HOW TO MAKE STAINLESS STEEL PANS NONSTICK | Cooking Eggs w/ NO Sticking | 'Leidenfrost Effect' Trick

No seasoning required! Nonstick cookware companies don't want you to know this trick. Heating a pan properly is the easiest way to cook eggs on stainless steel cookware without sticking, and allows us to ditch the toxic nonstick" cookware that rarely lasts more than a couple years, anyway. Since learning this technique, I'm never going back to nonstick pans again. We're not professionals or experts on this topic, so we always recommend getting advice from the pros before attempting yourself. More resources below!

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0:00-2:08 - Intro & Ingredients
2:09-4:12 - The "Mercury" Test
4:13-6:49 - Scrambling
6:50-8:15 - Result + Resources

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[findsharon]

Other videos only show how the water looks when it's the correct temp. This is the only video I've seen that also shows what it looks like when it's too hot or not hot enough. Very helpful.

[martin]

As an engineer I wanted to bring this method into the 21st century and have the perfect tool to do so, an infrared thermometer. You can get this mercury ball effect with a pan temperature from ~160F to ~230F. Anything below 160 pan temp and the water just evaporates on contact anything above 230 it will “explode” into little balls and evaporate quickly. So there isn’t really a magic temp but rather a magic temp range. Keep in mind anything u put into a pan will cool it off so u will want to be at this higher range. I think this method works because food has water in it and if u can get this water to ball up it kind of helps it glide on the surface?

[pkarowic]

Nice video. I used a 8 inch stainless steel 3 ply pan to make scrambled eggs this morning. Following the water test you did showed the temperature to be 150 degrees using a heat gun. I also turned on the stove to just below medium heat which took it about 3 minutes to get to the 150 degrees. Just wanted to share what I found. The eggs came out great. Thanks for sharing.

[davegordon]

Best demonstration of the mercury test I’ve seen

[heidiw]

Mind. Blown. Wow. Thank you so much... I was about to cave and buy coated pans again for my omelettes! I couldn't figure out why some mornings my egg omelettes would turn out great and the next day they would turn into an "unintentional" scramble. I have eggs every day. This is an incredible piece of knowledge to have. Thanks again!

[hubster]

Bought my first stainless steel pan, made in 10 inch. After watching numerous videos on preheating, mercury water test, it's almost anticlimactic! Frying, scrambled, omelets are no problem! Never sticks! Thanks for the video help!

[romanboiarskyi]

When the butter gets brown, it means that it’s a little too hot and it’s starting to burn, which is actually not very good for you. To prevent butter from burning, drizzle a bit of olive oil (or any other oil you like) and add the butter to a pan after that. Once mixed, your butter will be able to sustain higher temperature without burning up.
Good cooking:)

[grkuntzmd]

To avoid the brown butter, you might try clarified butter (ghee) instead. The milk solids are the part that burn at relatively low temperature.

[alibaba-oqbt]

So a good trick with a pan like that to make the perfect scramble. Is to turn your oven on to about 400, put the pan in it, dry. Get it good and hot. 20 mins or so. Take it out and put the butter in and pour the eggs in, the sides will be hot just like the bottom. You don’t even need the burner at all. Then literally push the sides of the eggs to the center. Done.

2 other tips, your pan is way to small, that’s a one fried egg sized pan, or a small sauté pan. You want as much space in the pan left as what ever is taking up room. At least when it comes to frying or sautéing. Or scrambling.

Also, don’t manipulate your eggs that much. Never stir them. You only need to push them around a little bit. The result will be one beautifully formed scramble. And there won’t be seperate pieces or stringy bits.

These are tips to make the perfect egg, from a long time chef. Enjoy.

[PB-cxnz]

Love the small comments and tips throughout the video! I am going to go back to the kitchen and be brave with my steel pan again. Wish me luck ❤️ and thank you for sharing this video

[jerrymeetsworld]

Excellent demo, thank you! I've been cooking with nonstick and cast iron most of my life and recently started using stainless and was wondering how to prevent eggs from sticking. I took a glance at Wikipedia and it looks like the Leidenfrost effect occurs at 379°F, which would be about Med to Med-High on most stoves. Thanks again!

[alf.quijano]

Thank you so much for this video. This is the best video of the water test that I’ve seen because you also included what it looks like when it’s too hot. Much appreciated!

[gorringeman]

You could use an infra red thermometer to get to the right heat once you know what the water bubbles at

[fredfredricj.lowecfp-tm]

Thank you for doing this video!

I sold waterless cookware back in the early 70s and the only issue I ever had was scrambled eggs sticking to the bottom of the pan.

As a result, I gravitated towards using a non stick pan to scramble eggs.

But now, I am going to try your incredibly easy fix for this!

Makes perfect chemistry sense as to why too.

Keep up the amazing work!

[rachelkrumenauer]

Thank you for this thorough explanation of the Water Test. I watched this video because I'm buying some stainless steel pans at a restaurant supply store tomorrow and wanted to be sure I wasn't going to regret my purchase. I made the rest of the family watch, too, so they'd know when the pan is at the right temperature. I'm a teacher and I appreciate your teaching style.

[jones]

Hey, it WORKED!!! I've been trying to figure this out for friggin YEARS, and you are the one who straightened me out, Thank You! I did the water test, heated the pan (way hotter than I thought I should), and your fix totally worked!! Thank you, thank you!!!

[Aprons.Overalls]

Thank you so much for this video, Kathleen! We FINALLY ditched our toxic non-stick pans and got a stainless steel set. In part because of this video and giving us the confidence to cook with them. We made eggs as the very first dish, followed all your steps and it worked flawlessly! Feel good knowing you helped improve our family's health!

[DS-pyus]

This worked! I have almost given up making scrambled eggs because of the sticking, but now I can enjoy scrambled eggs without the sticking and messy skillet.
Thank you for sharing.

[mikesimek]

Great video, I watched about 20 other ones but yours is the first I found that showed all the different stages of heat so I could know if my pan was too hot or too cold. Thanks!

[sharlesb]

Thanks for sharing this, I only use stainless cookware but have never known how to make it non stick, sometimes I've fluked it but now i can water test😊