Thread: Seasoning stainless steel cookware

I found Stefans addition of the videos interesting. The main one was fine, except for the steel molecules opening up and trapping oil. I looked at one other cleaning stainless steel video and wasn't impressed.

Point: Cooking with nothing hotter than medium heat usually results in no food sticking. Which leads to easier clean up by just wiping the pan or pot out with paper towels. No water method then leaves a thin layer of oil on the surface which contributes to the 'no stick' process. Takes a little longer but does sidestep a gummed up pan somewhat. The times that you want to sear a steak or chicken, yeah, high heat is the way to go. Most recipes that call for that then usually say to reduce the heat to medium or low. Also usually calls for adding a little more oil or liquid which will then tend to keep the pan a little easier to clean afterwards.

I've recently switched to using the various oils in the spray cans. That seems to keep stickiness down to a minimum.

Oils in spray cans are the worst things you can use. They were originally formulated for baking purposes and then marketed for general cooking. Every manufacturer of quality cookware will tell you to never use them because they easily burn onto the surface and can be next to impossible to get off.

The key to avoiding burning is heat control. You are in a hurry and blast the utensil with heat and then put your ingredients in and you have serious burning. The idea is to heat slowly and just enough to get the job done. Stainless steel without coating is not non stick only stick resistant if it's quality and highly polished. it's the highly polished surface that does the trick. Any residue left in the pan is a point where everything cooked afterwards will burn and stick.

If you burn something in one of those miracle non stick pans you're in big trouble. They recommend baking soda but in serious cases that pan has been trashed.

I don't think they use teflon in the better stuff anymore. I have a bunch of scanpan and they use a surface treatment not a coating (technically speaking) and the Swiss Diamond and Woll Diamond use something else. However, you can still burn things in those too under the right conditions.

I find anodized aluminum a terrible cooking surface. I find it to be not reliable as a non-stick surface but poor performer when it comes to developing that fond. But that might not be important to you and your cooking. You have to decide what you want and what you are trying to achieve. But to me, either you want that flavor element or you don't. If you do, you want a surface that will develop it. Or you don't and you want a surface that doesn't have the potential hassle of sticking. I make a lot of sauces and the fond at the bottom is important to me. If deglazing is not a technique you employ, there are other options for you.

Anything with a teflon coating or made of aluminium has been long thrown out around here, BAD, A good cast iron pan is like a good straight razor, still going strong 100+ years later, just don't strip it out with anything acidic, like tomato. The stainless pots and pans we have are high quality with a half inch base, but they do need oil or butter to stop them sticking. Like OCD said, with stainless, flavour comes from the bond between the base of the pan and what is in it, kind of like charcoal. Then when you add stock or liquid, it releases, adding taste to the dish.

I have some very nice pans, skillets that are stainless with a copper infused base. You can over do the heat process for any application and get burn/carbon buildup.

Soaking it maybe overnight with a good detergent will loosen most of it to a point that a mild abrasive will complete the job.

If you use too aggressive of a cleanser/abrasive application you run the risk of deeper scratches in the surface that trap oil/food which then burns and forms more carbon buildup.

Maybe work the surface with a mild/high grit medium that reduces the scratch pattern and see if that doesn't cure the problem.



Regards,

Howard

Unlike Grazor I won't characterize Teflon as bad. It won't last 100 years but that doesn't men its bad. It just lacks the longevity of cast iron. But it has other properties that might be desirable. My pans are either Teflon or stainless lined....and a couple enamel lined. It's not really a matter of what is best but what is best for you and your needs.

http://thecookinggeek.com/wp-content...14/09/fond.png

I have had a set of pans that are 5 layers SS outside with Ali and then a copper core have had them for 20 plus years and never sealed them as such,
But always heat the pan then add high burn oil ( peanut, coconut etc ) to cook,
But Also have always have a couple of quality nonstick pans for those types of applications

Originally Posted by OCDshaver

Unlike Grazor I won't characterize Teflon as bad. It won't last 100 years but that doesn't men its bad. It just lacks the longevity of cast iron. But it has other properties that might be desirable. My pans are either Teflon or stainless lined....and a couple enamel lined. It's not really a matter of what is best but what is best for you and your needs.

http://thecookinggeek.com/wp-content...14/09/fond.png

Google Teflon, in particular, PFOA, the reason we don't use it.

Originally Posted by Grazor

Google Teflon, in particular, PFOA, the reason we don't use it.

While I respect your reasoning for not wanting to use it, after reading up some on Teflon and PFOA I'm not really concerned with it. In the words of cancer.org "non-stick cookware is not a significant source of exposure." But I can respect a better safe than sorry point of view on the matter.

Copper pans lined with tin are great, though they require more care in using them. I let mine get a patina, and don't bother with polishing. I'm talking about more care with the tin, not the copper. Anyway, speaking with a lady who's been around a long time the other day, she remarked that people use abrasives to clean stainless and , "everything sticks." Go to Chowhound cookware forum and you may get an answer. Cookware - Chowhound