Even though stainless steel pans have outstanding features among other cookware materials, they aren’t non-stick, making food stick to their cooking surfaces. This happens because the cooking surfaces have microscopic pores that open up when the pan is placed on heat.
As such, the pores hold on to the cool food in the pan, making both sticks together. Also, the food particles form chemical bonds with the metals’ atoms sometimes. However, this isn’t unchangeable. Here are ways you can stop food from sticking to your stainless steel pans:
Ensure The Cooking Surface Is Clean And Dry
Dirty cooking surfaces have small food particles that cause food poured into the pan to stick. Always ensure the pan’s surface is clean before cooking. Also, don’t put cold food inside the pan. Allow frozen foods to thaw for some time at room temperature before you cook them.
Cold foods stick easily when you cook them in stainless steel pans. Ensure the pan’s surface is dry too. You can also apply some oil to the surface before you start cooking.
Ensure The Pan Is Hot Before You Put It In Your Oil
Wait for the pan to get hot before you add your oil or butter. However, you can put hot oil in a cold pan as well. The oil should be at room temperature before you add your food. Don’t overheat the oil till it starts to smoke. The oil should cover the pan’s bottom from edge to edge to prevent food from sticking. Also, use healthy fats for cooking.
Don’t Crowd The Pan
Putting too much food in the pan lowers its temperature and releases moisture. The temperature becomes incapable of browning your food and bringing out its flavors. Instead of crowding the pan, divide your food into batches and cook them one after another or use another pan on another cooktop.
Don’t Turn The Food Hastily
Moving food around quickly in the pan also causes food to stick. Even if your foods stick initially, they will be released from the pan on their own after some time. Sticking means that your food isn’t done yet, so you should give it more time. You can also reduce the heat.
4 Tips For Taking Care Of Stainless Steel Pans
As much as stainless steel pans are excellent kitchen tools, they need to be adequately maintained. You have to protect them from discoloration and damage. Below are some tips on how to do so:
1. Use Non-Harsh Sponges And Soaps
Using harsh sponges and soaps to clean your stainless steel pans will scratch them permanently and make future cleaning harder. You can easily remove water spots, marks, etc., by boiling the pan in water mixed with baking soda, applying the mixture of elbow grease and baking soda to the effects, etc.
Stay away from products that can damage the polished finish of your stainless steel pan. Also, when cleaning your pan, don’t go against the grain. This helps to preserve the pan’s appearance.
2. Season Your Stainless Steel Pan Regularly
Stainless steel pans don’t need to be seasoned before they work well. However, seasoning them fills the porous pores on the cooking surface, making the surface smoother and non-stick.
However, you should season your stainless steel pan before and after cleaning as soap and water remove the seasoning. Don’t use cooking sprays as it causes buildups in your pan and makes food stick.
3. Salt Only Boiled Water
Another important thing to take note of is to saltwater only when it has boiled. If salted water hasn’t come to a boil, corrosion happens. The salt falls to the pan’s bottom and leaves minor but irreversible marks similar to a nail’s shape before it finally dissolves. To prevent this, you can stir the salted water well.
4. Don’t Cook Cold Foods In The Pan
Ensure your foods are at room temperature before you cook them. Foods with moisture readily stick to the pan’s surface. This is because steel contracts when it is exposed to cooler weather. Don’t cook refrigerated foods immediately. You can remove excess moisture from the cold foods with paper towels. Also, ensure your food is ready before you start cooking.