Cooking on stainless steel can feel impossible at first. Everything sticks, cleanup is annoying, and it honestly feels like the pan is working against you. But once you understand a few simple tricks, it becomes one of the best pans you can cook with—and way less intimidating than people make it seem.
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That just means it’s made of multiple layers of steel (and sometimes aluminum). It doesn’t hurt to have an ergonomic handle that’s comfortable for you to use. Lastly, if you can avoid it, don’t buy a set. You likely won’t need every pot and pan in the set and it’s cheaper if you just buy the individual pieces that you need.
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You do what every influencer on the internet has told you to do: preheat your pan, add in your oil, drop in your food, and instead of getting a beautiful golden brown sear you were promised, your steak refuses to move or your fish tears in half or your eggs turn into a whole new coating on the inside of your pan, that make you question if you’ll ever be able to get it clean again.
The problem is that Stainless Steel doesn’t cover for you the way that nonstick does. With nonstick, it’s designed to be forgiving, but stainless steel is designed to be honest.
So if your pan is too cold, too hot, your food is too wet, or you just start poking at your food too early (like a kid at a pet store with his finger in the gerbil enclosure or cage), you are going to regret it.
Poor preheating
Too much moisture
Not enough fat
Bad heat control
Flat out impatience
Wet food will steam instead of searing.
A pan that isn’t fully preheated won’t create the barrier needed between the food and the metal.
Too much heat can burn the outside of your food before it has a chance to naturally release.
Not enough fat means there’s no coating in between the bare metal and your food.
And, the most common one, is if you try to move something before a crust forms you’re usually going to rip it instead of flip it.
it’s actually incredibly helpful because the sticking isn’t random. It might feel random when you don’t know what’s happening, but once you understand the basics, stainless steel cooking becomes a lot less intimidating and you can start to understand how to avoid a ruined meal.
Honest answer:
There’s not really a specific end-all be-all reason. I’m not going to sit here and tell you I never cook on anything but stainless steel. That would be a lie. What I will tell you is that once you understand how it works, stainless steel becomes one of the most versatile pans in your kitchen.
Non-stick can be great when making eggs, reheating leftovers, or just wanting the convenience of not having to worry about something sticking; but, it also has its limits.
That coat will wear down over time.
If you heat your pan with high heat or scratch it with a metal tool then that coating gets released into your food and then sticks around in your body (I don’t really know the science of it, and quite honestly, I’m not too worried about it, since I eat a lot of hot dogs and processed foods as it is. So, a little Teflon here and there is probably the least of my concerns).
Cast iron and carbon steel are also great. They are virtually indestructible, they hold heat incredibly well, and can truly last you forever, but it also has its downsides.
They can be extremely heavy so if you're not physically able to move one around then that's no good.
They also require more maintenance to keep clean and maintain a non-stick like surface.
If you even think about leaving it in the sink overnight with a little water just to loosen up some of that stuck food then I guarantee you, that before you wake up that pan will turn into a bucket of rust and then you'll have to spend a good amount of elbow grease scraping away all the rust and then re-seasoning it (I know that sounds pretty awful, but I will say cast iron and carbon steel have a special place in my heart and if you're interested I'm happy to do a video and a write up about those too. Just let me know 😉)
Now as far as stainless steel goes, it kind of sits right in the middle.
It’s pretty indestructible and you don’t have to worry about it rusting or it scratching. When treated right it can be non-stick. It’s durable, versatile, cooking-free, and in a way sort of like the Swiss Army Knife of pans.
You can cook just about anything in it at higher heat than a non-stick pan and you don’t have to worry about seasoning it. Plus, stainless steel gives you something that a lot of other pans won’t - which is a fond (we’ll get into that later).
The real biggest reason stainless steel is worth learning is because it doesn’t just cook your food, it helps make your food better.
The trade-off? You have to pay a little bit more attention when you’re cooking, but like any good relationship, I promise you it’s worth it!
Now, before we get into the actual cooking, we need to talk about the rules because stainless steel is not one of those pans where you can just throw food in, hope for the best, and expect it to work out.
It doesn’t need to be hard, but it will be specific.
Once you understand what your pan and the food you’re cooking in it need, stainless steel will become a lot less intimidating.
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