Kris Stubblefield visits a home in Chattanooga's Heritage Landing subdivision to shoot a how-to video using Lodge products and recipes, all of which can be found on the company's website.Kris Stubblefield is a self-proclaimed over-stirrer. "My mom was a single mother, back when the telephone had a cord on it five feet long, and she was chasing two boys around the house. At some point, she decided when she needed to get dinner on the table she needed to have the boys in the kitchen, so she pulled a chair up to the kitchen counter and said, 'Stir this pot.' I am, to this day, an over-stirrer," he says.
It's a quality that serves him well these days. As Lodge Cast Iron's associate product manager with an emphasis on the Test Kitchen, he needs a watchful eye to perfect the products and the recipes that accompany them.
"I do intended use and extreme use testing. I make sure the product does what we say it will do," Stubblefield explains. "We're also getting into more recipe development."
Around that time, a buzzer goes off in the background.
"Excuse me for a second. My timer just went off," he says.
On this particular day, he's heat testing some silicone accessories from Lodge's evolving catalog, which includes stoneware, enamel Dutch ovens and traditional-looking skillets - though made from carbon steel - alongside the brand's iconic cast-iron cookware. But he could've just as easily been testing the limits in terms of what to put in the cookware.
"I look for those 'aha' moments - 'Oh, I didn't think I could roast a turkey in my cast-iron wok,'" Stubblefield says. It's a quest he pursues even when off the clock, pulling one of the "functional art pieces" from his stainless steel grid wall at home.
If his position at the company doesn't imply that he should live and breathe Lodge products, his position in the family that runs the company certainly does. He's married to Masey Lodge Stubblefield, daughter of current Lodge President Henry Lodge and wife Donna.
But it's a natural pairing. Stubblefield grew up around cast iron. That pot his mother had him stirring, it was from Lodge.
And here's the first recipe he learned to make: his great-grandmother's baked spaghetti. "I still believe it's the best spaghetti I've ever had," Stubblefield says.
You can do anything from sear to saute, braise and bake, and everything in between.
Cast-iron care
The weight alone of a cast-iron skillet speaks to its toughness. Stubblefield says there's not much you can do, "unless you drill a hole in it," that you can't undo when it comes to care. He would know. While he and wife Masey Lodge Stubblefield are a team in the kitchen, he says, "she will always give it to me to clean."
However, there are some tricks.
1. Pre-heat cookware before adding your food.
2. Experiment with a lower heat setting to prevent food from sticking.
3. Wash cookware with a nylon bristle scrub brush. If needed, use a pan scraper. If that doesn't work, simmer a little water for 1 minute and use the scraper after cooled.
4. Dry promptly and thoroughly with a lint-free cloth or paper towel.
5. Rub with a very light layer of any food-safe cooking oil/shortening (Lodge recommends vegetable or canola oil) or with Lodge's specialty seasoning spray, preferably while the cookware is still warm.
6. Hang or store cookware in a dry place.
7. Re-season as necessary. The best way to maintain the seasoning on your cast iron is simply to use it, though if your pan becomes dull, gray, splotchy or gets rusty, it could probably benefit from being re-seasoned.
Courtesy of Lodge Cast Iron. For more tips, visit lodgemfg.com/videos.
Baked SpaghettiBaked Spaghetti
Serves 6 Recipe courtesy of Lodge Cast Iron
What you need:
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, minced
2 large yellow onions, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 pounds 80% lean ground beef
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (16-ounce) can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or dry red wine
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried tarragon
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
16 ounces angel hair pasta
Mozzarella cheese as needed
What you do:
1. Heat a Lodge 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add oil, garlic, onions and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and cook, stirring a few times, until the onions are softened, 8-10 minutes. Add ground beef and cook.
2. In a Lodge 5-quart cast-iron Dutch oven, combine tomatoes, tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic powder, basil, tarragon, red pepper and remaining 1 1/4 teaspoon salt. Simmer over medium to medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes, then stir in the browned ground beef. Wipe out the skillet and set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put a large pot of water on to boil.
4. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and pour the pasta into the skillet you used to cook the beef. Pour the spaghetti sauce over the pasta. Shred as much mozzarella as you like over the top, covering the sauce. Bake until the cheese is melted and starts to brown, 15-20 minutes.
Picking favorites
With all those products, and new ones added all the time, which is Stubblefield's favorite? "It's like picking your favorite kid," he says. "You can't." Though he is partial to the versatility of his 12-inch skillet. "I think everyone in the world should own a 10 1/4- and a 12-inch skillet because they're extremely versatile," says Stubblefield. "Outside of that, I think everyone should own a Dutch oven and a grill pan."
Take it outside
Do your tastes (and cast-iron use) tend to run a little more rugged? Stay tuned. “We’re working on some outdoor recipes for some pieces we’ll launch later in the year,” Stubblefield says.