Stainless Steel+Induction Confusion

[dragnlaw]

Use a cooking spray, rodent. They are formulated with ***** (have no idea the name without running for the can, starts with L) and it definitely stops sticking - of course if you get your pan too hot and they stick - well then, it is just plain too hot for eggs in the first place. Got this from America's Test Kitchen and it works.

About the only pan I've used that (especially with the spray) rarely, with the right temperatures, ever has food stick, are those Granite types. I don't have but DIL does and a gal pal does. I think they're great.

 

[pepperhead212]

You must be thinking about lecithin, dragnlaw. It must do something for the non-stick properties - I remember in some of my earlier CBs, there was a coating recommended to brush on bakeware, and other pans, that was a tb of liquid lecithin (something available in health food stores, back then, maybe supermarkets now!) mixed with a cup of oil. That was before the sprays were on the market.

And if you are looking for a way to cook scrambled eggs, @rodentraiser, something else I remember from some of those old CBs in my collection - Craig Claiborne recommended using a double boiler. I never did that, but it was his favorite way to get light, fluffy, scrambled eggs, without over cooking. I've always been an omelette guy, so not something I would do in a double boiler!

 

[dragnlaw]

Oh boy, pepper! Yes! my mom used to use the double boiler for whenever she had to make big batches. They could be left and still be hot when served.
But before sprays, as you say, so I have no idea on the clean-up. I would magically disappear before.

 

[rodentraiser]

It could be I've had the pan too hot. I saw a video on YouTube of Julia Child and she recommended making scrambled eggs in a pan on high heat. I've been doing that and the eggs I make are nice and soft and delicious and get done in about a minute. I also have eggs stuck in pans.

I hate to slow cook eggs because it's hard for me to stand there and stir for 10 minutes but I guess if I have to...

But I will try the spray oil and see if that works first.

 

[Anitha Kishore]

I've never seen a chef season a SS pan and I don't as well. If a SS pan is used correctly then seasoning one is made redundant, which I'll explain why further down. I think most of the sticking issues with SS comes down to a couple of things. First a poor quality pan that doesn't have the proper layering of a material like aluminum or copper that distributes heat more evenly, basically a cheap thin bottomed SS pan is pretty much useless for it's intended purpose. Secondly if the pan is not preheated to the desired cooking temp before the food is applied the barrier that the fat should provide isn't at a temp that is efficient and sticking can and does happen.

Even though a SS pan may seem quite smooth to the eye it's still porous on a molecular level and when the pan is subjected to heat the metal expands exposing these crevasses and pours more so which allows the fat that is applied to a hot pan to be absorbed and brought up to cooking temp before a food is allied. Basically the heated fat acts as a cushion or barrier to the SS. Sauteing is a dry cooking method.

For the restaurant I have aluminum, stainless and carbon steel fry pans and the ones that don't get used are the aluminum and I generally never have problems with anything sticking to SS pans. For most prep I use stainless and for the line I use mostly carbon steel.

I agree with you because I use a low-quality and a high-quality frypan. The low-quality one should be seasoned regularly and the other I only season once weekly. I'll try the triply frypan from Avias without seasoning and let you know if the food sticks.