question about stainless steel frying pans

[missruckus]

i finally got rid of my toxic teflon pan and bought a new stainless steel pan. i heard that food won't stick if you heat the pan up first before adding cold oil.. so i tried that the other day but the food still stuck so i thought maybe i hadn't heated the pan up enough. so then today, i made sure the pan was good and hot before adding the oil..

Comments

[blueheron]

I don't like stainless steel pans myself. After having switched to cast iron now, I don't see myself ever going back.

Now that it is properly seasoned, it works as well as my old teflon pan (wrt non-stick), so I actually don't use oil for a lot of what I cook.

I do have stainless steel pots, with thick copper bottoms. This makes a huge difference, I find, in improving the way that heat gets conducted. Stainless steel itself doesn't conduct well.

If your pans don't have another metal as a core, the bad conductive properties of the steel may be causing "hot spots" that would encourage sticking.

I have heard of people seasoning stainless steel pans similar to how you season a cast iron pan... but I have never done it myself.

So anyway, some productive ideas:
* keep heating the pan before you add the oil. But if you are heating it so much that the oil smokes as soon as it hits the pan... that is way too hot. I heat my pan on medium, unless I need it lower.

* Keep liquid in the pan. If you don't have enough oil, and the food sucks up too much of it, you will stick. If you don't want to add more oil, then consider adding another liquid: vegetable broth, wine, or water.

* Consider seasoning your pan. Heat it gently, put some shortening or coconut oil into the pan (a small amount!) and use a cloth or paper towel to coat the entire surface. Then please the pan upside-down into your oven at 350F (I put it on top of tinfoil or a baking sheet to keep the mess down) for about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely. You may want to do that 2x for the first seasoning, and then just as needed in the future.

Good luck!

[missruckus]

if i try the seasoning route, can i use vegetable oil or must it be coconut oil or shortening?

thanks for the tips! i wish i had gotten cast iron but i'll make do with what i have for now, i guess..

[blueheron]

Vegetable oil risks going rancid on you.

Coconut oil (refined) is tasteless and very stable, plus it has a high smoke point. It is really my favourite for this type of thing.

[missruckus]

i have a question.. i just seasoned my pan and notice it's basically just a 'baked on' layer of oil. when i wash my pan, will this oil come off and i have to re-season or does it last for awhile even with washing?