How To Properly Use A Stainless Steel Pan and Avoid Food Sticking | Tips For Clean up and Sticking

In this video, I'm going to share the essentials and fundamentals of stainless steel cooking including how to use your skillet correctly to make it non-stick. I'll also share the most common mistakes new owners make and how to avoid them including the best ways to clean a sticky mess. The biggest complaint most new stainless steel pan owners have with their pan is food sticking and having to scrub the pan clean.

Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:31 - Background
2:20 - All-Clad 3 Ply Stainless Steel Skillets
3:55 - Common Mistake - Buying Bad Quality Skillets
8:41 - Common Mistake - Temperature Control
12:31 - Common Mistake - Add Enough Oil/Fat
13:30 - Common Mistake - Allow Food to Release
15:24 - Cooking Scrambled Eggs
18:52 - B-Roll- The Non-Stick Test
20:19 - How To Clean Up A Really Sticky Mess
22:16- Final Thoughts- Should You Buy One?

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[BigPeter]

You can find the perfect temperature using the Leidenfrost Effect. Droplets of water on a bare pan: if it sizzles and evaporates in place, too cold. If the water breaks up into a bunch of beads, too hot. If the water sticks together and dances around the pan, perfect. Add oil then and give it about 30 seconds to come up to temp and you have a non-stick surface.

[marianocolangelo]

I am not a good cook, I have little to no ingredients at home, I watched like two tutorials on stainless steel pans, heard they were good, went out and bought a really cheap one, the one he says not to buy. THIS THING CHANGED MY LIFE.
I'm a really lazy dude, so much I found myself mostly eating plain pasta or rice and ordering food, because it was fast and I didn't have to do much dishes after. Now I make everything on the stainless steel pan. Everything. Do I know what I'm doing? No. Do I use it the right way? Probably not. Do I like eating the food I make? Absolutely YES. I takes me less time to cook, the are less dishes and the food is way better than before. So much so, I started watching this kind of videos to learn a little bit more and use the pan properly. I really enjoy cooking now and the pan makes it work around my lazyness. So, for anyone in a similar situation I can't recommend this enough. It will be the only cookware you'll ever need

[TomJones-txpb]

Great video. Some extra points about SS pans:
1) Sometimes you will see a white mineral deposit on the pan of minerals deposited by the food (especially vegetables, like spinach). If you do not clean it off, the pan will be more prone to sticking. You can clean this off with Barman's friend or heating some diluted vinegar.
2) Stainless steel is good at resisting acids like wine vinegar, lemon juice, or tomatoes. Such items can be used with a font to make a sauce and clean the pan at the same time. Do not leave acids in contact with the pan for long periods like overnight as they can cause pitting or rust.
3) Even soft abrasive pads can put scratches in the pan when cleaning. If you want an alternative to a plastic scraper that is more durable and heat resistant you can use a wooden spatula made of bamboo.
4) When trying to work out how high to have a burner, and which burner to use you can boil water in the pan and see where the bubbles form.
It is a bad idea to have a gas burner on too high because the hot gasses can escape up the side of the pan and not heat the center enough.
5) Before putting away the pan for a long period give it an extra wash with soap and hot water. Even a thin residual fat deposit can oxidize to form an almost invisible sticky surface. When you get the pan out again you can run you finger over it to make sure it is not sticky, and clean it before cooking if it is.

[nightshadow]

My mom bought a stainless steel cooking set back in the 1970's. All one-piece items. I'm 49 and have several of those pieces and they are still in excellent shape. You'd never know they are 50-year-old pieces. They are in better shape than some of my newer additions. Stainless Steel is worth the cost.

[czmmt]

Very informative. I would like add a suggestion. Place proteins at room temp. Placing cold proteins shocks the fibers and they tighten causing sticking and can result in a tougher result.

[bertiefigueres]

I've been cooking on SS for some years now, after having got tired of needing to change my non-stick pans every few years when they wear out and start sticking. It has been a learning curve, but I think I am just about there. Here are a few tips I find useful.

1. Of course, warm up your frying pan before cooking. I use an infrared thermometer to read the temperature of my pan. Infrared thermometers do not read SS temperature accurately, but they are consistent in their inaccuracy. So I know that on my main SS frying pans, when my IR Thermometer reads 90°C, when I add the oil it will measure 180°C which is perfect for frying meats. IR Thermometers can't read temperature of SS, but surprisingly, they can read the temperature of transparent things like oil and glass.

2. Get a flexible metal fish slice. They are not just for fish. Meat often will sticks a bit to the pan, fish in particular. When that happens a fish slice, which is very thin, will allow you to tease the meat off the pan. It's an invaluable tool for me. Even with sturdier meats like steaks, sometimes they stick and when they're ready, they're ready and need to be teased away from the pan. Perhaps it happens to me more because I like my steaks fairly rare, so they don't always have time to release naturally.

3-A. I bought Bar Keeper's friend about a year ago because I heard so many good things about it. And for some things it's invaluable. But for SS, I found two alternatives that I prefer because they are not as abrasive of the pan, so won't ware out the metal, and don't contain aggressive chemicals. Normally I use gentle non-stick sponges for cleaning. However, for burnt on oil marks that build up, particularly under the pan, I use the scourer end of a normal (not non-stick) sponge. It is aggressive enough to give a good deep clean, which I don't need often.

