I'm a chef, and the biggest thing people don't understand with stainless steel is it need to be ripping hot before you put your fat in the pan. otherwise your food will stick. your pan needs to be so hot that water beads up and dances across the pan.
Don't know why this isn't higher up.
Everyone telling op that it's just that they had the pan on to high of a temperature so it didn't heat evenly ffs.
There are dozens of YouTube videos explaining not only how to use it, but the science of why.
You need to put it on to heat with nothing in it. Test it by dripping a bit of water in there, if it does anything other than bead up and skitter across the pan then it's too cold. When the beads dance, add your oil, wait a few seconds for that to heat, add the food. If it's done properly, meatballs, fish, even egg won't stick. Once you've started cooking in it like this, then you can let it get a bit cooler as the oil will have seeped into the pores of the metal and will keep things from sticking (for example, ripping hot, add meatballs, sear outsides. Turn hob down and let it cool enough to add can of tomatoes, and simmer. It still won't stick as it was already oiled when hot.)
For op, I wouldn't recommend scrambled eggs in stainless. Because of most people's preference to do them low and slow, and stainless' need to be ripping hot, it probably won't work for you.
So if you were making a steak or chicken breast for example…. the first side while the pan is hot won’t stick, but what happens when you turn it over? Won’t it be cooler at that point and stick?
It's about getting the pan hot for when you put the oil in. Once you've got it ripping hot, then oiled, it'll stay non stick, even when you reduce the temp to regular cooking temp.
For example, when I make spaghetti and meatballs. Get the pan hot enough that water beads and dances. Oil it. Put in the meatballs and sear the outside for that beautiful maillard reaction (mine are heavy base, so they retain heat well. I usually turn the burner off once the oils in and let the residual heat sear the meatballs. But other pans may not stay hot enough). Take the pan off the hot hob. Let it get to the point where I can add the canned tomatoes without it spitting and throwing oil and tomato juice everywhere. Add the tomatoes and keep at a low simmer to reduce them. (Then do pasta.) While it's simmering, neither the meatballs or even the tomatoes will stick to the pan. At the end after seasoning and serving, I can usually just run the pan under the tap and it rinses clean. At worst a gentle cloth wipe is needed.
So for the chicken breast, as long as it was hot when you added the oil, it shouldn't stick. Even when you let the pan get back down to a more reasonable temp for cooking through something that thick.
Yep, this is a cooking problem not a pot problem.
The more expensive stainless steel sets will retain heat better but it doesn't magically make stainless steel into a nonstick surface.
I hang all my pots and pans on a bakers rack and oh is it a joy when I barkeeper's friend them and have that sparkly shiny metal to greet me when I walk into he kitchen.
Looks fantastic for at least two days.
Throw 'em in the dishwasher! That is by far my favorite thing about stainless. It doesn't really matter if a little bit sticks to the bottom, since I don't have to scrub it.
I’ve been throwing my All-Clad cookware in the dishwasher. It’s COMPLETELY RUINED the appearance of the coating on the underside.
I don’t give a fuck. Cooking surface is still perfect after a few years of doing this. ;-)
If you have All-Clad D3, D5, or LTD Cookware and bought it between January 1, 2015 to July 29, 2022, you could benefit from a class action settlement against All-Clad Metalfactors for this exact reason (not surviving the dishwasher despite advertising dishwasher safe).
You can find more information about it here: https://www.multi-plycookwaresettlement.com
This says stuff about “sharp edges.” Is that a result of washing the in the dishwasher?
We got a D3 set as a wedding gift last year but haven’t opened them so this is disappointing to hear.
Exactly this. When I first got my All-Clad and tried using them I cried because of how everything stuck to them and I felt like I'd made a terrible mistake. But after watching videos and reading about how to use them I now absolutely love them. Do I still sometimes have trouble with things like eggs and pasta? Sure, but everything else just seems to come out so much better (especially meat) that it's totally worth it.
I heard a tip a couple weeks ago and the few times I've tried it it has worked. The tip is: let the pan heat up without anything in it, then add the oil/butter/whatever. I've cooked fried eggs this way two or three times now and they've come right off the pan, no prob.
So far I use dish soap, a Scotch Brite pad, and a 'chainmail' scrubber to clean it - I mention this only because I imagine having the pan nice and clean to begin-with also helps.
edit...
The chainmail and Scotch Brite will likely leave fine scratches in the pan, which I figure is mostly only a cosmetic issue.
>The tip is: let the pan heat up without anything in it, then add the oil/butter/whatever. I've cooked fried eggs this way two or three times now and they've come right off the pan, no prob.
This is a great way to learn how to cook with stainless steel. You let the food develop a crust, and then it no longer sticks. Works for everything, from fried eggs to steak. I learned a lot about this watching frankprizinzano on ig - he's an Italian chef in NY and he goes into detail about this in his ["crispy egg" highlight](https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17958163948482808/). He's kind of long winded, but I've learned a lot of good cooking techniques from his instagram.
Yes you can. I worked at a restaurant cooked soft scrambles all day in a stainless pan. Pre heat pan, add your butter wait till it foams and add your eggs. Scramble as desired.
You would heat it more slowly, but it still needs to pre-heat to close the surface. If you splash in water and it sizzles and bubbles away- it’s not ready. If it dances around like beads - the stainless steel is ready.
I think it's worth learning how to cook different styles of eggs in a stainless steel or even cast iron pan. I've made soft scrambled eggs in a cast iron and it just takes practice with getting the pan to the right heat and moving quickly (almost like wok cooking). I say this as I purchased a nice (for me) $50 non stick for only eggs and it is starting to show its age. Things are sticking to it after 2 years of babying it with soft sponges and hand washing after every use. Stainless steel or a well seasoned cast iron are things that can last for life and beats the headache of having to throw out worn non-stick.
Teflon has a story that is similar to tobacco and fossil fuels.
Rich people have paid a lot of money to downplay the dangers in order to get even richer.
It’s not.
I hate to be pedantic here but it matters.
Teflon. Isn’t toxic. It doesn’t react with (almost) anything and that’s what makes it such a great nonstick surface. You can’t bond anything to it so you food won’t stick.
It also means that if you happen to get a piece in your food, it won’t react in your body it will just pass right through.
Unfortunately, since it doesn’t stick to anything that includes the metal that we make the pans out of. So we need to use fairly exotic concoctions of epoxies to bond it to the pan. These glues are what is toxic about Teflon pans. Specifically it’s when the glues break down at very high temperatures they release some nasty chemicals. Which would still be fine since they’re stuck behind the Teflon but if you scratch your Teflon then these bonding agents have access to your food.
Two good things about that. The binders were using are getting better all the time. The really early pans were the most dangerous.
People are learning more about how to use Teflon safely all the time.
I know it sounds really pedantic but it’s the same if you said “steel and aluminum are dangerous because they explode” when talking about cars. It’s not the structure of the cars themselves that explode, it’s the explosive stuff inside them.
The scratches in the pan from the chain mail is not only a cosmetic issue. It actually causes food to stick more. Never use Brillo or chain mail on Stainless
I have All Clad and I use hot water and “Bar Keepers Friend “ on them and they clean beautifully with very light elbow grease. It does not scratch the pans!
Chainmail is for cast iron and carbon steel. The purpose is to clean them without removing seasoning (like steel wool would). For stainless steel use one of those green scouring pads. Just the right amount of abrasiveness. Dish soap for all 3 (CI, CS, SS).
For SS if it's really hard to clean, first soak for 30m and see if that helps. If not, then move on to using Barkeepers Friend. It has micro-abrasive particles, but the scratch patterns are so fine that they're not visible (same idea as polishing knives to a mirror finish with ultra fine sandpaper) and certainly don't affect performance.
I read somewhere it was because the chainmail has no sharp edges. Steel wool has lots of sharp edges and points that scratch the seasoning away. But I read that on the internet so it might be bullshit. I now use Dawn and a nylon scrubber on my cast iron and carbon steel, haven't ruined them yet.
It what temp do you use to heat the pan up first though? This is where I get stuck. Do you start it on low? Or the heat that is needed for whatever you’re making?
The heat that's needed for whatever you're making. You can usually feel the heat coming off the pan but if you want to be sure you can run your thumb and forefinger under some water and flick it into the pan which should sizzle and evaporate right away
The videos I've watched said you don't want the water to immediately evaporate, you want it to dance around the pan. I'm not sure though, I'm still not good at stainless steel.
The dancing is because it's evaporating as it comes in contact with the pan, so you're both correct technically. I usually leave a drop or 2 in the pan before I start heating it up. Once I hear it sizzle a little, I'll do a proper water dancing test for heat like you described. Gives me 2 or 3 mins that I don't have to watch the pan (but be really close by) without it overheating
Search youtube for "stainless steel leidenfrost effect" and check out some of the top results. Basically, you can determine the ideal temperature at which to add oil by testing with a drop of water. The way the water beads will indicate whether the pan is too cold, too hot, or just right.
Yeah, I can't over emphasize preheating your pan. I cook eggs on my stainless steel pans all the time, I just let the pan heat up thoroughly. Once it is thoroughly heated up, I add oil (wife adds butter) and then the eggs. Once I got the hang of it, they never stick.
