Why does everything stick to my pans?

[Roll_Bones]

Good informative thread.

I had similar issues with my 20 year old Calphalon anodized AL pans. At first I was very disappointed and had buyers remorse.
SS was what most of my friends and what the chefs on TV used. But watching short order cooks using AL pans helped me to decide on anodized AL.
I learned the hard way what was explained in this thread.

I do disagree with Chief Longwind.
AL pans must be kept spotless just like SS. In fact the manufacturer (Calphalon) recommends using "scotch brite" pads for cleaning and there are AL cleaning pastes available for AL.
Once I learned to clean properly and cook properly on AL, my life became much easier.
A dirty AL pan is no different than a dirty SS pan. Seasoning is not required for AL or SS as cast iron is. A clean (spotless) pan is the only way to work with AL or SS.

My experience with AL is only with Calphalon anodized and the commercial saute pan like they use at Waffle house. Its the pan they make their eggs and omelet's in.

I am so glad I found this forum. And I hope my initial brashness will be excused.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I still maintain that according to my experience, seasoning makes aluminum pans much more friendly to work with, but not as pretty. These sites agree:

How to Season a Pan | Pan Seasoning Guide

Seasoning Cookware

I even season my inexpensive, and lightweight aluminum camping cookware. I'ts non-stick now. Before I seasoned it, water stuck to the pans.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Roll_Bones]

Chief. I guess everyone has an opinion.
But I am one to follow the manufactures instructions. Calphalon recommends spotless pans for limited sticking of certain foods.
Also the anodized coating helps in this regard.

The small omelet pans (6" & 8") I have are commercial grade aluminum. These pans have no instructions as to the care.
I keep them as clean as possible. I can cook eggs over easy in them with no sticking.

Now, I could give these pans to someone else, and I will guarantee, they will have issues. Sticking issues. They are used to non-stick coated pans and would be dismayed at the performance of my cookware as I was when I first started using commercial grade pans.
This is not the fault of the cookware.

I recommended Calphalon AL to my sister in law. She used them about 1/2 dozen times and gave up. She ended up offering them to me.

I am happy to have her pans and they are great. But unhappy she was unhappy.
Moral of the story.
Do not recommend commercial cookware to the novice.

BTW. All my AL pans are well worn. The anodized surface is gone. The pans are better than ever. They have evidently absorbed some cooking residue over the years and made them almost non-stick.
This does not prevent me from scrubbing them after every use.

http://housewares.about.com/lw/Food-Drink/Cooking/How-to-Care-for-Nonstick-Cookware.htm

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Chief. I guess everyone has an opinion.
But I am one to follow the manufactures instructions. Calphalon recommends spotless pans for limited sticking of certain foods.
Also the anodized coating helps in this regard.

The small omelet pans (6" & 8") I have are commercial grade aluminum. These pans have no instructions as to the care.
I keep them as clean as possible. I can cook eggs over easy in them with no sticking.

Now, I could give these pans to someone else, and I will guarantee, they will have issues. Sticking issues. They are used to non-stick coated pans and would be dismayed at the performance of my cookware as I was when I first started using commercial grade pans.
This is not the fault of the cookware.

I recommended Calphalon AL to my sister in law. She used them about 1/2 dozen times and gave up. She ended up offering them to me.

I am happy to have her pans and they are great. But unhappy she was unhappy.
Moral of the story.
Do not recommend commercial cookware to the novice.

BTW. All my AL pans are well worn. The anodized surface is gone. The pans are better than ever. They have evidently absorbed some cooking residue over the years and made them almost non-stick.
This does not prevent me from scrubbing them after every use.

How to Care for Nonstick Cookware - Caring for Non-Stick Cookware & Bakeware

Aodizing is a treatment used to harden aluminum. Only the outside surface of the pan is anodized. We anodized the aluminum parts of the U.S. Navy's DSRV's when I worked at Lockheed, to prevent salt-water corrosion. The inner surface is a non-stick plastic, or ceramic coating.

At one of our big-box stores, GFS, there are aluminum restaurant pans, bare aluminum, sold there. The instructions for these pans states that the pans must be seasoned for to work right.

Non-stick coatings are not to be seasoned. You are absolutely correct in that statement. Bare metal, on the other hand, is supposed to be seasoned.

There are foods that when put in contact with bare aluminum, such as eggs, or asparagus, will discolor. Seasoning the pan's cooking surface creates a barrier that will prevent this discoloration as well as prevent leaching of aluminum into acidic or alkali foods. Though the aluminum won't hurt you, it can give an unwanted metallic flavor.

So, why again wouldn't you want to season bare aluminum cookware?

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Mad Cook]

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this but I have noticed recently that there is lots of advice that aluminium pans shouldn't be washed in the dishwasher.

I queried this and was told it was because the detergent ....what's the word I want?....tarnishes(?), oxidises(?) the aluminium and makes it go a dull grey colour.

Well my mother's aluminium pans did that long before the arrival of domestic dishwashers so I think it must be the nature of the beast.

