Tips & Tricks

How to Use the Cast Iron Melting Pot 

By: Lodge Cast Iron / June 25, 2021

Sauces keep your food moist, balance flavors, and add complexity and color to your plate. They can be sweet, spicy, tangy, or sour, and heck, they can be all those things at once. When we get creative with sauces, we like to use a melting pot and silicone brush, which are great for “stovetops” and grills. If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve got tips for making great sauces and how to use the melting pot to do it!

Cast Iron Melting Pot
Making Sauces in a Cast Iron Melting Pot
  1. Preheat your melting pot over medium heat.
  2. Add a small amount of fat, like butter or olive oil.
  3. Add minced garlic or shallots and cook until translucent.
  4. Add aromatics like rosemary, thyme, or sage.
  5. Add additional ingredients, like broth, soy sauce, and tomato sauce.
  6. Add some acidity. Acids like vinegar or lemon juice do a great job at balancing flavors.
  7. Reduce the sauce by simmering over time or add a thickening agent, like flour, cornstarch, or tapioca.
  8. Check to see that the consistency is right. Dip a spoon into your sauce so the back of the spoon is coated. Remove the spoon and hold it out with its back facing you, using a finger, draw a line horizontally across the back of the spoon. If the sauce starts to run together again, it isn’t quite ready. Put it back over the heat and simmer a little longer. Careful not to over do it, you want your sauce to be mostly liquid. The culinary term for this is nappe.
  9. Taste for seasoning. Add salt and pepper as needed.
Sauce Recipes for the Melting Pot

Need some inspiration? Here are some sauces that can be prepared ahead of time and heated up on your terms.

  • Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce
  • Soy Butter Sauce
Saucy Chicken

Lemon Garlic Butter Sauce

Ingredients: 

(Makes about 1 cup)

  • 1 stick salted butter
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2-3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (optional)
Instructions:

 

  1. The perfect grilling sauce for fish.
  2. Melt butter in a Cast Iron Melting Pot over medium heat. Add garlic, pepper, and optional parsley. Cook until the garlic is translucent, taking care not to let the garlic brown. 
  3. Remove from heat. Add the lemon juice and stir. 
  4. Carefully baste while grilling, but do not slather, as dripping butter can cause your fire to flare up. This sauce can be refrigerated, in a sealed glass container for 1-2 weeks.
Cast Iron Melting Pot

Soy Butter Sauce

Ingredients:

(Makes about 1 cup)

  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 2 tablespoons minced green onion
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
Instructions:
  1. Baste lightly on seafood, ribs, chicken, or vegetables.
  2. Melt butter in the melting pot over medium heat. Add sesame seeds, garlic, onion, and pepper. 
  3. Cook until the garlic and onions are translucent but not brown. Add soy sauce and simmer for 2 minutes. Carefully baste while grilling, but do not slather, as dripping butter can cause your fire to flare up. This sauce can be refrigerated, in a sealed glass container for 1 week.
Basting with a Cast Iron Melting Pot

Basting is the act of brushing food periodically with liquid while it cooks to add flavor and moisture.  

Brushing a fat, like butter or olive oil, is a simple way to add moisture and create an epic crust.

Basting can also be done with stock, beer, or wine.    

Adding aromatics, like crushed garlic, will add a depth of flavor to your dish.

Heat your basting liquid to a simmer and use the silicone brush to periodically coat your food while it cooks. 

Use a leather glove to help protect your hands from heat while basting on the grill.

Tips and Tricks for the Melting Pot 
  • Never fill your melting pot more than 2/3 of the way full. 
  • Use fresh ingredients whenever possible. 
  • Add sugar or acid to tone down heat or make your sauce less salty.
  • Add sweet ingredients toward the end of your recipe. Sugar can burn easily if you aren’t paying attention.
  • Remember to balance flavors, no single ingredient should shine through the rest.
  • Don’t baste with liquids that have come into contact with uncooked food.
  • Discard basting liquid after use if it has come in contact with uncooked foods. 
What else can I do with a Cast Iron Melting pot?

 

  • Warm syrup for pancake and waffles 
  • Make caramel sauce to top desserts
  • Scald milk for bread dough 
  • Soften butter for baking
  • Melt cheese for sauces and dips
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Contributed By: Lodge Cast Iron

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