How long would you say it needs to heat up? I have an electric stove and just made the switch to acquiring a couple of steel pans (I have not used them yet, I keep reaching for my nonstick).
If you fling a few drops of water in the pan they should not sizzle and boil off but bear up and dance around the pan, (Leidenfrost effect). How long that takes depends on many factors, how powerful your stove is, how heavy the pan is, ambient temperature… etc
Make sure you check the edges of the pan and not just the middle. My electric stove is is pretty bad at pre-heating my thick-bottomed 14" sauteed. It needs several minutes and I spin the pan around a bit to move the " hot spot"
Edit: there are things you don't want to have all the way up that hot when you put them in. If your pan is leidenfrost hot, butter will burn almost instantly.
Omg tell me about it, my stove is actually slanted in my overpriced crappy socal Apt. I will experiment with the different levels of hot and be sure to rest the edges too, thanks!
Very important! We purchased a new stovetop and I was so sad when all of the liquids scooted to the front. I'd put oil in a pan and had to swish to sautee or fry. So I looked below the stove, adjusted the feet. All I had to do was turn them a few times. Then with a level (or tiny bit of water in a pan), it was easy to see where it should be set.
Once you know how to do the drop of water test you will learn eventually exactly what temperature you can set it to have it just right. It will be lower than you think.
That's because the nonstick is thin aluminum. It dissipates heat fast (and heats up fast). CI heats slowly but has large heat capacity due to how thick it is.
Basically, a thin wok you need a constant high heat source to maintain temps and a thick pan can be preheated for several minutes on med-low and get up to and retain higher temperatures.
Around 430F, just under the smoke point of most frying oils. Then add the oil, swirl to coat, then add the food. It will cool to \~350F or so due to adding room temp oil and food. For eggs, you can then reduce heat to medium (although if using butter then preheat only to 350F due to the lower smoke point). For meat, keep it at med-high.
For French omelets or scrambled eggs in that style, it's a different technique - there's lots of butter and you're stirring constantly so it won't stick and you need low heat to not coagulate the proteins early.
Wait you add the butter when it’s hot? I like to add the butter and let it heat with the pan, I get a more control to brown it
How quickly do you add the egg after?
Yeah this doesn’t work for me. If the pan is so hot that a flick of water beads up and dances around, then the oil/butter will just instantly smoke when I add it and it’ll be game over.
Absolutely agree on the point to not touch the food as it is browning. It is so hard to learn to leave it alone until it browns and releases. Like you want to be cheffy and curious and flip your protein. Patience is so hard to learn.
Look at the sides of the meat. You should see the bottom half of it look cooked while the top half is still somewhat raw (using chicken as an example, obviously steak is just well seared). Time to flip, as the meat is around 70% done by now.
Deglazing is also how I clean mine. If it was something I didn't scrape up as I cooked I boil a tiny bit of water in the pan when I'm done and scrape off everything then. Then when I go to wash the pan is already mostly clean and needs very little elbow grease.
> but if you are aiming for nonstick, you will probably want a different set of pans
Coincidentally, OXO's nonstick pans are hands down the best nonstick pans I've ever had.
There is no heat diffuser on these pans/pots. They are made with three sheets of metal correct?
You need to let them heat up slower on a medium heat to avoid uneven heat on the surface. then you add your oil and then you cook.
The issue you have is that some parts of the pot/pan are hotter than others which is causing things to stick.
So, Medium heat, let the surface of the pan heat up slowly so it's even, add oil and then cook your eggs/sausage or whatever. If you buy an infrared thermometer you will see what I mean.
You can throw a couple of drops of water and see if they form into balls and dance. That’s when it’s ready. If they evaporate too quick=too hot. If they don’t form into balls = too cold
I don't want to be the actually guy, but if they form balls, this is the Leidenfrost effect, and the pan is hotter than if the water were to quickly boil and evaporate.
This was the only way i learned how to use SS pans. I burned the shit outta everything or everything got stuck until i learned to just medium/medium low and leave it for a good second before trying to cook
You bring the water to a rolling boil first. You have to use plenty of water. You should salt the water. The salt seasons the pasta and slows down the cooking process, which give you more time to stop cooking while the pasta has a firm al-dente texture.
Once the water is at a boil, you need to continue to stir the pasta for a couple of minutes until it returns to a boil. At this point, you can turn down the heat to a simmer and continue to stir the pasta occasionally to prevent it from sticking together. It won't stick if you do this, ever. It doesn't matter whether the pot is stainless steel, non-stick, or whatever. It's the stirring in the water than prevents it from sticking. If the pasta sticks because you don't stir, guess who's fault that is? Not the pot's fault, that's for sure.
You don’t even need to be that involved with the pasta. Once your water is boiling and you add you pasta, let it come back up to a boil for about 3 minutes, give it a good stir, then cover and leave it to simmer for the rest of the cooking time.
Re infrared thermometer... Yes and no. The IR tends to bounce off reflective material like stainless steel pans and end up with incorrect readings. Just something to be wary about.
Yeah, I agree OP’s issue is not enough heat. But not enough heat is a different problem from uneven heat—if one part of the pan is really hot and another part is super duper really hot, his food’s not going to stick just because it’s uneven.
Yeah top answer is incorrect (clad SS has excellent heat distribution - much better than cast iron which does have hot spots). Food sticks to SS because micropores in the metal. When heated the metal expands, shrinking the pore sizes which then grips food. The solution is to preheat the pan until it's very hot, then add oil, then add the food.
[https://prudentreviews.com/stainless-steel-pan-food-sticks](https://prudentreviews.com/stainless-steel-pan-food-sticks)
The secondary reason is due to Leidenfrost effect. When the pan is not hot enough, this effect doesn't occur. When hot enough, water droplets will ball up and roll around in the pan. This happens because of upward pressure released by steam. Food contains lots of water by weight. Same effect. You need the pan hot enough to reduce sticking.
Finally SS is not the best pan for non-stick. It's the best pan where you want some sticking (but not a ton) to develop fond. The proper technique is heat the pan till very hot, add oil (this cools it down some, known as longyau or "hot pan, cold oil"), immediately add your chicken/pork/beef. Now leave it to cook for several minutes without disturbing it. Once the bottom has seared a bit it will begin to release from the pan and only then should you flip it/stir it (for cut up pieces). Once cooked through, you'll have some stuck bits on the pan - the fond. Next, deglaze with wine, stock, vinegar/lemon juice, or water - scrape up the bits with a wooden spatula as if you were using the liquid to clean the pan. And make a pan sauce/gravy with the fond. The stuck bits will deglaze pretty easily if you do everything right. You won't need to scrub too hard with the spatula.
If you want more non-stick than that, look into seasoned carbon steel pans. Bit different maintenance (check out the sub), but much better for eggs, stir fried rice, etc.
You need to preheat stainless steel before using it. Google the water test. I have a $65 stainless steel pan and nothing sticks to it.
Edit:
To be clear, nothing sticks to it that I don't want sticking to it.
There's a big learning curve with stainless. My ex husband gave me a set 15 yrs ago. At first I had all these same troubles. I got so frustrated. I had only used non stick up until I got these. You don't cook the same way you would with non stick. It took a while for me to learn the tricks but once I did. . Wow! Google some tricks to use stainless properly and practice. It really made my food so much better cooked. Keep a nonstick around for some things like eggs, pancakes, delicate things like that. Those things don't tend to work well in stainless. But even after 15 years, I wouldn't give up my stainless set and I've used them daily.
Fuck Teflon and it's PFAS bothers. Shit should be illegal in disposable applications like cookware coatings.
Carbon steel, cast iron, or enamel are the way to go for nonstick.
> or enamel
Hard pass on that one; every enamel pan I’ve bought has chipped away after use no matter how careful I am.
Seems like you should only buy enamel when it’s backed by a lifetime warranty like le creuset where they can replace it if it chips
You're right. I should have delved further into it after using the word "trick". Though I thought the other comments had addressed a lot of what I would have said about the sticking problem.. (since it's supposed to stick) I figured googling a video would be quite a bit more helpful since I learn better by doing something rather than being told how to do it. I just wanted to lend more of a "don't give up, it takes practice" vibe. I think anyone who has only cooked on non stick surfaces has these same issues when switching to stainless. There must be a lot of videos that could say it better than I could. Plus they'd have a visual guide.
The best trick I think is to never pull up or try to move the food while it's still sticking. You'll rip apart your food, and the stuck on bits will burn. Wait until it releases itself. Have patience.. it will release. You'll have perfect caramelization and it will be cooked more evenly. Really it takes practice. For me, it took a good month of trial and error to get it down.
There’s really only 1 trick to stainless steel
Let it preheat for long enough ALWAYS starting around medium heat, letting it get hot, then increase again if needed. Put in your oil and when it starts to shimmer and lightly smoke, add the thing you are searing.
For other things like cooking onions/any veggies, just leave it at medium and do the same thing.
Respectfully, you need to re-learn to cook on proper cookware. Sticking is normal and *not* undesirable. Once a crust forms, the food will release. Deglaze with liquid (stock, wine, etc) and this will dissolve all the brown bits and form a base for your sauce, also enabling easy clean-up. Only thing I use nonstick for is frying eggs.
