Price Points: Cast iron griddle stones

When the weather is really warm, we’re loath to turn on the wood-fired stove in the kitchen. For hot days like that, we invested in an induction hob. The main difference between an induction hob and a conventional gas/electric/wood-fired hob is the kind of pots & pans you can use on it.

They need to be made of material such as cast iron. Aluminium, glass or stainless steel won’t be suitable. The best way to check is to put a magnet to the base – if it sticks, you’re good to go!

We already had a few well-used & loved graduated cast iron frying pans however, after buying our induction hob, we purchased a set of cream enamel saucepans. To add to our cookery arsenal, I bought a cast iron griddle stone. It’s been great for making Welsh griddle cake, pancakes and this week’s yeasted flat breads.

We’ve listed three cast iron griddle stones below – ours is the example from John Lewis. We also love all the high quality pans manufactured by Netherton foundry in Shropshire. Just imagine cooking on a griddle from the 1800s, think of all the things that were made on it in the preceding 200 years!

Kitchen Craft cast iron baking stone (27cm diameter): £15.40, John Lewis
Black iron 12-inch griddle and baking plate: £75.65, Netherton Foundry
Antique 1800s cast iron skillet/griddle: £160.00, Etsy

shop cast iron griddle stones

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Antique 1800s cast iron skillet/griddle

Antique 1800s cast iron skillet/griddle
£160.00

Black iron 12-inch griddle and baking plate

Black iron 12-inch griddle and baking plate
£75.65

Kitchen Craft cast iron baking stone (27cm diameter)

Kitchen Craft cast iron baking stone (27cm diameter)
£15.40

Antique 1800s cast iron skillet/griddle

Antique 1800s cast iron skillet/griddle
£160.00

Black iron 12-inch griddle and baking plate

Black iron 12-inch griddle and baking plate
£75.65

Kitchen Craft cast iron baking stone (27cm diameter)

Kitchen Craft cast iron baking stone (27cm diameter)
£15.40

Antique 1800s cast iron skillet/griddle

Antique 1800s cast iron skillet/griddle
£160.00

Black iron 12-inch griddle and baking plate

Black iron 12-inch griddle and baking plate
£75.65

Kitchen Craft cast iron baking stone (27cm diameter)

Kitchen Craft cast iron baking stone (27cm diameter)
£15.40

Antique 1800s cast iron skillet/griddle

Antique 1800s cast iron skillet/griddle
£160.00

Black iron 12-inch griddle and baking plate

Black iron 12-inch griddle and baking plate
£75.65

Kitchen Craft cast iron baking stone (27cm diameter)

Kitchen Craft cast iron baking stone (27cm diameter)
£15.40

Antique 1800s cast iron skillet/griddle

Antique 1800s cast iron skillet/griddle
£160.00

Black iron 12-inch griddle and baking plate

Black iron 12-inch griddle and baking plate
£75.65

Kitchen Craft cast iron baking stone (27cm diameter)

Kitchen Craft cast iron baking stone (27cm diameter)
£15.40

Cakes & Bakes: Yeasted flat breads

Because of the continuing hot weather, we’ve still not turned on our oven this week. That doesn’t mean I can’t produce any home-made bread, though. I’ve brought out my trusty cast iron griddle stone once again to make some delicious yeasted flat breads on our induction hob.

Many flat breads are yeast-free so can be rustled up in a matter of minutes. However, I had ample time today to spend on making these and waiting an hour or so for the dough to rise.

I bought a marble board a few years ago, and I can attest that it’s hard to beat for rolling out dough and pastry with ease.

The recipe makes 8 flat breads. If, like us, you don’t need that many at one sitting, you can simply cook, cool and freeze the extra for a later date.

These lovely, soft breads are so versatile; they’re perfect as an accompaniment to curry, Mexican fajita wraps or alongside dips such as hummus or baba ganoush.

Click here or on the image below to save this yeasted flat bread recipe to Pinterest

Yeasted flat breads

Yeasted flat breads

Andy Baraghani

Print recipe Pin recipe

Course Bread

Cuisine Middle Eastern

Servings 8

Ingredients

1½ tsp sugar
180 ml/6fl oz warm water
7 g/2¼tsp active dry yeast
350 g/12½oz plain or strong bread flour
140 g/5oz full fat plain Greek yoghurt
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp fine salt

