Preheated pan, or cold pan?

[ChefJune]

I was always taught the way Kitchelf said. Hot pan, cold oil, let the oil heat and then you are ready. America's Test kitchen though says the opposite. They say to put cold oil in a cold pan and let them heat together. Their reasoning is that you can watch the oil and see when it goes from being thick and sort of sticky (when it is cold) to shimmering and very watery (when it is hot) so you will know exactly when the oil is hot enough.

The food will not know the difference. The key is that the oil needs to be hot before the food goes in.

I disagree with them. Often if you put oil in a cold pan, after it expands, you find you have too much in there. Okay, you can pour it out, but what a waste! If the oil goes into a hot pan, you can add the right amount in the first place. Besides, it keeps the contents from sticking in the pan.

I suppose everyone will continue to do it the way they like best. That's what counts, after all. Neither way will make you sick.

 

[ironchef]

This post may not make sense since I have deleted a post but hopefully bird owners will know how to properly care for their birds.

LOL KElf. You crack me up.

 

[Andy M.]

I disagree with them. Often if you put oil in a cold pan, after it expands, you find you have too much in there. Okay, you can pour it out, but what a waste! If the oil goes into a hot pan, you can add the right amount in the first place. Besides, it keeps the contents from sticking in the pan.

I suppose everyone will continue to do it the way they like best. That's what counts, after all. Neither way will make you sick.

Your issue is not with what GB said but rather that it's not possible to control how much oil is put into a cold pan?

 

[ChefJune]

I disagree with Kitchen Arts and Letters for the two reasons I stated. Not GB...

 

[Andy M.]

I understand. My fault for not making an accurate statement.

I read, in an article by Robert Wolke, that after testing, he determined that there is no difference whether you add the oil to a cold or to a hot pan as long as they are both hot before you add any food.

Being a skeptic, I tested that with an 8" tri-ply SS pan, vegetable oil and eggs. I did the hot pan cold oil then did a sunny side egg. Then I did the cold pan cold oil heated up together test and did a sunnyside up egg. Ther results were identical. In both cases the egg stuck a tiny bit in one spot and I easily freed it with a flick of the spatula.

As I often state, the food doesn't know when the oil was added to the pan, just whether or not both the pan and the oil are hot when the food is added to the pan.

Give it a try.

 

[GB]

Often if you put oil in a cold pan, after it expands, you find you have too much in there.

I was always taught that oil does not expands with temperature differences which is why oil is used in closed hydraulic systems instead of water.

 

[keltin]

I was always taught that oil does not expands with temperature differences which is why oil is used in closed hydraulic systems instead of water.

True. Oil doesn’t expand when heated but instead changes in viscosity. I think the idea of expansion comes from frying in which products that contain water are added to the oil and said water quickly boils off which can cause a boil over. It’s not that the oil expanded, but the water is rapidly being evacuated.

If there is a possibility of expansion of oil, it will be at the boiling point, which is hard to determine and is well beyond the smoke point of oil.

 

[bullseye]

I was always taught that oil does not expands with temperature differences which is why oil is used in closed hydraulic systems instead of water.

Not to put words in ChenJune's mouth, but I think she meant that, as the oil heats, it loses the tendency to "pool" and spreads out--hence expands. In closed hydraulic systems, BTW, oil is prized more for its non-compressive attributes than its thermal characteristics.

 

[GB]

Not to put words in ChenJune's mouth, but I think she meant that, as the oil heats, it loses the tendency to "pool" and spreads out--hence expands.

and this is the exact reason that ATK likes heating the oil with the pan. When it is cold the oil is sort of "sticky", but as it hits cooking temp it gets looser and more "watery" which is just one more visual clue that the oil is ready for food.

In closed hydraulic systems, BTW, oil is prized more for its non-compressive attributes than its thermal characteristics.

all liquids, as far as I understand, are non-compressive so that is not the reason that oil specifically is used. Water would be much cheaper and environmentally sound, but even though water can not be compressed, it does expand and contract which would make it a poor choice in a hydraulic system.

 

[keltin]

Not to put words in ChenJune's mouth, but I think she meant that, as the oil heats, it loses the tendency to "pool" and spreads out--hence expands.

That is actually a characteristic of viscosity not expansion. There is no increase in volume, but rather a change in "flow". Compression is another matter that isn't a factor here in the pan.

 

[bullseye]

That is actually a characteristic of viscosity not expansion. There is no increase in volume, but rather a change in "flow". Compression is another matter that isn't a factor here in the pan.

We're in agreement here, Keltin.

 

[keltin]

We're in agreement here, Keltin.

Then, as my UK friends would say, Cheers mate! Care for an ale????

 

[bullseye]

Then, as my UK friends would say, Cheers mate!

Cheers, yourself, mate! (Hoisting Guinness!)