Proper temperature for stainless steel

[Chravis]

I have a question about stove top temperatures when using stainless steel pans. I guess my question doesn't really apply only to stainless but that's what I'm using. I've successfully cooked a few things in my pan without sticking by heating the pan first until water rolls around, then oil, then food. But what I'm unclear about is am I supposed to turn the heat down once I reach temp or just leave it? For example, if I turn my stove top to a 4 it takes about 5 minutes to reach the temperature where water rolls around. If I leave it it will keep getting hotter and hotter, eventually too hot. So what is the proper technique for once you put your food in the pan? Won't the pan keep increasing in temperature?
A related question - obviously if I turn the dial to a 6 it will reach temp faster than if I turn the dial to a 3. I might want a 6 for steak but not eggs. So what is the guidance for starting temperature? Does that even make sense? I just feel like I'm missing a few fundamentals.

Thanks for your help!

 

[Andy M.]

Welcome to DC.

It depends a lot on the recipe. You don't need a super hot pan where the beads of water dance across the hot surface if you're cooking eggs. You do need it if you're searing a steak.

A higher or lower setting on your stove will get the pan to the correct temperature faster or slower. Recipes will often direct you to heat a pan over medium heat or medium-high heat, etc.

 

[pictonguy]

Every pan will be different and every stove will be different. It's a matter of familiarity and practice makes perfect. Also the experience of the person cooking is important as well. I suggest starting on a medium heat and when oil is added and it moves around the pan easily and shimmers without smoking is probably a good starting point and you can adjust from there. It will become second nature.

 

[dragnlaw]

Ditto all of the above - and in my own words...

once you have your temperature and start cooking your food, you will certainly realize that it is too hot as liquids are either evaporating too fast or contents are on the point of burning.
You adjust your heat just at/before that point, and that's where experience comes in. With careful watching you will soon learn when you need to do what.
I have not cooked on an electric stove for so long I don't remember what it is like. With gas, you can adjust the flame to "almost" the exact spot you need.

 

[dcSaute]

some of this depends on the pan (material)
for example, cast iron heats up slowly - because cast iron does not conduct heat as fast as steel, stainless, aluminum or copper. "turning up the heat" to pre-heat cast iron has marginal upside, and potential downside - i.e. warping the pan.... I never consider cast iron 'pre-heated' until the handle is too hot to hold onto bare handed....
I have cast iron fry pans, 'black iron' aka steel fry pans, copper s/s lined fry pans, multiply stainless fry pans. they all work a bit differently.

when a pan is pre-heated - and the temperature for that "condition" depends, as mentioned above, on what you're cooking. to sear a steak pre-heat is mucho different that pre-heat to fry an egg, which is not the same as for searing a fish fillet...

once a pan is preheated and you plop a bunch of cold food into it, "Chill Shock" happens.
a bunch of heat is sucked out of the pan . . . . and then . . . the pan "recovers" its temperature - and _that's_ when it's time to reduce the heat, as needed, or as you point out,,, the pan just keeps getting hotter and hotter until the smoke detectors go off . . .

my tip: "Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears"
a flounder filet quietly 'cooking through' . . .
a chicken breast happily sizzling away for a nice tender cooking , , ,
sounds a lot less "frantic" than a steak you've got at max heat for insta-sear....

the "listening" bit is especially important when the frying operation is going to last 10 +/- minutes. even "simple stuff" - frying hamburgers , , , I'll be prepping the buns, etc., and "hear"/realize - 'dang, the heat is too high!!!'

one can't put a stopwatch and a micrometer on this stuff - it's an experience thing - but is usually helps to know what 'experience' one needs to pay attention to / learn.

 

[pictonguy]

Yeah, sound is a very important sensory addition to cooking. In a professional kitchen sound is king, everywhere.

 

[taxlady]

First off, welcome to Discuss Cooking, Chavris.

What kind of stove are you using? It makes a huge difference. Electric will take longer to get up to the temperature you want as well as take longer to cool off than gas or induction. Electric also seems to be able to get a hotter than gas. I have an electric stove. I often turn the heat to high to start off heating the pan and turn it down to medium before it gets too hot. I don't bother with water drops unless I'm making pancakes. When you put the food on the pan, it will help to moderate the temperature.

