Hey, my friends! Are you finding a convenient device for cooking? I have tried an interesting tool for cooking pies recently. It is called pie iron. It has a long handle for you to hold and cook food over the fire easily. Although it looks like a flyswatter( I am so surprised at my imagination), it is really useful! Not only pie can be cooked by this pie iron, but also other kind of delicious food can be created by it. It’s a perfect campfire pie iron as well!
Introduction About Pie Iron
You may be curious about its structure. Actually, it’s a very simple design. It consists of two identical parts: two shallow round or square metal containers with long metal handles. The food you want to cook is put inside it, then you close the pie iron tightly. After that, you can hold the handle and cook the food over the fire.
This pie iron is made of a kind of light metal–cast iron( so it has another name: cast iron pie iron), so it’s very portable! You can take it to anywhere! You can use it in the kitchen of your home, your outdoor fire pit, or the camping site.
The Food
You may wonder that which kind of food this pie iron can cook or can’t cook. Yeah, that’s a good question. Every tool has its own limitations in function. But this time you don’t need to worry too much. You can cook anything which fits in your iron pot! Just fill it with necessary ingredients, close it tightly and cook it over fire! To make you enjoy this wonderful invention better, I want to recommend some ideal food.
I think you must have known the first food. Correct, pies! The name told you the answer.
Grilled sandwiches are also delicious. My whole family are crazy about them! Sandwiches made by this pie iron are golden-brown, warm, and it will melt in the mouth!
Usage
The usage of this pie iron only contains three steps: fill it with food, close it tightly, and cook it over fire. You may think it is incredibly easy!
But I think the details matters most. Here are a few tips for you：
- If your pie iron is new, add some cooking oil to the inside of it and spread the oil evenly. Then you should hold it over the fire until it spoils( when it begins to smoke). Wait until it cools down, then wipe clean with a piece of cloth and repeat the whole process a few times. Your purpose is to get a good seasoning coating on it. You don’t need to do these things next time, but remember to clean your pie iron carefully after using and coat it with some cooking oil for staying good condition.
- Before putting food inside the pie iron, you had better butter or oil the inside. This step can prevent the food from sticking to the inside wall and make your food crust have a good looking—warm and crisp.
- For making pies, pie crust is important. If you want to make pies with the pie iron, remember to put your favourite pie crust on each side of the iron. Then fill it with the ingredients of the pie. Just like you make pies at home!
- If you want to try my recommendation–grilled sandwiches, push slices of bread into each side after buttering the iron. Then fill it with necessary ingredients. I always do something different, so I have tried to mix some famous cheeses and meats together. They turned out to be great! You can start with some simple ones. Then you can try my methods below!
- The last part of the trilogy–close the pie iron tightly and cook it over the fire. You may think it is the easiest, but actually it is the hardest! Because you need to judge the cooking time yourself! Open the pie iron immediately as soon as you think the food is well-cooked, it is a common thought. However, in my opinion, it is wrong. If it is not well-cooked as you expected, it may fall out and be scattered everywhere. All labor lost! So the correct way is cooking longer than you think, especially when you are a jackaroo. After cooking many times, you will develop your own way to judge the time precisely.
- When the food is well-cooked, open the pie iron carefully. Pay attention not to burn yourself! Then enjoy your meal!
You must clean your pie iron carefully and coat it with some oil right after you use it, or the pie iron will become sticky and rust. The layer of oil can protect it from erosion and keep it well seasoned.
Some Methods for Cooking Grilled Sandwiches
- Grilled Cheese: Grilled cheese is popular. For me, I’d like to choose some special cheeses to add some different flavors. Such as French Gruyere( a kind of Swiss cheese with many small holes). If you prefer exciting flavor, Morbier and Raclette are the best choices.
- Ham and Cheese: They are made for each other! You can still try those cheeses above, or any cheese you like. Some special pork products can even make a pleasant addition to the sandwiches. Such as Prosciutto( it is from Italy, it is always be sliced and served with melons or figs) or Chorizo( a kind of sausage with seasonings from Spain).
- Blue Cheese: Many people don’t like this cheese which has a strong flavor, needless to say for grilled sandwiches or hamburgers. But this blue cheese has its own advantage. It can melt easily. If you don’t taste it before, then try it with meat or fruit! After that, you will change your mind! One kind is Gorgonzola. It originates from northern Italy. Its shape seems like a drum. Its crust is rough and scattered with pink dots. Inside cheese is white or light yellow, and it has blue veining. It is spicy and has a flavor of mushroom. Most people can’t bear it, but it is my favorite! I like eating it with Apple Slices in toasty bread!
Recipes
Before introducing some common recipes, I want to show you some basic steps of making a sandwich. First, put a piece of bread on the lower part of iron. Add ingredients you need to the bread. Secondly, put another piece of bread on top of fillings. Close the pie iron. Thirdly, cook it over fire until it becomes golden brown.
Pies: You can try Aluma Fruit Pie, apple, cherry, and peach are proper for it. Beef Pie is another good choice. You need cooked beef, sliced potatoes, onions and peppers. Pizza Pie may sounds new to you. Sliced pizza crust is necessary, other ingredients contain tomatoes, green peppers, garlic, oregano, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.
Others: Don’s Square Pie Sauerkraut is a specialty of German sauerkraut. Pie iron also can make cornbread( a kind of staple in America). Rocky Road Treat contains peanut butter, marshmallow and chocolate bar, children may like it very much! You can try to make fried potatoes with this pie iron, so you don’t need to go to a fast food restaurant when you want to eat them. Seafood can be cooked as well, such as tuna fish. It can be mixed with chopped pickle and mayonnaise, then put them on the bread and add sliced cheese and tomatoes. Garlic Buns is a kind of bread with garlic flavor. Garlic salt and paprika are the main ingredients. Hot Ham and Cheese is a little different from those I introduced before. It was added Dijon mustard. Sloppy Joes needs sloppy joe mix or your own mix with hamburger, barbecue seasoning and onion. Bacon and Tomato Special consists of whole white bread, tomatoes, bacon, lettuce and mayonnaise. You can even cook eggs! You need to open the pie iron and use them as two cast iron skillets, then add one egg to each of them. Then close the iron. For French Toast, 2 slices of bread need to be dipped into the egg batter, then you put them into the iron and spread strawberry jam on them. Onions are not only ingredients, they can become main characters! Try this Grilled Onions! Choose sweet Spanish onions or Vidalia onions, celery, salt, parsley, and beer.
OK, my friends! Today I share my new discovery with you. I hope my introduction will help you enjoy the pleasure of cooking. If my introduction helps you a lot, please share with your family and friends. If you have some better advice, I’ll be very glad to accept and improve it. If you still have some problems, please don’t hesitate to call me, or send an e-mail to me. I’m always be there. I hope we can be good friends forever!