Jambalaya Pots and Jambalaya Cuisine in a Nutshell

By: skember Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Jambalaya cuisine and cooking methods are alive and well and spreading far and wide, well beyond their Cajun origins in Louisiana. If your thinking about getting into Jambalaya cooking there are a few things its good to know.

Jambalaya pots are multi-purpose; they are great for stews, soups, gumbos, popcorn and much more. You can cook nearly all types of food using cast iron cookware so these pots are the supreme example of large scale 'anything goes' cooking equipment

Cast iron pots are a great cooking medium with near perfect heat conduction and heat retention they are very efficient, heating evenly & consistently without heat spots.

There is one piece of advice that is paramount, don't buy cheap. A Jambalaya pot is an investment that your grand children's children will be enjoying, so buy well. Remember, by comparative standards they are not expensive and when measured over their extended lifetime they are incredibly cheap.

As a simple piece of advice, we have found that the Bayou Classic range of jambalaya pots are superb, they represent the very best in Jambalaya cookware.

Jambalaya pots are ideal for outdoor cooking but they can be a little heavy, especially the larger models. This said the common advice from users is, if you think you've chosen the right size then go for the next size up as there surely will come a time when you'll have need of it. This said do also bear in mind that when going from say, a 7 gallon up to a 10 gallon pot you're going from being able to serve 60 people, to being able to serve 100.

It's really healthy to cook with cast iron jambalaya pots because you can cook fat free as a properly seasoned Jambalaya pot will be non-stick so it requires no oil for cooking.

Jambalaya pots are easy to clean:

1. once the pot is cooled, wash it using normal washing up liquid, then rinse and dry with a paper towel; don't listen to those that say just wipe it out; this is not hygienic.
2. after washing put the pot onto the stove/burner to completely dry it out; then before its cooled very lightly oil with a vegetable oil; then leave it on the stove for a few minutes; then take it off the stove and wipe away any excess oil with a paper towel;
3. after drying your cookware you should never store it with its lid on as this can allow moisture to build up inside, resulting in rust! To help avoid this it can help to put a paper towel inside the pot to absorb any moisture; and
4. if you do experience rust, scour with steel wool, until the rust is gone, wash and re-season.

Finally here are just a few dos and don't when cooking with your Jambalaya pots:

1. Don't use your pot for boiling water.
2. Always preheat your pot before starting cooking. The temperature is right when drips of water sizzle then jump around. Its too hot if the water turns to steam straight away and too cold if the water just bubbles.
3. Never pour cold water into a really hot pot as it may shatter. And
4. Never touch the jambalaya pot when cooking as it gets really hot. Keep a good pair of very heavy duty oven gloves handy if you must touch it or move it.

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

About The Author: Stephen Kember is the Proprietor of The Outdoor Cooking Equipment Store where you will find a range of exceptional value Jambalaya cooking equipment ranging from a 2.75 gallon Jambalaya pot to a jumbo 30 gallon Jambalaya pot , with 4, 7, 10, 15 & 18 gallon pots in between! And there'sDutch ovens, a Stew Pot, tripod stands and much else too. Whatever Jambalaya cooking equipment you might need you'll find them at the store; go to the: www.outdoorcookingequipmentstore.com/index.php?cPath=