Cooking For Engineers

Cher · Guest

My new Stainless Steel electric frying pan is a beauty. But everything sticks. I've tried seasoning the pan after cleaning, with Pam, veggie oil and olive oil, different times.

I'd read here that preheating then adding oil, also tried butter ,is the way to go. But not with this pan.

I'm not real fond of non-stick surfaces, that's why I bought the pretty SS pan, but now I'm having to fry stuff in my non-stick coated skillet instead.

Is there any hope? Do you know of any magic tricks for my pan?

jagstyle · Joined: 08 Aug 2005 Posts: 45 Location: CA

Stainless steel isn't meant to be seasoned. It should be scrubbed clean after every use. You're just supposed to heat up the lubricant and then throw in the food. Pretty simple. If it's sticking too much then you're probably using the wrong pan for the job.

Cher · Guest

Michael Chu · Joined: 10 May 2005 Posts: 1654 Location: Austin, TX (USA)

DrBiggles · Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 356 Location: Richmond, CA

Cher · Guest

OK, Biggles, I will throw caution to the wind and clean it well, heat it good, make it smoke, toss the food and get a nice good browning session going. Thanks! Cool

DrBiggles · Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 356 Location: Richmond, CA

Pickles · Joined: 19 May 2006 Posts: 26

I have a few stainless steal pans. I clean them good with something like bar keepers friend until its all nice and shiny then I put in a cup of milk let it come to the boil until a skin forms then empty the pan wipe it clean and rinse a few times.

Doesn't leave the surface looking wonderful and shiny however it does insure that chicken doesn't stick to the pan!

pj_rage · Joined: 07 Feb 2007 Posts: 15

I'm not a proffessional cook by any means, and not even a good amateur (I'm not sure I could notice the heating difference between a SS pan and non-stick), but why would you want to cook eggs and grilled cheese in a SS pan instead of non-stick? Especially for those two items? From what I understand, the SS gives better heat distribution than non-stick? Is that really important for eggs and grilled cheese? Or is there another reason? (Besides maybe loving to scrub pans Teasing

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IndyRob · Joined: 17 Dec 2006 Posts: 77

IMHO, nonstick surfaces are really good for things you don't want to stick. Non-Nonstick surfaces, on the other hand, are good when you want something to stick. This is critical for developing a fond which you'll deglaze (with wine, stock, water, etc.) into a flavorful sauce. There is no deglazing in a nonstick pan. There's nothing to deglaze.

I don't understand what would be undesirable about a non-stick pan when cooking straight-up eggs in any fashion. My best eggs are cooked over extremely low heat (often in a double-boiler type arrangement). Browning is usually not desireable (although I'll allow that some fried egs are okay with a little golden browning on the bottom).