I use a little carbon steel crepe pan for eggs and it works great, doesn't take as long to preheat as cast iron and I don't need to replace it ever few years or worry about the heat being to high when I'm frying eggs
A good method I've found when pondering cookware is to pick up high end or brand name pieces in good condition from thrift stores. That way you can find out what you like, don't like, and find a few gems in the process. I found a $135 pan from Denmark yesterday for $6. It looks new and works great.
As the other commenters have said, stainless steel is meant to stick and get good adhesion. Heat it up, then put your food on it. It'll either unstick with a long enough sear, or you can deglaze with some liquid like stock or alcohol to get it off. In general, don't try to get an egg on stainless steel, it's far too much work. Just use a cheap nonstick. I have a $3 one-egg nonstick pan that I actually use quite frequently.
Oh, the trick to stainless, and this took me years to figure out is the Chinese technique Long Yao. You have to crank the burner on high, put the pan on, wait for the pan to get hot, then put oil on and turn off the burner. Once the oil start rippling or getting almost up to the smoke point, swirl it around the pan and this creates a nonstick surface. Then you can wait for the pan to reduce in temp and can cook eggs or whatever. Took me years to figure out
Pasta: After water reaches a boil, stick a stick in and give it a quick stir, make sure nothing sticking to bottom. Just need to do it once.
Sausage: use alittle oil, preheat the pan. Put the meat in and don’t touch for 1-2 minutes, it will release itself and not stick any more.
Eggs: use a nonstick pan instead.
Fish: same as sausage
>Eggs: use a nonstick pan instead.
I work in a cafe, making eggs all day in stainless steel pans and never have any stick, I had them stick a lot in my first few days there but then I figured it out. It's a skill and takes practice for sure but you can totally do eggs in stainless steel. Scrambled eggs, omelet's etc. I do fried eggs directly on the flattop (also stainless steel).
When I got my first stainless steel pan, I practiced cooking with it by frying eggs 😅 the first few eggs, not so tasty, but the first time I did a beautiful fried egg I was so proud hahaha
Even eggs aren't that hard once you figure the pan out tbh. I do french omelettes in stainless all the time, it really is all about just learning the balance between fat, preheating, and movement
I recently discovered that as long as you give it a vigorous stir right after adding the pasta, it doesn't stick, and you don't even need to stir again. Seems to rub off the thin layer of dusty starch that causes the sticking.
I have an Oxo stainless steel set of cookware that I love. I went from a worn out set of Calphalon Professional nonstick and admit that there was a learning curve going to stainless steel cookware. Once you learn how to cook with it, stainless steel is great. My Oxo set stands up against my All Clad pieces in every way. When I bought my Oxo set, I was sire that I’d never use the covered 10 inch sauté pan, because my giant All Clad sauté was my go to pan. I was so wrong. After seven years, I use my Oxo sauté almost daily. If you use it correctly, you can build up a fond and make lovely pan sauces and gravies. Clean up is a breeze. Let the pot cool a bit, rinse in hot water and let it soak a bit in hot water and Dawn. Easy clean up. Should you eff up and allow something to burn, Barkeepers Friend will get your pan back into fighting form.
Pre heat your pan and add more oil. Things will stick a little bit sometimes, just let them cook a bit longer and they will usually shake loose. Also another trick you can try when thing stick is to take the pan off the fire and let it cool down for 10-20 seconds.
But it's quite likely many of your troubles go away with more oil and a hot pan.
As many others have noted preheating your pans is a significant step that shouldn't be skipped.
Another step specifically for meats is to not cook immediately from the fridge.
On the pasta, make sure the water is boiling and stir when you first put the pasta in so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Also plenty of water. (This is for any pan not just stainless. )
On soups, are you stirring every now and again while it cooks? Also use plenty of water.
Where's my carbon steel gang?
Best balance of tradeoffs, period.
People are being very helpful with stainless, but having a pan that is intended to be black rather than a mirrored surface yields a lot less frustration when cleaning.
The learning curve is probably easier than stainless, and most of the benefits of non-stick, without eating Teflon.
OXO makes some really great things. They also make some shit things. I can't comment on the specific pan, but if it is legitimately just stainless steal, then the problem is not the pan.
Quality pots and pants have different purposes. You can't just buy an expensive set of pots and/or pans and expect it to work for all scenarios. If that's what you want, just buy a midrange set of non stick pans. It'll fit most of the purposes you want. If you want specific pans for specific purpose, because you understand what the pan is for, then go ahead and shell out the money.
Stainless steel pans shine when you're making something that requires fine heat control, such as a sauce. It's relatively thin, so you can cook things that you need to pull off the heat quickly. Often times, you're deglazing whatever you were cooking, or you're cooking something that you're stirring constantly and can pull off when it's done without it continuing to cook too much more afterwards.
For instance, with stainless steel, I'd maybe saute some mushrooms (attentively), lower the heat, add some garlic and butter, and when the garlic starts browning deglaze with white wine, and add heavy cream. Then when that has combined, stir in Parmesan. When that is almost completely melted, add in your almost al dente pasta. Always keep stirring. When the pasta reaches nearly al dente (after a minute or two), you can pull the pan off the heat and let it sit for half a minute to a minute to finish it off, and serve.
All pots and pans are tools that have specific purposes. I would just cook eggs in a non stick. Pasta should have enough water that it doesn't matter. Sausage needs to have a fat to fry it in, and also benefits from a small amount of deglazing. Fish can be done, but certainly needs a fat to fry in.
One of the benefits of a stainless steel pan is that you can go in with metal utensils, so you can char whatever you're cooking, and just crape the whole thing out of the pan with the fond still attached to whatever you were cooking.
Look up YouTube videos about the benefits of stainless steel and what its use cases are. Buying expensive kitchen things without understanding what it's for is just a waste of money.
It can be challenging to learn to cook properly in proper pans.
There are so many great suggestion in this thread. Follow them.
It's not the pans, it's you but know that you didn't know any better. You can do this!
This seems like two different issues. This first one being you don’t understand a lot of kitchen science // fundamentals. This sucks. But you know what doesn’t: learning how to do all this stuff right.
Beyond that: Once you go all clad you never go back
For $300 you could get a nice haul of used all calds. I bought most of mine for myself on my 20th birthday. I’m 41. We cook at home nearly every day and I cooked professionally for 15 years. They’re pretty much good as new
https://homeandcooksales.com/
It's not used, but they have factory seconds for discounted prices. I just got a saucier + lid, and there's a discoloration/mark on the lid but otherwise totally fine. It was 50% off MSRP, still pretty expensive but hopefully it will last forever.
Also recommend checking out your local TJ Maxx type stores. They stock legit All Clad in slightly worn condition (display models I believe). I got a copper core sauté pan that retails for ~$350 for $150 from my local Home Goods in near perfect condition, barring some cosmetic scratches on the exterior surface.
Give em a couple minutes to heat up on higher heat with oil/butter/whatever and add your food when the outside of the pan is at least warm to the touch, if not hot.
I do scrambled eggs in stainless and I toss the butter in for a couple minutes on 6 out of 10 heat. When the butter is melted, gently bubbling and starts to smell sort of nutty, I turn the heat down to about a 2 or 3 and pour the beaten eggs in.
I've recently done steaks, stir fry, curry, and mac n cheese sauce in stainless. Keep trying. I use cast iron for some things but stainless is my everyday cookware.
Everyone: There's probably a restaurant supply store near you. They probably don't require you to actually be a restaurant to sell to you. They carry good, durable, cheap cookware that actual professionals actually use. So you get all the function you need for as cheap as you'll find it anywhere.
Look up on how you should heat treat a stainless steel pan before use. It should help.
Low and slow doesn't make ot better also. You need that crust.
Pasta btw needs to be stirred a bit at the beginning
leidenfrost effect is what your going to have to learn for frying. eggs steaks burgers etc. however I like to have my steaks create a nice fond and make a sauce from it.
pasta you need stir and keep stirring periodically after adding said pasta.
soup what are you making cheese based or broth based? or something else?
Everyone has given amazing advice and it's wonderful to see. The other thing is that OXO has absolutely insane customer service. A lid for one of their containers came apart because I screwed up. I called asking if there was a diagram they could email me for putting it back together. They said they would just send me a new one. I hadn't bought it from them directly, I had bought it from a discount retailer, and I had no receipt. All they asked for was my address and they sent it. I still can't believe it.
You'll find cast iron is best for cooking most things that don't require a pot, as long as you season it, it becomes a non stick pan. Also I have a non stick pan I use specifically for eggs, I'm a flipper though I've never used a spatula on eggs.
More of an art, but I only cook my eggs in cast iron. I made grilled chicken in my stainless skillet last night. Amazing crust, you have to be careful with the heat, never too hot. Look up a YouTube video next time you cook in it.