Yes, pay attention to how the food is reacting to the heat. Yes, listen to what the cooking food sounds like. Jacques Pépin even tells you how to know when your mushrooms are cooked enough for the next step of cooking by how they sound in the pan.

 

[taxlady]

"turning up the heat" to pre-heat cast iron has marginal upside, and potential downside - i.e. warping the pan....

I have never heard of cast iron warping on a stove.

I have cast iron fry pans, 'black iron' aka steel fry pans

Are you talking about carbon steel pans? Those can warp.

 

[jennyema]

I have never heard of cast iron warping on a stove.

I think it’s pretty impossible for a cast iron pan to warp.

 

[rodentraiser]

I have not cooked on an electric stove for so long I don't remember what it is like. With gas, you can adjust the flame to "almost" the exact spot you need.

And then there's me. When I get the gas to almost there, like a slow simmer, then I accidentally turn it off. Then I get to light a match, turn the heat up high, and start all over again. The things I've said wishing for an electric stove. LOL

So people listen to a pan when food is cooking? Just my luck and being hard of hearing.

And there is no truth to the rumor that loud rock and roll caused my hearing loss. It was an inner ear infection. And if I'd known it was going to happen, I'd have turned the music up a lot louder a lot sooner than I currently do. Loud rock and roll is da bomb.

 

[gerardj]

I have never heard of cast iron warping on a stove.

Are you talking about carbon steel pans? Those can warp.

cast iron can warp, ..but it would have to be one heck of a stove to happen in a kitchen.

aluminum skillets warp like crazy.

 

[Badjak]

cast iron can warp, ..but it would have to be one heck of a stove to happen in a kitchen.

aluminum skillets warp like crazy.

Serious?
I use cast iron straight on coal or wood fire and I've never seen any warping.
Straight as without tripod or grid

 

[msmofet]

Welcome to DC.

 

[dragnlaw]

Badjak, they could be warped, but I think not by a home cook nor camper. It would be under very extreme conditions.

Far more likely to crack cast iron in the kitchen.

 

[gerardj]

yeh, exhaust manifolds are cast iron and fail when they warp.

 

[dcSaute]

warped cast iron is a problem - especially when buying 'older' / second hand.
any propane/natural gas stove can manage it - even old old old coal fired stoves.

Why Does Cast Iron Warp? – 3 Reasons to Consider

A warped cast iron pan leads to questions: How did it get this way? What can I do to keep it from happening to another pan? The good news is there are answers.

trycookingwithcastiron.com

 

[taxlady]

warped cast iron is a problem - especially when buying 'older' / second hand.
any propane/natural gas stove can manage it - even old old old coal fired stoves.

Why Does Cast Iron Warp? – 3 Reasons to Consider

A warped cast iron pan leads to questions: How did it get this way? What can I do to keep it from happening to another pan? The good news is there are answers.

trycookingwithcastiron.com

I stand corrected. I have never seen it or heard of it before. I also haven't actually tried to measure any, otherwise unnoticeable, warping. I guess I have never heated or cooled my cast iron too fast.

 

[Chravis]

Thank you everyone for your responses. Based on what everyone has said, I think I have a pretty good idea of the one basic rule - there are no rules! Every one (person, pan, stove, etc) is different and it just takes experience. So, get in there and cook!

But I do have one other question - when a recipe says "turn the heat to medium" is there a specific temperature for that? or do most people just turn their dial to the middle? For example, I have a gas stove and the dials have Lo-2-3-4-5-6-Hi. Does medium mean 4? I realize there is no absolute answer, so just looking for what everyone else does.

 

[GotGarlic]

I have a gas stove, and I do turn the flame to the middle when I start. Then I keep an eye on it and change it as needed.

 

[pictonguy]

I have a gas stove, and I do turn the flame to the middle when I start. Then I keep an eye on it and change it as needed.

If your looking for a medium heat, this is the procedure. It's hot enough that ingredients don't just sit in oil waiting for the cooking process to start and not hot enough that it starts to burn the ingredients and struggling to reduce the heat without setting off smoke alarms and it's only then whether the starting temp is correct or needs adjusting. Again, 4 might be the right temp but that will ultimately be determined once you actually start to add ingredients to a pan.