Instructions

In a measuring jug, dissolve the sugar in the warm water. Stir in the yeast and allow to sit until foamy (about 10 minutes)
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Make a well in the centre and add the yoghurt, olive oil and yeast mixture. Bring together to form a shaggy dough
Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or a reusable elasticated food cover and allow the dough to sit in a warm place until doubled in size (about an hour)
Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured work surface and divide it into 8 equal pieces. Form the pieces into balls and, working with one ball at a time, roll each out into 15cm/6" rounds about ½cm/¼" thick
Brush a little olive oil on a large cast iron skillet/griddle stone and bring up to a medium-high heat
Working one at a time, cook each flat bread until bubbles appear over the surface (about a minute). Flip and cook until cooked through (about 1 more minute). Continue to cook, turning often, until browned in spots on both sides (about a minute longer)
Transfer to a plate and wrap up in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm and soft. Repeat with each of the other balls of dough

yeasted flat bread ingredients

To serve: brush each flat bread with a little olive oil

Keyword bread, flat bread, flatbread, yeasted bread

Cakes & Bakes: Jammy cornmeal griddle cakes

This past week or so has been so warm, we’ve not had our wood-fired range cooker running. That means I couldn’t produce an oven-cooked recipe for this week’s Cakes & Bakes post; no cake, no bread. Jammy cornmeal griddle cakes are a delicious brunch dish cooked on a stove top using a griddle stone or cast iron frying pan.

Using half cornmeal and half wheat flour gives the pancakes a unique flavour. Buttermilk & bicarb rather than ‘plain’ cow’s milk gives the texture a softness and lightness.

A little swirl of jam takes the griddle cakes to a different level; we used some home-made blackcurrant jam, but you can use any other to your liking – strawberry, raspberry, apricot, plum… If your jam is a little thick, simply mix it with a couple of teaspoons of water to get a thinner consistency.

Serve your stack of cornmeal griddle cakes with a knob of butter on top or with extra jam or maple syrup drizzled over.

Click here or on the image below to save the recipe to Pinterest

Stack of jammy cornmeal griddle cakes with butter pat on top

Jammy cornmeal griddle cakes

Print recipe Pin recipe

Course Breakfast

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

100 g/3½oz cornmeal either fine or coarse
100 g/3½oz plain flour
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
pinch of salt
200 ml/7fl oz buttermilk
50 g/1¾oz unsalted butter melted, plus extra for the skillet
2 eggs beaten
2 tbsp jam we used blackcurrant, but feel free to use any other fruit

Instructions

Preheat your griddle/ large cast iron frying pan over a low heat. Rub a bit of butter all over it
In a large measuring jug, combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, bicarb and salt. Make a well in the centre
In a medium measuring jug, pour in the buttermilk. Add the melted butter and stir to combine
Pour the buttermilk/butter mixture and beaten egg into the well in the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to bring the mixture together
Spoon in the jam and swirl it through a little. Don't over-mix, a few lumps of flour is fine
Once the griddle is hot, pour/ladle on approx. 3tbsp/50ml of the mixture into a round shape. Allow the griddle cake to cook for a couple of minutes. When bubbles begin to form and the top begins to dry out around the edges towards the middle, flip over and cook the other side for another minute. Repeat until all the batter is used

jammy cornmeal griddle cakes ingredients

Serve with extra jam, a pat of butter or maple syrup

Keyword cornmeal, griddle cakes

How to make authentic smoked barbecue without a smoker

Sometimes you just want to make a brisket and let it cook for hours and hours while you have a beer and wait. What you probably don’t want to do is pay thousands for a real smoker for authentic barbecue that doesn’t really work for simple grilling. Of course you can make one yourself, but you’ll need to know how to weld and have a lot of extra time to devote to doing it right.

In other words, you want the authentic taste of a good barbecue meat, but you want to be able to make it with what you already have. After all, it isn’t like you’ll be doing this every weekend so getting special gear isn’t really on the cards.

What we’ll outline in this post is how you can use the equipment you already have, or you can buy a grill that does a lot more than just smoke meats.

Get a pellet grill

If you don’t already have a decent grill and are looking to buy something, then your best bet is a built in pellet grill. The reason is how versatile it is as you can fire it up in minutes to make a burger, or let a slab of ribs and side of brisket cook away in the smoke for the whole day.

And it’s far less fussy than trying to tend to a smoker. The reason is that the pellets are fed to the burner in a way that you can control. If you’re looking to smoke for the whole day at a low temperature, then you can set the temperature and how much smoke you want and the grill takes care of it for you.

The pellets can be from any hard wood that’s good for smoking from mesquite to hickory to apple. Whatever your preference, you can find the perfect pellet.

Go with the snake method

You can create a perfect environment in your charcoal grill that simulates a smoker very easily. And it’s very hands off once you get the system down.

It’s called the ‘snake’ method and it involves positioning your charcoal in such a way that it burns slowly to keep the temperature low. Then a few chunks of hardwood provide the smoke.

The reason it’s called a snake is that you arrange the charcoal in a snake pattern around the edge of the grill leaving the middle empty. Then, every few inches you place a chunk of hardwood. Light the end of the charcoal and it will slowly burn through the shape of the snake. And then it only burns the wood at the intervals that you place it. For lots of smoke, keep the packed wood close together; for less smoke, further apart.

In the centre of the grill, place a pan with apple juice and put the grill over the top with the meat right in the centre. The apple juice will keep it moist inside the grill and catch the drippings so it doesn’t burn and taste acrid.

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