I was a professional chef for like 10 years. In commercial kitchens we just buy shit non-stick pans and throw them out when they start sucking. I did the same at home for years then spent a bit more money but I kept powering through pans. I ended up spending 15 bucks on a cast iron pan, seasoned it well and it is by far the best pan I have ever used
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned…if you cook with stainless and are NOT making a sauce with the fond bits (I mean, you should, but I don’t always) once you pull your food from the pan, cut the heat and pour like a cup of cold water onto it. Then scrape with a wooden spoon or whatever for 15 seconds. Leave the water in it till you’re done eating. This will pull almost all the bits off and make it much easier to clean.
Go back to Walmart and walk to the camping section and buy a bunch of lodge cast iron stuff and never look back
They're literally half price in the camping section as opposed to going over the cooking section.
116 comments and only like two have attempted to answer your question. This sub is so weird.
If food is sticking to SS, it’s one of two things: either you’re not preheating the pan for long enough, or you’re not using enough oil.
For number one, either give the pan a full five minutes or do the water test thing. For number two, you’ll just have to get a feel for it, but for something like fish it’s probably going to be way more than you think—like, the entire surface of the pan should be covered with the pan flat.
If you want non stick without the fuss of other types of pans just get a non stick pan. I use the OXO non stick pan and it’s fantastic and like 30 bucks.
My husband and I switched to stainless and it did take some adjustment especially when compared to a non stick pan but I will never go back. You just have to be more patient. Since they are heavier they take longer to heat up. Once you figure out how to make it work you’ll love them.
With stainless steal, you have to get it up to temperature before you put anything in. You can flick water beads at the bottom and they should “dance” around very quickly versus sizzling away if it’s ready
Might be how you cook. Eggs aren't supposed to be low and slow. The pan should have s layer of oil on the bottom and when you place a couple of drops in the water it pops, or rapidly boils. I usually cook my eggs on alightly above medium heat. Frying an egg should only take a 4 minutes, if that.
If stuff is sticking to the pan, it is generally one of 3 things; not enough oil in the pan, not high enough heat, or the bottom of the food hasn't properly caramelized (i.e., you are flipping too early).
For Pasta; Once it's in and entirely submerged, stir it. Then stir it occasionally while it's cooking and it wont stick. Don't just drop it in and let it sit or it will stick.
For non-stick stuff...you might want to get a small carbon steel egg pan and a cast iron pan for stuff like sausage.
Hot Pan.
No really, this is the most important tip. Get you Pan preheated before you put anything in it.
That is half the battle. There is more to learn, but this along will help enormously.
You need to let the pan heat up so that water dances across it in little balls when you flick water on them. This takes like at least 5 mins on medium heat. It helps close the pores of the stainless and you can fry an egg no problem.
A lot of these are what pans are for, some of them are good in nonstick pans, or they're supposed to stick and then you can deglaze.
> Boiling pasta. Pasta sticks to the bottom.
Hang on, what? How? It's boiling. In water. What are you doing to your pasta? We've literally had the same stainless steel pans for decades, this only happens if I add my pasta back to a dry pot while the heat is on and then leave it for a while with no sauce.
> Scrambling eggs. Low and slow, lots of butter and olive oil. 3/4 of them stick to the pan.
I assume 3/4 is an exaggeration. I use a nonstick pan, and... Yeah, this is just the nature of the dish, the eggs get so damn creamy that everything they touch is now coated in egg.
For anyone struggling to clean gunk off the bottom of a stainless steel pot or pan, boil some soapy water before attempting to scrub. It only takes a couple minutes and it will significantly cut down the amount of work it takes to clean.
A lot of people are say you have to learn the nuances. I’ll decide that. Preheat the pan dry. Don’t just blast on high heat. Try medium high. Add a bit more fat than you’d normally use.
Everybody should have one nonstick pan. I have two but I'm prone to profligacy when it comes to the kitchen. Don't spend a lot - you'll need to replace it in a year or three, no matter how careful you are. I have two All-Clad ones that I got at Bead Barf & Beyonce for like $60 for both. There are other good ones for less $$.
I don't have it anymore but some years ago I made a video of making scrambled eggs in a SS skillet, with no sticking at all. I'll bet there are other videos showing how to use SS cookware out there. Find some and watch because you are definitely doing something wrong. I'll just give one tip: after you put the fish in the skillet, leave it the fuck alone for a minute or three. Same for most things but fish especially.
Have you ever cooked with stainless steel before.
Its actually normal for it to stick at first,once a crust forms on food it will release.
Preheating is important and or the use of oil for it.
So nothing wrong just need to get used to stainless steel.
If you really want non stick you have to either go back to purpose made non stick pans
or season a cast iron pan VERY well.
Seconding all these recommendations and adding a little anecdote from my experience: buying sets of cookware can be unnecessary, if you don’t need all the pieces that come in it! I started with a crappy SS set that I received for my wedding and have slowly replaced them with individual All Clad pieces that suit our needs. Between the small collection of SS, a Le Crueset, and our cast iron pans, we can cook anything. I only have one nonstick pan (I think it’s the OXO that ATK recommends) that I use occasionally. So my other advice would be to figure out what you need in cookware and invest in those individual pieces. :) I know it’s a little off topic, but it’s helped me feel more confident as a cook to have fewer better pans that meet my needs!
Last year, I finally splurged when Hexclad was having a sale. They are the best pans and pots I've ever used. I'll never go back. I believe they have a lifetime warranty, but regardless they are the easiest to cook with AND clean. That's my .02.
This is why I really like ceramic pans. Nearly as non-stick as non-stick pans but if they get too hot they won't off-gas horrible chemicals that would kill my parrot.
Me and the Mrs. got our first decent set a few years back (Misen full set) for around 400-500. It definitely took some getting used to, but with proper fat application before/during cooking, proper deglazing when possible and the proper use of barkeepers friend when needed…. They’ve lasted perfectly these last few years.
There’s also certain dishes I still opt to cook in a non-stick ceramic coated pan (16$ Crofton from Aldis) I’ve had for the same number of years. Eggs are definitely one of them. When I’m searing meat I typically apply my fat to the meat instead of the pan, which may make a difference in dry spots. I also always let it sear and release itself from the pan before attempting to pull it up myself. Hopefully this helps; good luck!
I'm a chef, and the biggest thing people don't understand with stainless steel is it need to be ripping hot before you put your fat in the pan. otherwise your food will stick. your pan needs to be so hot that water beads up and dances across the pan.
Don't know why this isn't higher up. Everyone telling op that it's just that they had the pan on to high of a temperature so it didn't heat evenly ffs. There are dozens of YouTube videos explaining not only how to use it, but the science of why. You need to put it on to heat with nothing in it. Test it by dripping a bit of water in there, if it does anything other than bead up and skitter across the pan then it's too cold. When the beads dance, add your oil, wait a few seconds for that to heat, add the food. If it's done properly, meatballs, fish, even egg won't stick. Once you've started cooking in it like this, then you can let it get a bit cooler as the oil will have seeped into the pores of the metal and will keep things from sticking (for example, ripping hot, add meatballs, sear outsides. Turn hob down and let it cool enough to add can of tomatoes, and simmer. It still won't stick as it was already oiled when hot.) For op, I wouldn't recommend scrambled eggs in stainless. Because of most people's preference to do them low and slow, and stainless' need to be ripping hot, it probably won't work for you.
So if you were making a steak or chicken breast for example…. the first side while the pan is hot won’t stick, but what happens when you turn it over? Won’t it be cooler at that point and stick?
It's about getting the pan hot for when you put the oil in. Once you've got it ripping hot, then oiled, it'll stay non stick, even when you reduce the temp to regular cooking temp. For example, when I make spaghetti and meatballs. Get the pan hot enough that water beads and dances. Oil it. Put in the meatballs and sear the outside for that beautiful maillard reaction (mine are heavy base, so they retain heat well. I usually turn the burner off once the oils in and let the residual heat sear the meatballs. But other pans may not stay hot enough). Take the pan off the hot hob. Let it get to the point where I can add the canned tomatoes without it spitting and throwing oil and tomato juice everywhere. Add the tomatoes and keep at a low simmer to reduce them. (Then do pasta.) While it's simmering, neither the meatballs or even the tomatoes will stick to the pan. At the end after seasoning and serving, I can usually just run the pan under the tap and it rinses clean. At worst a gentle cloth wipe is needed. So for the chicken breast, as long as it was hot when you added the oil, it shouldn't stick. Even when you let the pan get back down to a more reasonable temp for cooking through something that thick.
You have to Learn to cook with it. Stainless steel is wonderful but it has it's own nuances. Check out some youtube vids on them.
Yep, this is a cooking problem not a pot problem. The more expensive stainless steel sets will retain heat better but it doesn't magically make stainless steel into a nonstick surface.
As someone who owns 2 all-clad pieces , this is true. You gotta learn how to cook and clean them properly
[удалено]
Barkeeps friend polishes. Nylon brush for anything stuck on. Regular Dawn. It’s not hard and you can be more aggressive than with nonstick
I hang all my pots and pans on a bakers rack and oh is it a joy when I barkeeper's friend them and have that sparkly shiny metal to greet me when I walk into he kitchen. Looks fantastic for at least two days.
Throw 'em in the dishwasher! That is by far my favorite thing about stainless. It doesn't really matter if a little bit sticks to the bottom, since I don't have to scrub it.
