cook with gas you are missing out. No electric stove.

----------

Pepper Belly (09-07-2015)

----------


## syrenn

> If you want a good piece of cast iron, go to an antique shop and buy one made in Erie, PA a hundred or more years ago.


omg... GRISWOLD.... and pay a fortune for them!!!! 


but yes... yard sale cast iron....can be cast iron gold. Ebay is not to bad either.

----------

Pepper Belly (09-07-2015)

----------


## Cedric

> My wife makes what she calls empanadas (a meat pie sealed around the edges for deep frying). 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You can purchase the "discositos" in any bodega or finer grocery . . .
> 
> 
> ...


Excellent!  Those are precisely like some of the small English style meat pies I have made in the past filled in their case with a meat based sauce or gravy and meat and potatoes.  Delicious!  I make my own dough when producing them and I figure that a tortilla press will be a great time saver.

----------


## Cedric

> If you find a good press, post the brand and where you got it.  I can't eat the store bought tortillas and since I'm originally from San Antonio .......well............that's where I learned to cook.


Hey Jen.  I tried out the newest new tortilla press today and it worked just fine for me.  I can give you a website from which you can order one.  Be aware though that if you like your tortillas really thin as my wife and I like ours then even after using a press to do the initial flattening then you will still have to resort to the use of a rolling pin to get it thin enough.  Anyway you can find the website page here:


http://www.imusausa.com/products/?slug=kitchen-gadgets

In all honesty I would recommend giving the cast iron press a pass and ordering the aluminum one instead; just because one is unlikely to break an aluminum handle.  

Anyway both my tortilla press and the new griddle worked out just fine for me today.  So . . . result!

----------



----------


## Cedric

> Our glass top electric said cast iron, VERBOTEN!


I'm guessing it's because it would be relatively easy for cast iron to scratch the glass top burner.  But that's just a guess.  I think though that since heat is heat that one can quite easily get away with using at least some types of cast iron with glass top burners.  I'm guessing that the griddle I bought yesterday would probably work with it just fine as long as a cook was careful about placing it on and then removing it.

----------


## Jen

> Hey Jen.  I tried out the newest new tortilla press today and it worked just fine for me.  I can give you a website from which you can order one.  Be aware though that if you like your tortillas really thin as my wife and I like ours then even after using a press to do the initial flattening then you will still have to resort to the use of a rolling pin to get it thin enough.  Anyway you can find the website page here:
> 
> 
> http://www.imusausa.com/products/?slug=kitchen-gadgets
> 
> In all honesty I would recommend giving the cast iron press a pass and ordering the aluminum one instead; just because one is unlikely to break an aluminum handle.  
> 
> Anyway both my tortilla press and the new griddle worked out just fine for me today.  So . . . result!


 Thank you.  I saved it.  I could use a good molcajete too (I'd settle for a mortar and pestle though).

----------

Cedric (09-07-2015)

----------


## Cedric

> Here is a subject I know so little about, but reading the previous posts got me to thinking about some of the things said.  When Wendy used to introduce me it always included he is a _"DAMN YANKEE"_ so I couldn't tell you a good tortilla from a bad one.  Wendy had a few of the local Mexican restaurants around here where she would buy them fresh, and everyone else in the house seemed to like them.
> 
> I am also not a cook, but I am surrounded by a house of cooking stuff I will never know what to do with.  There are some things I don't even have a guess as to what they are for.  I'm pretty sure Wendy was in the dark about a few of the things too.
> 
> One thing we do have is a bunch of cast iron cooking stuff, and I know that the three cooks that used to be in the house used it on the glass flat top stove all the time.  I don't think I remember any of them ever saying it caused a problem.  
> 
> This has made me hungry, guess it will be hot dogs again, or maybe some spam.


To each his or her own as far as lifestyles go.  I can respect that.  Myself I didn't begin cooking until I hit about age fifty.  I started out fumbling my way though even the simplest of recipes until I managed to master a handful of them and then I began looking over other types and analyzing what they tended to have in common.  Once I realized that most cookery is fairly logical and can be arranged in a step by step manner for efficiency it all fell into place for me.  So today I can pretty much tackle any of the world's better known cuisines as long as I have a decent recipe.  Baking on the other hand . . . was a c-h-a-l-l-e-n-g-e . . .  :Thinking:

----------


## Cedric

> When you prepare the _masa_, see if you can find some piñon nuts in a health food store or your Latino supermarket. Crush them up and add them to the corn flour. Great taste.


Oooooo . . . great idea!

----------


## Cedric

> Most of my cooking is with cast iron. Once seasoned nothing brings the flavor out like iron. Must have twenty pieces of different shape and sizes hanging in the kitchen.
> 
> Edit: If you do not cook with gas you are missing out. No electric stove.


Indeed, I grew up cooking exclusively with a gas stove.  But our home is all electric and so I had to learn to adapt to slightly different cooking times and to, frankly, not having the highest equivalent heat when the electric burning is set on high.  But as far as I am concerned it's my job as a cook and amateur baker (I won't call myself a chef) to adapt to my equipment.  We have an electric stove and so I deal with it.  Mostly we get along okay . . .  :Smiley20:

----------


## Pepper Belly

> Most of my cooking is with cast iron. Once seasoned nothing brings the flavor out like iron. Must have twenty pieces of different shape and sizes hanging in the kitchen.
> 
> Edit: If you do not cook with gas you are missing out. No electric stove.


It's the high heat and the iron itself that add that flavor. If you can caramelize your chicken fajitas, you have heaven on a tortilla.

----------


## Pepper Belly

> omg... GRISWOLD.... and pay a fortune for them!!!! 
> 
> 
> but yes... yard sale cast iron....can be cast iron gold. Ebay is not to bad either.


Yes, yard sales, junk sales are the best. Get an old one with some surface rust, sand, polish and re season it. People think they are junk.

Also get an old cookbook that has all the basics and it teaches you how to make a cast iron naturally non stick for cooking eggs.

----------


## Rickity Plumber

> Yes, yard sales, junk sales are the best. Get an old one with some surface rust, sand, polish and re season it. People think they are junk.
> 
> Also get an old cookbook that has all the basics and it teaches you how to make a cast iron naturally non stick for cooking eggs.



I used a small cast iron skillet with a wooden handle for fried eggs *ONLY*. Never washed it, just a wipe down with paper towel. I could swirl and flip an egg with one easy motion. 

These days, my wife makes me eggs her way in her non stick Calphalon stuff. Who am I to complain?

----------


## syrenn

> Yes, yard sales, junk sales are the best. Get an old one with some surface rust, sand, polish and re season it. People think they are junk.
> 
> Also get an old cookbook that has all the basics and it teaches you how to make a cast iron naturally non stick for cooking eggs.



the best trick is to deep fry chicken.....

----------