Not sure if the above applies to anodized aluminium.

 

[Andy M.]

The chemicals in dishwasher detergent gives unprotected aluminum a grey/black coating. It's not attractive. I don't have the same issue with dish detergent.

 

[KatyCooks]

I have SS pans which I love. They are the kind with a heavy copper bottom. But I have long ago resigned myself to the fact that meat/chicken etc will stick like mad to them. Reading this thread I was extremely sceptical that "leaving stuff alone" would be the solution to this problem, but I tried it just now (and it nearly killed me to not to get in there and start scraping!)

And it works! Amazingly, this is my saucepan after browning both bacon and then chicken pieces - no stuck bits and all ready for deglazing:

 

[53jgray]

Skittle68 - having any luck with your pans? I have the same problem, great pans, and everything seems to stick. I might not be letting my oil become hot enough. Going to attempt letting the oil become hotter . . .

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Roll-Bones; It seems that there are two distinct camps on seasoning cast aluminum pans. In addition, I learned something about hard anodized cookware. I read the Calphalon care directions. I didn't understand that the entire pan is hard anodized. I had thought that only the outside of the pan was anodized. The anodizing creates a barrier against food coming into contact with the base aluminum. This makes it self-releasing as the food comes up to the proper cooked temperature, and prevents the metal from leaching into the food.

What I was talking about is bare, untreated aluminum pans. Hence our different thoughts about proper care. The pans I had looked at were bare aluminum, professional restaurant pans. The pan instructions recommended seasoning the pans, as I had stated in earlier posts.

I am now in agreement with you about how to care for Calphalon, hard anodized cookware.

For bare aluminum cookware, season, and if camping and cooking over an open fire, soap the outside of the pan.

I guess we were both correct, and not looking hard enough at what the other was saying.

Oh, an I may have been around here since about the time the wheel was invented, but I still have so much to learn. Thanks for challenging me. I know more today than I did yesterday. Just one more thing, I do have an engineering degree, and sometimes go into much detail to prove my points. Just letting you know so that you know to prepare if we are to have such discussions. I can be taught, but you may have to go deeper than a simple sentence or two.

If I go too far off the deep end, someone, usually the mods, will reign me back in. Yeh, it's happened. I never mean to insult, and only seek to get to factual information. It's just who I am.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[tropical cooker]

And then there is this:

What is Anodizing?

My understanding of anodizing is that it is a surface coating and not an alloy.

 

[taxlady]

And then there is this:

What is Anodizing?

My understanding of anodizing is that it is a surface coating and not an alloy.

It isn't really a coating. It is the surface, but integral with the body of the aluminium pan.

 

[Roll_Bones]

Roll-Bones; It seems that there are two distinct camps on seasoning cast aluminum pans. In addition, I learned something about hard anodized cookware. I read the Calphalon care directions. I didn't understand that the entire pan is hard anodized. I had thought that only the outside of the pan was anodized. The anodizing creates a barrier against food coming into contact with the base aluminum. This makes it self-releasing as the food comes up to the proper cooked temperature, and prevents the metal from leaching into the food.

What I was talking about is bare, untreated aluminum pans. Hence our different thoughts about proper care. The pans I had looked at were bare aluminum, professional restaurant pans. The pan instructions recommended seasoning the pans, as I had stated in earlier posts.

I am now in agreement with you about how to care for Calphalon, hard anodized cookware.

For bare aluminum cookware, season, and if camping and cooking over an open fire, soap the outside of the pan.

I guess we were both correct, and not looking hard enough at what the other was saying.

Oh, an I may have been around here since about the time the wheel was invented, but I still have so much to learn. Thanks for challenging me. I know more today than I did yesterday. Just one more thing, I do have an engineering degree, and sometimes go into much detail to prove my points. Just letting you know so that you know to prepare if we are to have such discussions. I can be taught, but you may have to go deeper than a simple sentence or two.

If I go too far off the deep end, someone, usually the mods, will reign me back in. Yeh, it's happened. I never mean to insult, and only seek to get to factual information. It's just who I am.

Seeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

Chief. Thanks for the kind words. I too am very opinionated with an Electrical/Electronic/machanical background. I have held plant engineering jobs over the past 35 years. I have no degree. But I do posses a master electrician license and mechanical contracting license for my state.

I also if you read my earlier post stated that bare AL was to be treated the same as anodized and I still stand behind that.
I use bare AL as much as I do with anodized. We scrub these pans too!.
But it is the US and we are allowed to have an opinion.

I hope you did not take anything I said to be of the negative nature. I am very detailed as I am certain you are.
I expect a lot in my kitchen and expect superior results. I guess I'm just hard headed!!!!

Great to finally make your acquaintance..............John

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Chief. Thanks for the kind words. I too am very opinionated with an Electrical/Electronic/machanical background. I have held plant engineering jobs over the past 35 years. I have no degree. But I do posses a master electrician license and mechanical contracting license for my state.