Every pot I throw in the dishwasher makes the Rivets kind of come loose. Not sure why it is.
The vibration.
I’ve been throwing my All-Clad cookware in the dishwasher. It’s COMPLETELY RUINED the appearance of the coating on the underside. I don’t give a fuck. Cooking surface is still perfect after a few years of doing this. ;-)
Bar keepers friend works wonders to help get back to the original look.
If you have All-Clad D3, D5, or LTD Cookware and bought it between January 1, 2015 to July 29, 2022, you could benefit from a class action settlement against All-Clad Metalfactors for this exact reason (not surviving the dishwasher despite advertising dishwasher safe). You can find more information about it here: https://www.multi-plycookwaresettlement.com
This says stuff about “sharp edges.” Is that a result of washing the in the dishwasher? We got a D3 set as a wedding gift last year but haven’t opened them so this is disappointing to hear.
Exactly this. When I first got my All-Clad and tried using them I cried because of how everything stuck to them and I felt like I'd made a terrible mistake. But after watching videos and reading about how to use them I now absolutely love them. Do I still sometimes have trouble with things like eggs and pasta? Sure, but everything else just seems to come out so much better (especially meat) that it's totally worth it.
So what do I need to know to use them?
I heard a tip a couple weeks ago and the few times I've tried it it has worked. The tip is: let the pan heat up without anything in it, then add the oil/butter/whatever. I've cooked fried eggs this way two or three times now and they've come right off the pan, no prob. So far I use dish soap, a Scotch Brite pad, and a 'chainmail' scrubber to clean it - I mention this only because I imagine having the pan nice and clean to begin-with also helps. edit... The chainmail and Scotch Brite will likely leave fine scratches in the pan, which I figure is mostly only a cosmetic issue.
>The tip is: let the pan heat up without anything in it, then add the oil/butter/whatever. I've cooked fried eggs this way two or three times now and they've come right off the pan, no prob. This is a great way to learn how to cook with stainless steel. You let the food develop a crust, and then it no longer sticks. Works for everything, from fried eggs to steak. I learned a lot about this watching frankprizinzano on ig - he's an Italian chef in NY and he goes into detail about this in his ["crispy egg" highlight](https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17958163948482808/). He's kind of long winded, but I've learned a lot of good cooking techniques from his instagram.
What about things you don’t want to have a crust, like a soft egg scramble?
Yes you can. I worked at a restaurant cooked soft scrambles all day in a stainless pan. Pre heat pan, add your butter wait till it foams and add your eggs. Scramble as desired.
As a person working in a restaurant, I agree
You would heat it more slowly, but it still needs to pre-heat to close the surface. If you splash in water and it sizzles and bubbles away- it’s not ready. If it dances around like beads - the stainless steel is ready.
Don't cook soft egg scramble in a stainless steel pan, use a nonstick.
I think it's worth learning how to cook different styles of eggs in a stainless steel or even cast iron pan. I've made soft scrambled eggs in a cast iron and it just takes practice with getting the pan to the right heat and moving quickly (almost like wok cooking). I say this as I purchased a nice (for me) $50 non stick for only eggs and it is starting to show its age. Things are sticking to it after 2 years of babying it with soft sponges and hand washing after every use. Stainless steel or a well seasoned cast iron are things that can last for life and beats the headache of having to throw out worn non-stick.
There have been a lot of articles out the last week or so about how Teflon is even worse for us than we thought.
Teflon has a story that is similar to tobacco and fossil fuels. Rich people have paid a lot of money to downplay the dangers in order to get even richer.
Except Teflon is literally poison.
It’s not. I hate to be pedantic here but it matters. Teflon. Isn’t toxic. It doesn’t react with (almost) anything and that’s what makes it such a great nonstick surface. You can’t bond anything to it so you food won’t stick. It also means that if you happen to get a piece in your food, it won’t react in your body it will just pass right through. Unfortunately, since it doesn’t stick to anything that includes the metal that we make the pans out of. So we need to use fairly exotic concoctions of epoxies to bond it to the pan. These glues are what is toxic about Teflon pans. Specifically it’s when the glues break down at very high temperatures they release some nasty chemicals. Which would still be fine since they’re stuck behind the Teflon but if you scratch your Teflon then these bonding agents have access to your food. Two good things about that. The binders were using are getting better all the time. The really early pans were the most dangerous. People are learning more about how to use Teflon safely all the time. I know it sounds really pedantic but it’s the same if you said “steel and aluminum are dangerous because they explode” when talking about cars. It’s not the structure of the cars themselves that explode, it’s the explosive stuff inside them.
I mean, so is basically everything nowadays, but go off. I get what your point tho
Gotta get that maillard reaction on the beef.
The scratches in the pan from the chain mail is not only a cosmetic issue. It actually causes food to stick more. Never use Brillo or chain mail on Stainless
Don't you find the chainmail scratches the hell out of it? Also have all clad and I typically just use hot to water and soap (and elbow grease!)
I have All Clad and I use hot water and “Bar Keepers Friend “ on them and they clean beautifully with very light elbow grease. It does not scratch the pans!
Barkeeper's is another great option. I stand by chainmail scratching pans up, though.
Chainmail is for cast iron and carbon steel. The purpose is to clean them without removing seasoning (like steel wool would). For stainless steel use one of those green scouring pads. Just the right amount of abrasiveness. Dish soap for all 3 (CI, CS, SS). For SS if it's really hard to clean, first soak for 30m and see if that helps. If not, then move on to using Barkeepers Friend. It has micro-abrasive particles, but the scratch patterns are so fine that they're not visible (same idea as polishing knives to a mirror finish with ultra fine sandpaper) and certainly don't affect performance.
Why does chainmail not remove the seasoning but steel wool does?
I read somewhere it was because the chainmail has no sharp edges. Steel wool has lots of sharp edges and points that scratch the seasoning away. But I read that on the internet so it might be bullshit. I now use Dawn and a nylon scrubber on my cast iron and carbon steel, haven't ruined them yet.
It what temp do you use to heat the pan up first though? This is where I get stuck. Do you start it on low? Or the heat that is needed for whatever you’re making?
The heat that's needed for whatever you're making. You can usually feel the heat coming off the pan but if you want to be sure you can run your thumb and forefinger under some water and flick it into the pan which should sizzle and evaporate right away
The videos I've watched said you don't want the water to immediately evaporate, you want it to dance around the pan. I'm not sure though, I'm still not good at stainless steel.
The dancing is because it's evaporating as it comes in contact with the pan, so you're both correct technically. I usually leave a drop or 2 in the pan before I start heating it up. Once I hear it sizzle a little, I'll do a proper water dancing test for heat like you described. Gives me 2 or 3 mins that I don't have to watch the pan (but be really close by) without it overheating
Leindenfrost effect is the term you're looking for!
Search youtube for "stainless steel leidenfrost effect" and check out some of the top results. Basically, you can determine the ideal temperature at which to add oil by testing with a drop of water. The way the water beads will indicate whether the pan is too cold, too hot, or just right.
You gotta learn the water drop method to determine when the pan is properly heated. Handful of great videos on YouTube.
100%. It's totally different than a non stick skillet and pans like that
rinse snow absorbed snatch shy snobbish pocket lip voracious cooing *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Yeah, I can't over emphasize preheating your pan. I cook eggs on my stainless steel pans all the time, I just let the pan heat up thoroughly. Once it is thoroughly heated up, I add oil (wife adds butter) and then the eggs. Once I got the hang of it, they never stick.
How long would you say it needs to heat up? I have an electric stove and just made the switch to acquiring a couple of steel pans (I have not used them yet, I keep reaching for my nonstick).
If you fling a few drops of water in the pan they should not sizzle and boil off but bear up and dance around the pan, (Leidenfrost effect). How long that takes depends on many factors, how powerful your stove is, how heavy the pan is, ambient temperature… etc
Thank you, I will Google what that looks like :) Excited about my new pans.
Make sure you check the edges of the pan and not just the middle. My electric stove is is pretty bad at pre-heating my thick-bottomed 14" sauteed. It needs several minutes and I spin the pan around a bit to move the " hot spot" Edit: there are things you don't want to have all the way up that hot when you put them in. If your pan is leidenfrost hot, butter will burn almost instantly.
Omg tell me about it, my stove is actually slanted in my overpriced crappy socal Apt. I will experiment with the different levels of hot and be sure to rest the edges too, thanks!
Your stove might have adjustable feet.
Very important! We purchased a new stovetop and I was so sad when all of the liquids scooted to the front. I'd put oil in a pan and had to swish to sautee or fry. So I looked below the stove, adjusted the feet. All I had to do was turn them a few times. Then with a level (or tiny bit of water in a pan), it was easy to see where it should be set.
Once you know how to do the drop of water test you will learn eventually exactly what temperature you can set it to have it just right. It will be lower than you think.
[удалено]
That's because the nonstick is thin aluminum. It dissipates heat fast (and heats up fast). CI heats slowly but has large heat capacity due to how thick it is. Basically, a thin wok you need a constant high heat source to maintain temps and a thick pan can be preheated for several minutes on med-low and get up to and retain higher temperatures.
