Ketogenic Diet - Powerful Dietary Strategy for Certain Conditions

[monotonic]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

I got fed up with a bazillion conflicting perspectives on cast-iron pan seasoning and more popping up every day, so I went to Google Books to try and see if I could find out what they did in the past. I didn't find anything on pan seasoning, but I did find this book:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HjRDAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=cooking+fat&hl=en#v=onepage&q=cooking%20fat&f=false

It gives some useful information, including the fat content of different cuts of different meats (page 9). Maybe there's some useful practical information in Google's 19-century library? Most of the useful books I found were from before 1920.

 

[Don Diego]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

I asked a dentist what caused 'acetone breath' once, and she said in many cases it was from not flossing the teeth enough. She advised flossing teeth before breakfast, after every meal, and before bedtime.

For sure I will try flossing, which I never did, and with several capped teeth and some crowns too it will be tricky.Although bad breath appeared suddendly in the last months.Thanks Gimpy

Question is: is the "bad breath" an acetone thing or something else? You need to describe the smell and you can only do that by getting someone else to describe it to you. That might help in tracking down the cause.

Yes this is what I smell, acetone, that's why I feel it coming from my lungs; and that's what my wife tells me too.Her breath like other paleo friends have changed too but not as fetid. Will see if betaine helps or not.

 

[mada85]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

I asked a dentist what caused 'acetone breath' once, and she said in many cases it was from not flossing the teeth enough. She advised flossing teeth before breakfast, after every meal, and before bedtime.

For sure I will try flossing, which I never did, and with several capped teeth and some crowns too it will be tricky.Although bad breath appeared suddendly in the last months.Thanks Gimpy

To address bacteria in the mouth you could try using a tea tree oil toothpaste. Also a mouth wash/gargle with tea tree and lavender oil, both of which are excellent anti-bacterials. Put only two or three drops of each oil in an 8oz glass of water, whisk it up really thoroughly so the oils are suspended in the water, then rinse your mouth and/or gargle with it. Don't swallow it as you'd be swallowing essential oils which are pretty strong. I've used this method in the past very successfully to clear up a sore throat. It leaves your mouth feeling really nice and fresh. The water/oil mixture will keep for a day or so, but cover it to keep out dust and whisk it up again every time you use it.

 

[Foxx]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

I got fed up with a bazillion conflicting perspectives on cast-iron pan seasoning and more popping up every day, so I went to Google Books to try and see if I could find out what they did in the past. I didn't find anything on pan seasoning, but I did find this book:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HjRDAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=cooking+fat&hl=en#v=onepage&q=cooking%20fat&f=false

It gives some useful information, including the fat content of different cuts of different meats (page 9). Maybe there's some useful practical information in Google's 19-century library? Most of the useful books I found were from before 1920.

If I recall correctly, Laura talks about seasoning cast iron pans (I think in this episode, but maybe a little later on in the three part series) here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiGZa6NG6Sc

 

[JonnyRadar]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

I got fed up with a bazillion conflicting perspectives on cast-iron pan seasoning and more popping up every day, so I went to Google Books to try and see if I could find out what they did in the past. I didn't find anything on pan seasoning, but I did find this book:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HjRDAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=cooking+fat&hl=en#v=onepage&q=cooking%20fat&f=false

It gives some useful information, including the fat content of different cuts of different meats (page 9). Maybe there's some useful practical information in Google's 19-century library? Most of the useful books I found were from before 1920.

Hey monotonic, thanks for this. That's quite a fascinating little book, especially considering it was published by the gov't... looks like the current DOA should review its earlier policies on fat for some guidance. ;)

 

[monotonic]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

Frying with meat always leaves a residue on the bottom of the pan. Frying eggs seems to recover the seasoning somewhat, but we don't do that very often. We use Lodge pans, which have a grainy surface and so are unlikely to hold a season well unless perhaps the season is very thick, and this is usually the result of cooking almost everything in fat over the smoking point. Apparently this is not uncommon. So it seems the solution is to find a way of effectively cleaning and maintaining the seasoning, and in the meantime keeping eyes open for antique pans. One thing I will try next is salt; you cover the bottom with salt and heat so that it "doesn't smoke too much", and throw the salt out when it turns grey. Then wipe out and coat with oil. My mother says what they used to do was use a "salt bag" and this way it could be reused.

 

[monotonic]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

I looked up bone broth as well. This is from a book written in 1817! Most of the references to bone broth are around 1800. It seems the idea was stimulated by food shortages, but no mention is made of the origin of the method. It goes on to describe how to convert the bones to gelatin, so that the entire bone can be consumed. I was following up until you "boil them in caustic alkaline ley". And yes, they say ley, not lye.

One interesting part is that they say to spoon off the fat when it surfaces, and to add it later, else it will be "spoiled by long ebullition".

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=oHtHAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA497&dq=bone+broth&hl=en#v=onepage&q=bone%20broth&f=false

 

[dugdeep]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

Frying with meat always leaves a residue on the bottom of the pan. Frying eggs seems to recover the seasoning somewhat, but we don't do that very often. We use Lodge pans, which have a grainy surface and so are unlikely to hold a season well unless perhaps the season is very thick, and this is usually the result of cooking almost everything in fat over the smoking point. Apparently this is not uncommon. So it seems the solution is to find a way of effectively cleaning and maintaining the seasoning, and in the meantime keeping eyes open for antique pans. One thing I will try next is salt; you cover the bottom with salt and heat so that it "doesn't smoke too much", and throw the salt out when it turns grey. Then wipe out and coat with oil. My mother says what they used to do was use a "salt bag" and this way it could be reused.

