If you’ve moved to stainless steel cookware from non-stick, you might be asking yourself what you’ve done.
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Before you throw in your tea towel and bring back your former cookware, there are some things you need to know about using stainless steel cookware.
This was the case for Brooke, the backyard gardener on Instagram. She says she switched to stainless steel cookware but soon regretted it because her food was sticking to the pan.
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“Two years ago, I ditched all non-stick cookware for several reasons,” she says in an Instagram post. The main reasons being that it’s more affordable.
“I’m not going to lie. I hated it when I first switched,” she says. “Everything stuck even if I added a pound of butter and a cup of oil. It all just stuck.”
It turns out there was nothing wrong with her stainless steel pans. She just didn’t know how to use them properly – yet!
Why is my food sticking to a stainless steel pan?
Everything will make sense once you understand how a stainless steel pan works. Stainless steel pans have pores that react to temperature. As the pan heats up, these pores shrink. As the pan cools down, they expand again.
The contracting of the pores makes your food stick to the pan. Temperature control is key to avoiding food sticking to your pan, making preheating your pan essential before cooking anything.
How to use a stainless steel pan so food doesn’t stick
- The first step is the preheat your pan on low-medium heat before adding any oil.
- Next, Brooke says she does the water test to find out if the pan is hot enough to start cooking. “Sprinkle some water on the skillet. If it evaporates right away, it’s not ready yet. Once the water dances around the skillet in little droplets, IT’S READY!” she says.
- Add oil to the pan.
- Cook your food.
Temperature control
If your food is still sticking to the pan, again, it comes down to temperature control.
The Heritage Steel website says as tempting as it might be to flip your protein straight away, the Heritage Steel website says “to wait to flip until the food naturally releases from the pan.”
“Any large piece of meat, even if at room temperature, will change the surface temperature of the pan when added.
“Upon adding the food, the surface pores will widen because of the lowered temperature. As the pan comes back to temperature, the narrowing pores will grip the food on the pan, making it stick.
“Once the pan comes fully back to temperature, it will pinch off the small bits of food it was gripping, and the meat will release from the pan. Now you can flip!”
So there you have it. The secret to cooking with stainless steel is to preheat your pan first.
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