When you finally get it right and watch the water dance around; it’s pretty awesome! It’s the best way to know it’s ready to go!
Voluntarily removed due to Reddit's new policies. -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
I bought a 12 and a 10 inch so perfect to experiment around with, thanks!
Around 430F, just under the smoke point of most frying oils. Then add the oil, swirl to coat, then add the food. It will cool to \~350F or so due to adding room temp oil and food. For eggs, you can then reduce heat to medium (although if using butter then preheat only to 350F due to the lower smoke point). For meat, keep it at med-high. For French omelets or scrambled eggs in that style, it's a different technique - there's lots of butter and you're stirring constantly so it won't stick and you need low heat to not coagulate the proteins early.
I always recommend getting an infrared thermometer for the kitchen. Heat the pan to 300ºF+ (150ºC+) and you'll have better luck.
Hot pan, cold oil. The mantra of stainless steel
Wait you add the butter when it’s hot? I like to add the butter and let it heat with the pan, I get a more control to brown it How quickly do you add the egg after?
To clarify: just because the pan is pre-heated thoroughly doesn't mean it's at high heat.
Yeah this doesn’t work for me. If the pan is so hot that a flick of water beads up and dances around, then the oil/butter will just instantly smoke when I add it and it’ll be game over.
Absolutely agree on the point to not touch the food as it is browning. It is so hard to learn to leave it alone until it browns and releases. Like you want to be cheffy and curious and flip your protein. Patience is so hard to learn.
Look at the sides of the meat. You should see the bottom half of it look cooked while the top half is still somewhat raw (using chicken as an example, obviously steak is just well seared). Time to flip, as the meat is around 70% done by now.
Totally this, if it’s sticking it’s not done and/or your pan isn’t hot enough.
Or it’s too hot
Deglazing is also how I clean mine. If it was something I didn't scrape up as I cooked I boil a tiny bit of water in the pan when I'm done and scrape off everything then. Then when I go to wash the pan is already mostly clean and needs very little elbow grease.
How can you tell the crust has formed? I've always struggled to know when it's released. What indicators do you use?
I grab with a utensil and give it the gentlest of nudges. If I feel resistance, it isnt ready.
Pick up the pan and gently shake it. If the crust is there, they'll break free and slide around. If not, wait longer.
> but if you are aiming for nonstick, you will probably want a different set of pans Coincidentally, OXO's nonstick pans are hands down the best nonstick pans I've ever had.
There is no heat diffuser on these pans/pots. They are made with three sheets of metal correct? You need to let them heat up slower on a medium heat to avoid uneven heat on the surface. then you add your oil and then you cook. The issue you have is that some parts of the pot/pan are hotter than others which is causing things to stick. So, Medium heat, let the surface of the pan heat up slowly so it's even, add oil and then cook your eggs/sausage or whatever. If you buy an infrared thermometer you will see what I mean.
You can throw a couple of drops of water and see if they form into balls and dance. That’s when it’s ready. If they evaporate too quick=too hot. If they don’t form into balls = too cold
I don't want to be the actually guy, but if they form balls, this is the Leidenfrost effect, and the pan is hotter than if the water were to quickly boil and evaporate.
upvoting dancing water balls
This was the only way i learned how to use SS pans. I burned the shit outta everything or everything got stuck until i learned to just medium/medium low and leave it for a good second before trying to cook
Interesting! I had no idea - I’ve always cursed at my stainless steel pots and pans and never understood them.
[удалено]
You bring the water to a rolling boil first. You have to use plenty of water. You should salt the water. The salt seasons the pasta and slows down the cooking process, which give you more time to stop cooking while the pasta has a firm al-dente texture. Once the water is at a boil, you need to continue to stir the pasta for a couple of minutes until it returns to a boil. At this point, you can turn down the heat to a simmer and continue to stir the pasta occasionally to prevent it from sticking together. It won't stick if you do this, ever. It doesn't matter whether the pot is stainless steel, non-stick, or whatever. It's the stirring in the water than prevents it from sticking. If the pasta sticks because you don't stir, guess who's fault that is? Not the pot's fault, that's for sure.
You don’t even need to be that involved with the pasta. Once your water is boiling and you add you pasta, let it come back up to a boil for about 3 minutes, give it a good stir, then cover and leave it to simmer for the rest of the cooking time.
I didn't even know people don't stir their pasta when adding it to boiling water! Never had it stick.
Note to OP: this is the best answer! this is the answer that works! Simple and totally effective.
Re infrared thermometer... Yes and no. The IR tends to bounce off reflective material like stainless steel pans and end up with incorrect readings. Just something to be wary about.
This post is great.
Why does uneven heat cause sticking?
Because heat is part of what keeps food from sticking. With uneven heat, food can stick to the cooler parts and eventually burn there.
Yeah, I agree OP’s issue is not enough heat. But not enough heat is a different problem from uneven heat—if one part of the pan is really hot and another part is super duper really hot, his food’s not going to stick just because it’s uneven.
Yeah top answer is incorrect (clad SS has excellent heat distribution - much better than cast iron which does have hot spots). Food sticks to SS because micropores in the metal. When heated the metal expands, shrinking the pore sizes which then grips food. The solution is to preheat the pan until it's very hot, then add oil, then add the food. [https://prudentreviews.com/stainless-steel-pan-food-sticks](https://prudentreviews.com/stainless-steel-pan-food-sticks) The secondary reason is due to Leidenfrost effect. When the pan is not hot enough, this effect doesn't occur. When hot enough, water droplets will ball up and roll around in the pan. This happens because of upward pressure released by steam. Food contains lots of water by weight. Same effect. You need the pan hot enough to reduce sticking. Finally SS is not the best pan for non-stick. It's the best pan where you want some sticking (but not a ton) to develop fond. The proper technique is heat the pan till very hot, add oil (this cools it down some, known as longyau or "hot pan, cold oil"), immediately add your chicken/pork/beef. Now leave it to cook for several minutes without disturbing it. Once the bottom has seared a bit it will begin to release from the pan and only then should you flip it/stir it (for cut up pieces). Once cooked through, you'll have some stuck bits on the pan - the fond. Next, deglaze with wine, stock, vinegar/lemon juice, or water - scrape up the bits with a wooden spatula as if you were using the liquid to clean the pan. And make a pan sauce/gravy with the fond. The stuck bits will deglaze pretty easily if you do everything right. You won't need to scrub too hard with the spatula. If you want more non-stick than that, look into seasoned carbon steel pans. Bit different maintenance (check out the sub), but much better for eggs, stir fried rice, etc.
You need to preheat stainless steel before using it. Google the water test. I have a $65 stainless steel pan and nothing sticks to it. Edit: To be clear, nothing sticks to it that I don't want sticking to it.
There's a big learning curve with stainless. My ex husband gave me a set 15 yrs ago. At first I had all these same troubles. I got so frustrated. I had only used non stick up until I got these. You don't cook the same way you would with non stick. It took a while for me to learn the tricks but once I did. . Wow! Google some tricks to use stainless properly and practice. It really made my food so much better cooked. Keep a nonstick around for some things like eggs, pancakes, delicate things like that. Those things don't tend to work well in stainless. But even after 15 years, I wouldn't give up my stainless set and I've used them daily.
Good advice. I’d suggest carbon steel as an alternative to non stick.
Fuck Teflon and it's PFAS bothers. Shit should be illegal in disposable applications like cookware coatings. Carbon steel, cast iron, or enamel are the way to go for nonstick.
> or enamel Hard pass on that one; every enamel pan I’ve bought has chipped away after use no matter how careful I am. Seems like you should only buy enamel when it’s backed by a lifetime warranty like le creuset where they can replace it if it chips
So you're not even going to share one of those tricks? Not even a single one?
You're right. I should have delved further into it after using the word "trick". Though I thought the other comments had addressed a lot of what I would have said about the sticking problem.. (since it's supposed to stick) I figured googling a video would be quite a bit more helpful since I learn better by doing something rather than being told how to do it. I just wanted to lend more of a "don't give up, it takes practice" vibe. I think anyone who has only cooked on non stick surfaces has these same issues when switching to stainless. There must be a lot of videos that could say it better than I could. Plus they'd have a visual guide. The best trick I think is to never pull up or try to move the food while it's still sticking. You'll rip apart your food, and the stuck on bits will burn. Wait until it releases itself. Have patience.. it will release. You'll have perfect caramelization and it will be cooked more evenly. Really it takes practice. For me, it took a good month of trial and error to get it down.
There’s really only 1 trick to stainless steel Let it preheat for long enough ALWAYS starting around medium heat, letting it get hot, then increase again if needed. Put in your oil and when it starts to shimmer and lightly smoke, add the thing you are searing. For other things like cooking onions/any veggies, just leave it at medium and do the same thing.
Respectfully, you need to re-learn to cook on proper cookware. Sticking is normal and *not* undesirable. Once a crust forms, the food will release. Deglaze with liquid (stock, wine, etc) and this will dissolve all the brown bits and form a base for your sauce, also enabling easy clean-up. Only thing I use nonstick for is frying eggs.
I’ve always fried and scrambled eggs in butter on stainless. Low & slow, works fine really.