You might already know this, but thought I'd mentionmy methods. Remember that cooking liquids, especially acidic liquids, in cast iron pans tends to ruin the seasoning, so I try to avoid cooking things in cast iron when I'm going to be deglazing with anything (including broth); I save those jobs for stainless steel. Even cleaning cast iron needs to be done with care (never use soap!). What I usually do is get a metal scrubby, wet it, and wipe out the cast iron pan while it's still hot (careful about steam burns!). I'll do that once or twice, trying to avoid actually sticking the pan under the water since it seems to be bad for the finish. Then I wipe out any excess water and wipe it with an oily rag to leave a layer of oil for protection. Seems to work quite well at maintaining the seasoning, FWIW.

 

[Carl]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

I botched the seasoning when i first got my cast iron pan around 8 months ago, and never bothered to try again. Over time quickly built up its own non stick surface from daily use, and is still going strong. As dugdeep said, just water+metal scrubber, while it's still hot, does the trick for cleaning. Meat, eggs (fried or scrambled), veggies.. nothing sticks to it, ever, it's perfect :)

 

[Mrs. Peel]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

I botched the seasoning when i first got my cast iron pan around 8 months ago, and never bothered to try again. Over time quickly built up its own non stick surface from daily use, and is still going strong. As dugdeep said, just water+metal scrubber, while it's still hot, does the trick for cleaning. Meat, eggs (fried or scrambled), veggies.. nothing sticks to it, ever, it's perfect :)

I use cast iron to cook everything. In the beginning, I tried to not put it under running water or use soap, but gave up on that. I just put a bit of ghee in the skillet before I cook anything, and it's perfectly fine.

 

[monotonic]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

Were the pans smooth or grainy? There is an army of people on the net, including me, who have not had such a great experience with cast iron. When you fry a steak, does it stick or leave anything on the bottom? We tried the "just cook with it" idea, but stuff just sticks and pulls the seasoning off, and the pans is always rusting. We've tried butter, sesame oil, grapeseed oil, olive oil...

 

[Gertrudes]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

I use cast iron to cook everything. In the beginning, I tried to not put it under running water or use soap, but gave up on that. I just put a bit of ghee in the skillet before I cook anything, and it's perfectly fine.

Same here. We read and tried a couple of seasoning tips but they didn't seem to make much difference. In the end we also gave up and began to wash our cast iron pan with warm water and soap every couple of days, depending on the type of fat used. If it's lard, it can last for much longer then butter before having to wash it. After washing we coat the pan with fat, and voilá! Nothing sticks to it.

Although I have to say that when we first bought it a few years ago, we had a few problems since food tended to stick to it. I wonder whether more then seasoning, it isn't actually time itself with constant use that does the trick?

 

[Gertrudes]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

Were the pans smooth or grainy? There is an army of people on the net, including me, who have not had such a great experience with cast iron. When you fry a steak, does it stick or leave anything on the bottom? We tried the "just cook with it" idea, but stuff just sticks and pulls the seasoning off, and the pans is always rusting. We've tried butter, sesame oil, grapeseed oil, olive oil...

How old is your pan monotonic?

 

[monotonic]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

Both pans are brand new Lodge pans, bought about a year ago. If you look up a lot of info on seasoning pans you know that modern cast-iron pans are inferior (mostly due to the grainy surface), though some insist that they can still work well. Some people sand down their new pans. We tried, but apparently it takes a lot of time and sandpaper, even with our power sander.

It does take time for a pan to gain the best seasoning. That's why antique pans often work better. The non-stick surface is created by gradual carbonization of the seasoning and this is a slow process. One way to speed up carbonization I heard, was to cook Cajun Roux in the pan often, which is a mixture of flour and oil that is singed when cooked. So it seems a critical part of seasoning a pan is to cook carbs in it. I wonder if singing flaxseeds in the pan could have the same effect.

Based on science, the best way to season a pan would be with a drying oil with a high smoke point such as flaxseed oil or grapeseed oil. We have used grapeseed oil to season on the stovetop and it actually formed a darkly tinted clear lacquer on the pan with pretty colors, and this seemed to work fairly well for a while. The point is to get the seasoning black, but we weren't able to do that even after turning the temperature up quite high.

 

[Mrs. Peel]

Re: Ketogenic Diet - Path To Transformation?

It does take time for a pan to gain the best seasoning. That's why antique pans often work better. The non-stick surface is created by gradual carbonization of the seasoning and this is a slow process. One way to speed up carbonization I heard, was to cook Cajun Roux in the pan often, which is a mixture of flour and oil that is singed when cooked. So it seems a critical part of seasoning a pan is to cook carbs in it. I wonder if singing flaxseeds in the pan could have the same effect.

I have an old black and white photo of my mother in the 50s back before (or shortly after) I was born, in the kitchen standing by the stove, and you can see a cast iron skillet on a burner. When we cleaned out my parents house a year or so ago after they passed away, I saw my sister-in-law had a pile of things she was taking, an there was a a big iron skillet among them, which I asked for. I swear it's the same one in the picture! Since it is big, I bought a couple smaller ones to use also.

The new Lodge ones are really crappier and come "preseasoned.". My "antique" of mom's is black, the Lodge ones are grayish. Anytime I see an old iron skillet at a flea market, they are very expensive. They just don't make them like they used to.