b'COWBOY COOKININ CAST IRON POTSBy Joyce WhiteT HERES A RENEWED INTEREST IN CAST-IRON COOKING, although on many cattle ranches ironwear never went out of style. Nothing beats ironwares handiness or ruggedness when takinghot lunches to cowboys or cooking over a campfire.Bob and I have had our cast iron cooking utensils forBreakfast and lunch are our main meals. We years; in fact, Bob purchased them at the same timeusually have left-overs for supper, but during the he bought the Burro Creek Ranch in northwesternwinter Bob and I enjoy hearth cooking and may Arizona. The former owner had used them at homebake hotcakes over coals at night, a tradition we and in cow camp and possibly his brother had also,established in Burro Creek Canyon where our family since hed homesteaded the outfit and applied foroften cooked in the fireplace.cattle leases. At any rate, these utensils are well over 60 years old and are still in excellent conditiondespiteIll admit I had some reservations about the being packed to the line camps on mules numerousconvenience of cast-iron cookery at first, especiallyyears later we purchased one in the times, and being carried to fish fries in gunny sacks. since I was also confronted with a sulky wood range.Ozark Mountains for our collection And I vividly recall the morning there were twoof ironware.Im sold on cast-iron cookware. Iron skillets areprospectors, two cowboys, and a jealous old cow dog used daily in our Arizona kitchen; the Dutch ovento cook breakfast for. My eyes swept across the woodDuring spring and fall roundup in is employed several times a week. Sure, Ive triedstove I hadnt mastered, the hungry men and theArizona cow country, cast iron cooking the newfangled cooking equipment, and they arepouting house pet. Panic! utensils are put to full use on the range and handy, but somehow favorite recipes just dont tasteat the line camps. Out of Dutch ovens come the same when prepared in them. Also, victuals willHowever, Bob glanced at my stricken face andsourdoughs, soda biscuits, and fruit cobblers stay warm a long time while in cast-iron and ranchannounced with a grin, Im going to build somethat have sometimes read, KerrKerrKerr, wives soon learn the art of keeping meals waiting.biscuits and jerky gravy, gal. Rescued! With a sighwhen I have forgotten a rolling pin and Ive had When Bob pulls on his chaps and says, See ya whenof relief I watched him coax the firefashion theto improvise with a jar. Meanwhile, a stew or roast I see ya, I know it may be mid-afternoon or it maybiscuitsgrind the jerky. Golly, it looked easy. Thesimmers in the meat oven and a pot of coffee stays be dark when he gets home. Even though cows arewood fire was soon purring. Meanwhile, as I set thehot, ready for those tired waddies and the waiting unpredictable creatures, my cowboy will certainlytable, my thoughts kept darting back to my electriccook. At the campfire, ironware is unequaled by any have an appreciative appetite when his boots hit thefrypan, gas oven, and electric coffee pot. With them, other cooking utensil; it was designed hundreds of path to the kitchen. I knew my ground. years ago for use on the open fire.Our day generally starts with bacon and eggs sizzlingSince most anything will make a wood stove sulkCast iron has a long and interesting history. The in the skillet, or breakfast steaks roaring in the damp wood, no draft, forgetting to feed itfromWorld Book Encyclopedia states, it was not until Dutch oven. Hotcakes turn golden brown on thetime to time it suffered fits of moodiness. Whenthe 1800s that cookstoves became popular. Before griddle; left-over biscuits, split and buttered, toast toit was congenial, though it was downright handy.that time the people in America and other countries perfection. Come noon, a skillet of cornbread bakesFoods simmered at the back of the stove, steaks friedcooked in kettles over the fireplace or on an opencrusty brown on the outside, yet stays soft and moistquickly over the center, and cakes came out of thefire outdoors. on the inside; in the double skillet, chicken fires crispoven light and fluffy. When that contraption wasnt and golden, steaks fry juicy and tender and the gravyfriendly, however, my efforts were adventures inEarly settlers brought their cast iron cookware with made from either of those drippings is splendid. cooking, I can assure you and so can Bob. them to America. When the historic trail drives began and chuckwagons rumbled to distant cattle One of my fond memories of our Burro Creek daysshipping points, cast iron cooking utensils were is a horseback ride we took one fall weekend toaboard again. Wood ranges became common and visit friends who lived in a remote line camp on ain some areas (where the terrain allowed) roundup neighboring ranch. We started early and arrivedcooks transported them on special carts behind the midafternoon. In Western custom, food andchuck wagon. beverages were immediately offered to us. The wood fire was built up, on went the coffee pot, and thickBob and I were raised on foods cooked on the steaks were soon frying in a big cast-iron skillet whilewood range and the kerosene stovethat sneaky ranch news was eagerly exchanged. rascal whose flame could creep up, smoke a kitchen ceiling in seconds, and leave dark little smudges on In the evening we gathered around the table to playfresh curtains. Nonetheless, we have some mighty rummy and savor peanut butter fudge. The followinggood memories connected with the delicious meals morning scrumptious waffles were baked in a specialprepared in those country kitchens. As a very young iron on the wood range. That was the first time I hadchild, I remember visiting my great-grandmothers seen one of those waffle irons that flip over, and somehome and eating pancakes baked on her wood range. 56 January 2022'