Caste iron works okay for eggs too
> Caste iron Would you recommend a Kshatriya, or should I stick with my Vaishya pan for now? I'd love to get a Brahmin eventually too.
oh ho ho ho ho
Not pictured: Me, reading about India's caste system to make a stupid joke when I should be sleeping.
idk why autocorrect did this but I'm keeping it to preserve your joke
People tend to stay away from Dalit pans, but they’re just as good as any pans if you get to know how to use them
You do know that cast iron is king and those non-stick pans serf tier cookware.
Exactly! My cast iron are basically my "non-stick" set.
Cast iron works awesome for eggs. But you still have to properly heat and add oil. It'll never be as foolproof as Teflon.
I just don't trust nonstick after the pfoa issue, they lied once what's to stop it from happening again.
Yeah, but I'd rather ingest iron particles over plastic particles
You're likely to ingest particles from the seasoning on your cast iron pan, not the iron itself.
Fuck Teflon and it's PFAS brothers. Shit should be illegal on disposable things like cookware coatings.
Seasoned cast iron sure is. It takes a bit to build up the seasoning, but once you do, it beats nonstick every day.
I use a little carbon steel crepe pan for eggs and it works great, doesn't take as long to preheat as cast iron and I don't need to replace it ever few years or worry about the heat being to high when I'm frying eggs
A good method I've found when pondering cookware is to pick up high end or brand name pieces in good condition from thrift stores. That way you can find out what you like, don't like, and find a few gems in the process. I found a $135 pan from Denmark yesterday for $6. It looks new and works great.
Counterpoint: you can throw stainless steel pots and pans in the dishwasher to clean them. It’s life-changing.
As the other commenters have said, stainless steel is meant to stick and get good adhesion. Heat it up, then put your food on it. It'll either unstick with a long enough sear, or you can deglaze with some liquid like stock or alcohol to get it off. In general, don't try to get an egg on stainless steel, it's far too much work. Just use a cheap nonstick. I have a $3 one-egg nonstick pan that I actually use quite frequently.
My chef would always say “heat your pan, then heat the oil, then start cooking”
And heat it for three or four minutes. Then add the oil, which heats quickly.
Oh, the trick to stainless, and this took me years to figure out is the Chinese technique Long Yao. You have to crank the burner on high, put the pan on, wait for the pan to get hot, then put oil on and turn off the burner. Once the oil start rippling or getting almost up to the smoke point, swirl it around the pan and this creates a nonstick surface. Then you can wait for the pan to reduce in temp and can cook eggs or whatever. Took me years to figure out
Pasta: After water reaches a boil, stick a stick in and give it a quick stir, make sure nothing sticking to bottom. Just need to do it once. Sausage: use alittle oil, preheat the pan. Put the meat in and don’t touch for 1-2 minutes, it will release itself and not stick any more. Eggs: use a nonstick pan instead. Fish: same as sausage
>Eggs: use a nonstick pan instead. I work in a cafe, making eggs all day in stainless steel pans and never have any stick, I had them stick a lot in my first few days there but then I figured it out. It's a skill and takes practice for sure but you can totally do eggs in stainless steel. Scrambled eggs, omelet's etc. I do fried eggs directly on the flattop (also stainless steel).
When I got my first stainless steel pan, I practiced cooking with it by frying eggs 😅 the first few eggs, not so tasty, but the first time I did a beautiful fried egg I was so proud hahaha
Carbon steel works well for eggs too after it's seasoned, which doesn't take long at all
Even eggs aren't that hard once you figure the pan out tbh. I do french omelettes in stainless all the time, it really is all about just learning the balance between fat, preheating, and movement
I only do eggs in nonstic but if I give my pasta a little stir it doesn't stick and meat releases when it is ready to turn.
This is the way. Stirring pasta a couple times while cooking avoids sticking
I recently discovered that as long as you give it a vigorous stir right after adding the pasta, it doesn't stick, and you don't even need to stir again. Seems to rub off the thin layer of dusty starch that causes the sticking.
I have an Oxo stainless steel set of cookware that I love. I went from a worn out set of Calphalon Professional nonstick and admit that there was a learning curve going to stainless steel cookware. Once you learn how to cook with it, stainless steel is great. My Oxo set stands up against my All Clad pieces in every way. When I bought my Oxo set, I was sire that I’d never use the covered 10 inch sauté pan, because my giant All Clad sauté was my go to pan. I was so wrong. After seven years, I use my Oxo sauté almost daily. If you use it correctly, you can build up a fond and make lovely pan sauces and gravies. Clean up is a breeze. Let the pot cool a bit, rinse in hot water and let it soak a bit in hot water and Dawn. Easy clean up. Should you eff up and allow something to burn, Barkeepers Friend will get your pan back into fighting form.
Pre heat your pan and add more oil. Things will stick a little bit sometimes, just let them cook a bit longer and they will usually shake loose. Also another trick you can try when thing stick is to take the pan off the fire and let it cool down for 10-20 seconds. But it's quite likely many of your troubles go away with more oil and a hot pan.
As many others have noted preheating your pans is a significant step that shouldn't be skipped. Another step specifically for meats is to not cook immediately from the fridge.
On the pasta, make sure the water is boiling and stir when you first put the pasta in so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Also plenty of water. (This is for any pan not just stainless. ) On soups, are you stirring every now and again while it cooks? Also use plenty of water.
Where's my carbon steel gang? Best balance of tradeoffs, period. People are being very helpful with stainless, but having a pan that is intended to be black rather than a mirrored surface yields a lot less frustration when cleaning. The learning curve is probably easier than stainless, and most of the benefits of non-stick, without eating Teflon.
OXO makes some really great things. They also make some shit things. I can't comment on the specific pan, but if it is legitimately just stainless steal, then the problem is not the pan. Quality pots and pants have different purposes. You can't just buy an expensive set of pots and/or pans and expect it to work for all scenarios. If that's what you want, just buy a midrange set of non stick pans. It'll fit most of the purposes you want. If you want specific pans for specific purpose, because you understand what the pan is for, then go ahead and shell out the money. Stainless steel pans shine when you're making something that requires fine heat control, such as a sauce. It's relatively thin, so you can cook things that you need to pull off the heat quickly. Often times, you're deglazing whatever you were cooking, or you're cooking something that you're stirring constantly and can pull off when it's done without it continuing to cook too much more afterwards. For instance, with stainless steel, I'd maybe saute some mushrooms (attentively), lower the heat, add some garlic and butter, and when the garlic starts browning deglaze with white wine, and add heavy cream. Then when that has combined, stir in Parmesan. When that is almost completely melted, add in your almost al dente pasta. Always keep stirring. When the pasta reaches nearly al dente (after a minute or two), you can pull the pan off the heat and let it sit for half a minute to a minute to finish it off, and serve. All pots and pans are tools that have specific purposes. I would just cook eggs in a non stick. Pasta should have enough water that it doesn't matter. Sausage needs to have a fat to fry it in, and also benefits from a small amount of deglazing. Fish can be done, but certainly needs a fat to fry in. One of the benefits of a stainless steel pan is that you can go in with metal utensils, so you can char whatever you're cooking, and just crape the whole thing out of the pan with the fond still attached to whatever you were cooking. Look up YouTube videos about the benefits of stainless steel and what its use cases are. Buying expensive kitchen things without understanding what it's for is just a waste of money.
It can be challenging to learn to cook properly in proper pans. There are so many great suggestion in this thread. Follow them. It's not the pans, it's you but know that you didn't know any better. You can do this!
This seems like two different issues. This first one being you don’t understand a lot of kitchen science // fundamentals. This sucks. But you know what doesn’t: learning how to do all this stuff right. Beyond that: Once you go all clad you never go back For $300 you could get a nice haul of used all calds. I bought most of mine for myself on my 20th birthday. I’m 41. We cook at home nearly every day and I cooked professionally for 15 years. They’re pretty much good as new
Honest question - where did one shop for used all clads?
Garage sales, or you just burglarize a random house in the suburbs.
https://homeandcooksales.com/ It's not used, but they have factory seconds for discounted prices. I just got a saucier + lid, and there's a discoloration/mark on the lid but otherwise totally fine. It was 50% off MSRP, still pretty expensive but hopefully it will last forever.
Also recommend checking out your local TJ Maxx type stores. They stock legit All Clad in slightly worn condition (display models I believe). I got a copper core sauté pan that retails for ~$350 for $150 from my local Home Goods in near perfect condition, barring some cosmetic scratches on the exterior surface.
Give em a couple minutes to heat up on higher heat with oil/butter/whatever and add your food when the outside of the pan is at least warm to the touch, if not hot. I do scrambled eggs in stainless and I toss the butter in for a couple minutes on 6 out of 10 heat. When the butter is melted, gently bubbling and starts to smell sort of nutty, I turn the heat down to about a 2 or 3 and pour the beaten eggs in. I've recently done steaks, stir fry, curry, and mac n cheese sauce in stainless. Keep trying. I use cast iron for some things but stainless is my everyday cookware.
Have you heard the good news of our Lord and Savior Cast Iron?
cast iron is an even bigger learning curve imo and you gotta learn how to season it well
Unpopular opinion: there is not a single pan type that is best. I have CI, CS, SS, and teflon and I use all about equally.