3-B. Sometimes you also get white marks on SS from frying meats and things. Not sure what causes it, but using a bit of vinegar along with normal soap and water seems to bring the pans up to shiny new, and for some strange reason also makes them a little less sticky on the next cook????

4. When washing things up, I usually wet everything to allow the water to soften any stuck on food bits (after having used hot water to deglaze the pan as much as possible while the pan was hot). That includes giving the frying pan a soaking. I place it at the back of the wash so that the water gets a chance to soak into all those bits. When I finally get to the pan, cleaning is usually a cinch.

5. And yes, when frying eggs, use butter. I like your advice to use oil also. I tried it out to see and it seems to work very well. Thanks 👍

I hope these tips as well as the video help out those new cooks trying to get those Stainless Steel frying pans to work for them. I now love them. In particular, I love to be able to use much higher heats than I would feel comfortable with on non-stick. No max temp on stainless steel! And they work on ceramic hobs, which is often what you find in rental homes here in the UK. (I've struggled with CS because it doesn't conduct heat well, so doesn't distribute heat well from a ceramic hob, and Cast Iron is heavy and rough and will scratch your hob).

There are other tips I've learned, but these should get you pointing in the right direction.

Happy cooking!

[ievgeniiredka]

Man, you are the best! One video and I managed to cook scrambled eggs on stainless steel pan right a way with zero sticking. Just bought that All-Clad pan and never had any experience with it before. I wish you millions of subs - you deserve it!

[hawkeyeted]

Thanks to this channel, I bought a pair (10" and 12") of Misen SS skillets and have been cooking with them for about a month. The #1 tip to getting them as non-stick as possible is the pre-heat, as you mention. The Leidenfrost Effect is an absolute must. Once I got that nailed, cook and clean up is a snap, and I rarely need to add oil.

[lauralutz]

I’ve been cooking for many years & only recently learned about the importance of preheating the stainless pan & heating up the oil subsequently. Great video.

[jwestney]

I got new induction cooktop. I use it ALOT more than I used my old halogen cooktop. So now I gotta practice with my stainless, and my cast iron, and my non-stick. SO MANY POSSIBILITIES. So many meals to cook. Your video helps a lot. THANK YOU!

[knightlight]

Great tutorial, thank you! I recently traded in my non-stick cookware for stainless & it’s definitely been a learning curve although I’m really enjoying cooking with stainless. When cooking eggs stainless, I started using ghee (clarified butter) which has a very high smoking point compared to regular butter and IMO is stainless cookwares friend.

[mrdashin]

I just got a set of henckels 3 ply. Very nice, hasn't warped or anything yet. Holds heat so well.

[Kindlyone]

This is the BEST informational/ educational on the importance of heat control when cooking anything. Really. These “rules” apply no matter the quality of the pan. All my pans are high end and I have to say that does make a difference. High end cookware is a little more forgiving but the same rules apply. I wished I knew this years ago. I’m enjoying cooking now. Also, I’ve been able to cook eggs with just butter no oil perfectly. It’s in temperature control of the pan, butter and getting to know the sweet spot of your stove. I just learned this too. I’ve also learned that I’m incredibly inpatient. You have to be patient when cooking. Things can go wrong really quick. Lol. Thank you for the great video 😊

[Kindlyone]

This is the BEST informational/ educational on the importance of heat control when cooking anything. Really. These “rules” apply no matter the quality of the pan. All my pans are high end and I have to say that does make a difference. High end cookware is a little more forgiving but the same rules apply. I wished I knew this years ago. I’m enjoying cooking now. Thank you for the great video 😊

[randystover]

I have been thinking about upgrading my cookware. Even though I love a beautiful stainless pan, I have always been intimidated by stainless but you give me a whole new perspective. It's not the pan, it's the technique.
Thank you very much.

[rickbear]

Tom, I love you mentioning the "shake test" for knowing when those proteins have caramelised, indicating that your food has self-released. Otherwise, people ask, "how do I know it's self-released without [fatally] trying to move it?!!"

[jalphonso]

This may be the best and most well explained video yet on seasoning stainless steel pans.

[rjallenbach]

Thanks for this info!! I just invested in a 5 ply stainless after years with a trusty cast iron. I love the way my cast iron sears but between the heavy weight and maintenance, I'm looking forward to upping my game a bit with a new high quality pan

[danieltimonen]

Great videos! I've had good luck with disk-bottom stainless skillets that I bought from a restaurant supply store. Works great with a glass top stove, I think with gas there could be some scorching on the sides. I have one of those Ikea Sensuell skillets as well, and that works well too.

[HBSuccess]

100% perfect SS pan tips. There is a learning curve but once it clicks- your cooking goes to the next level. All-Clad rocks. Buy once cry once… USA made All-clad will literally last forever. I’m a “serious home cook” and have both their original 3-ply and the 5-ply copper core and use them daily. The copper core pans are the best I’ve ever used and are my “daily drivers.” Watch out though- All-Clad does have a cheaper line that is Chinese imported junk. Those are all anodized or non-stick not stainless.