I also if you read my earlier post stated that bare AL was to be treated the same as anodized and I still stand behind that.
I use bare AL as much as I do with anodized. We scrub these pans too!.
But it is the US and we are allowed to have an opinion.

I hope you did not take anything I said to be of the negative nature. I am very detailed as I am certain you are.
I expect a lot in my kitchen and expect superior results. I guess I'm just hard headed!!!!

Great to finally make your acquaintance..............John

Naw, I didn't take anything as negative. Ever notice that those of us with strong opinions, or who are hard headed, tend to bounce our heads together every now and again?

If scrubbing you bare aluminum gives you great results, then that's what this is all about anyway. I'd say "Tight Lines" to you, but that's a fly fishing kind of farewell wish. Not sure what we say in the culinary world, but I'll give it a try. Here's wishin' your hot things are hot, cold things are cold, and your cheddar is room temperature.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Roll_Bones]

Naw, I didn't take anything as negative. Ever notice that those of us with strong opinions, or who are hard headed, tend to bounce our heads together every now and again?

If scrubbing you bare aluminum gives you great results, then that's what this is all about anyway. I'd say "Tight Lines" to you, but that's a fly fishing kind of farewell wish. Not sure what we say in the culinary world, but I'll give it a try. Here's wishin' your hot things are hot, cold things are cold, and your cheddar is room temperature.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

Well said Chief. Look forward to many more fruitful discussions. Best regards...John

Oh....I can spell mechanical! LOL

 

[Skittle68]

Skittle68 - having any luck with your pans? I have the same problem, great pans, and everything seems to stick. I might not be letting my oil become hot enough. Going to attempt letting the oil become hotter . . .

With some practice, the SS pans and I are getting along much better!! It's possible you aren't letting the oil heat up enough, and if I find something is sticking, turning the heat down usually helps release it. If drops of water skitter around in the pan, it is the right temperature. Too cool, and the water will just boil. Too hot, and the water will vaporize and disappear instantly. If it rolls around and takes longer to evaporate than it would otherwise, it should be just right. It's a phenomenon called the Leidenfrost effect. A layer of vapor insulates the bead of water from the surface of the hot pan, preventing it from going into a rapid boil right away. Something similar protects your good from sticking. If you have ever seen someone stick their hand into a bucket of liquid nitrogen, they are using the same concept.

 

[taxlady]

Skittle, that's the test I was taught for pancakes. So, that's a good temp for meat too?

 

[Roll_Bones]

Practice makes perfect!

 

[Skittle68]

Skittle, that's the test I was taught for pancakes. So, that's a good temp for meat too?

That's what I use for just about everything. For meat and eggs, I get it to that temp, put meat/eggs in the pan, then turn it down when I want it to release. When frying eggs I turn the temp down to simmer immediately, then flip after a minute and a half. They are always ready to loosen and release at that time. Meat I wait maybe a min at that temp to get a good sear before I turn it down a few notches. I only use a few drops of oil that I wipe around with a paper towel, and I hardly every have issues with stickage anymore.

 

[bbobson]

If drops of water skitter around in the pan, it is the right temperature. Too cool, and the water will just boil. Too hot, and the water will vaporize and disappear instantly. If it rolls around and takes longer to evaporate than it would otherwise, it should be just right.

Thanks, that is something I had forgotten about over the years. To be honest, until a couple days ago I didn't realize how hot oil or a pan on the stovetop could get. I was trying to make falafel (w/ some success) from a mix, the instructions said to heat the oil to 375 degrees. Oh, that's hot. Just before I started the actual frying I though maybe I should check the temp of the oil. Oh, OH! That's really hot. Four hundred fifty and climbing, I decided to wait for the oil to cool for a bit.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

One last bit of knowledge on this topic; In the first few pages of the thread, there was a youtube video of a person cooking a piece of meat. The meat released beautifully, and was cooked on both sides after the cook was done. I call your attention to a close up shot of the video, where you see juices start to weep from the meat. It is those juices, and blood that actually form the fond. To demonstrate this, next time you remove a piece of beef, chicken, or pork from its packaging, make sure the pan is at the proper temperature, and is lubricated with a little oil. Drip some or even all of the packaged meat juice into the pan. Now watch it solidify and brown. Add a little salt, and when the fond is dark brown, add a deglazing liquid (I simply use water) and watch the fond release from the pan and dissolve into the water to make a flavorful broth.

I've found that when done right, the meat tissue doesn't actually stick to the pan. But the meat juices, which contain sugars, does.

When I make hash browns in my stainless Steel, or crepe's, they don't stick at all, and will literally slide across the pan from the moment they hit the hot metal. You know that ball of water that behave like mercury, the moisture in the food turns immediate into tiny water balls and act like little ball bearings. The trick here is to use a pan with enough thermal mass that it doesn't cool down rapidly when the food is added.

Ok, that'a all for now. May your hot food be hot, your cold food be cold, and your cheddar be at room temperature.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North