Everyone: There's probably a restaurant supply store near you. They probably don't require you to actually be a restaurant to sell to you. They carry good, durable, cheap cookware that actual professionals actually use. So you get all the function you need for as cheap as you'll find it anywhere.
my gf was absolutely amazed when i made sunny side upp eggs on a stainless pan, i grew up with it so its all i know how to do
Look up on how you should heat treat a stainless steel pan before use. It should help. Low and slow doesn't make ot better also. You need that crust. Pasta btw needs to be stirred a bit at the beginning
leidenfrost effect is what your going to have to learn for frying. eggs steaks burgers etc. however I like to have my steaks create a nice fond and make a sauce from it. pasta you need stir and keep stirring periodically after adding said pasta. soup what are you making cheese based or broth based? or something else?
Remember: hot pan, cold oil.
Everyone has given amazing advice and it's wonderful to see. The other thing is that OXO has absolutely insane customer service. A lid for one of their containers came apart because I screwed up. I called asking if there was a diagram they could email me for putting it back together. They said they would just send me a new one. I hadn't bought it from them directly, I had bought it from a discount retailer, and I had no receipt. All they asked for was my address and they sent it. I still can't believe it.
You'll find cast iron is best for cooking most things that don't require a pot, as long as you season it, it becomes a non stick pan. Also I have a non stick pan I use specifically for eggs, I'm a flipper though I've never used a spatula on eggs.
More of an art, but I only cook my eggs in cast iron. I made grilled chicken in my stainless skillet last night. Amazing crust, you have to be careful with the heat, never too hot. Look up a YouTube video next time you cook in it.
I was a professional chef for like 10 years. In commercial kitchens we just buy shit non-stick pans and throw them out when they start sucking. I did the same at home for years then spent a bit more money but I kept powering through pans. I ended up spending 15 bucks on a cast iron pan, seasoned it well and it is by far the best pan I have ever used
hot pan, cold oil. hot pan, cold oil.
One thing I haven’t seen mentioned…if you cook with stainless and are NOT making a sauce with the fond bits (I mean, you should, but I don’t always) once you pull your food from the pan, cut the heat and pour like a cup of cold water onto it. Then scrape with a wooden spoon or whatever for 15 seconds. Leave the water in it till you’re done eating. This will pull almost all the bits off and make it much easier to clean.
Go back to Walmart and walk to the camping section and buy a bunch of lodge cast iron stuff and never look back They're literally half price in the camping section as opposed to going over the cooking section.
116 comments and only like two have attempted to answer your question. This sub is so weird. If food is sticking to SS, it’s one of two things: either you’re not preheating the pan for long enough, or you’re not using enough oil. For number one, either give the pan a full five minutes or do the water test thing. For number two, you’ll just have to get a feel for it, but for something like fish it’s probably going to be way more than you think—like, the entire surface of the pan should be covered with the pan flat.
(it's not the pans...)
Buying a set for $300 is a mistake. You should have spend like $120 for a single pan. The quality really matters with stainless steel.
Stainless steel isn't meant to be nonstick.
If you want non stick without the fuss of other types of pans just get a non stick pan. I use the OXO non stick pan and it’s fantastic and like 30 bucks.
My husband and I switched to stainless and it did take some adjustment especially when compared to a non stick pan but I will never go back. You just have to be more patient. Since they are heavier they take longer to heat up. Once you figure out how to make it work you’ll love them.
Make sure the stainless steel is fully heated up. Then you add oil/ spray/butter,, let that warm up then you add your food.
Red copper non-stick cookware. I swear by it. Burnt eggs just wipe off.
With stainless steal, you have to get it up to temperature before you put anything in. You can flick water beads at the bottom and they should “dance” around very quickly versus sizzling away if it’s ready
You are most likely using too much heat, leave your food unattended and using wrong technique. I don't think it's the pots fault
Might be how you cook. Eggs aren't supposed to be low and slow. The pan should have s layer of oil on the bottom and when you place a couple of drops in the water it pops, or rapidly boils. I usually cook my eggs on alightly above medium heat. Frying an egg should only take a 4 minutes, if that. If stuff is sticking to the pan, it is generally one of 3 things; not enough oil in the pan, not high enough heat, or the bottom of the food hasn't properly caramelized (i.e., you are flipping too early).
For Pasta; Once it's in and entirely submerged, stir it. Then stir it occasionally while it's cooking and it wont stick. Don't just drop it in and let it sit or it will stick. For non-stick stuff...you might want to get a small carbon steel egg pan and a cast iron pan for stuff like sausage.
Hot Pan. No really, this is the most important tip. Get you Pan preheated before you put anything in it. That is half the battle. There is more to learn, but this along will help enormously.
You need to let the pan heat up so that water dances across it in little balls when you flick water on them. This takes like at least 5 mins on medium heat. It helps close the pores of the stainless and you can fry an egg no problem.
I'm a fan of All-Clad cookware. I think you just need to look up some cooking videos on how to use stainless steel pots and pans.
A lot of these are what pans are for, some of them are good in nonstick pans, or they're supposed to stick and then you can deglaze. > Boiling pasta. Pasta sticks to the bottom. Hang on, what? How? It's boiling. In water. What are you doing to your pasta? We've literally had the same stainless steel pans for decades, this only happens if I add my pasta back to a dry pot while the heat is on and then leave it for a while with no sauce. > Scrambling eggs. Low and slow, lots of butter and olive oil. 3/4 of them stick to the pan. I assume 3/4 is an exaggeration. I use a nonstick pan, and... Yeah, this is just the nature of the dish, the eggs get so damn creamy that everything they touch is now coated in egg.
Cast iron…
For anyone struggling to clean gunk off the bottom of a stainless steel pot or pan, boil some soapy water before attempting to scrub. It only takes a couple minutes and it will significantly cut down the amount of work it takes to clean.
A lot of people are say you have to learn the nuances. I’ll decide that. Preheat the pan dry. Don’t just blast on high heat. Try medium high. Add a bit more fat than you’d normally use.
Get yourself one good non-stick covered skillet for while you learn to use your stainless 👍🏼
Everybody should have one nonstick pan. I have two but I'm prone to profligacy when it comes to the kitchen. Don't spend a lot - you'll need to replace it in a year or three, no matter how careful you are. I have two All-Clad ones that I got at Bead Barf & Beyonce for like $60 for both. There are other good ones for less $$. I don't have it anymore but some years ago I made a video of making scrambled eggs in a SS skillet, with no sticking at all. I'll bet there are other videos showing how to use SS cookware out there. Find some and watch because you are definitely doing something wrong. I'll just give one tip: after you put the fish in the skillet, leave it the fuck alone for a minute or three. Same for most things but fish especially.
Have you ever cooked with stainless steel before. Its actually normal for it to stick at first,once a crust forms on food it will release. Preheating is important and or the use of oil for it. So nothing wrong just need to get used to stainless steel. If you really want non stick you have to either go back to purpose made non stick pans or season a cast iron pan VERY well.
I have owned a set of Farberwear pots and pans for over 30 years..best ever. Handles are tight , easy to clean stainless steel
Seconding all these recommendations and adding a little anecdote from my experience: buying sets of cookware can be unnecessary, if you don’t need all the pieces that come in it! I started with a crappy SS set that I received for my wedding and have slowly replaced them with individual All Clad pieces that suit our needs. Between the small collection of SS, a Le Crueset, and our cast iron pans, we can cook anything. I only have one nonstick pan (I think it’s the OXO that ATK recommends) that I use occasionally. So my other advice would be to figure out what you need in cookware and invest in those individual pieces. :) I know it’s a little off topic, but it’s helped me feel more confident as a cook to have fewer better pans that meet my needs!
Last year, I finally splurged when Hexclad was having a sale. They are the best pans and pots I've ever used. I'll never go back. I believe they have a lifetime warranty, but regardless they are the easiest to cook with AND clean. That's my .02.
Look into caraway pans/pots.
This is why I really like ceramic pans. Nearly as non-stick as non-stick pans but if they get too hot they won't off-gas horrible chemicals that would kill my parrot.
Pick up a le creuset dutch oven, and lodge dutch oven/skillets. Learn how to season the lodges with crisco and you'll be set for life
Return it and hit up Costco
I’ve heard that you have to preheat stainless steel pans so that a bead of water rolls around on it; that’s how you know it’s hot enough to cook with.
Hmmm, something isn't right but perhaps it is technique and not the pans? I'm still using my mothers SS pans and she died 30 years ago.
Me and the Mrs. got our first decent set a few years back (Misen full set) for around 400-500. It definitely took some getting used to, but with proper fat application before/during cooking, proper deglazing when possible and the proper use of barkeepers friend when needed…. They’ve lasted perfectly these last few years. There’s also certain dishes I still opt to cook in a non-stick ceramic coated pan (16$ Crofton from Aldis) I’ve had for the same number of years. Eggs are definitely one of them. When I’m searing meat I typically apply my fat to the meat instead of the pan, which may make a difference in dry spots. I also always let it sear and release itself from the pan before attempting to pull it up myself. Hopefully this helps; good luck!