Check out my latest video on all the different ways to clean stainless steel pans! All The Different Ways To Clean Stainless Steel Cookware ruclips.net/video/qNAqS9MP5OE/видео.html
A quick way to clean your stainless steel is to just add hot water to the pot, add a bit of baking soda and a pinch of dishsoap. Let it rest for about 5-10 mins, use a scrapper and it just comes off like butter.
I used to do exactly this with my old roommate's stainless pans. I even got a plastic scraper because she was SO sure I was going to scratch her pans. 😄
My grandmother cooked for a living and started teaching my 2 siblings and I how to cook when we were in elementary school in the 1960's. She had cast iron and stainless steel pots & pans we better not burn anything in them. I also bake a little bit but not as well as Grandmother. There are some dishes my wife won't eat unless I cook them and I think she's a lot better cook. Since I've been medically retired from driving for a living I've been able to get my cooking skills back up. We generally cook from scratch in my house and being a Diabetic and heart patient that's a good thing. At my last doctor's appointment I wasn't chastised for anything for a change which surprised me. One of the best things in life that I was taught was how to cook. We also have 3 woks. On active duty I learned some things from the cooks we had and when overseas I liked to go to restaurants where I could watch the cooks to see how they did it. My wife has finally stopped asking me where did I learn how to do certain things and she doesn't mind when I'm in the kitchen cooking. I've been cleaning pans with steel wool for about 50 years which works better than plastic. I'm sending your video to my stepsister who I think needs it.
my parents got a stainless steel pan about 30 years ago but never got the hang of using it, one day I noticed it laying in storage barely getting any use, but I have developed the skills to use it since then.
Here is a little 411 on stainless, before first use/seasoning take your pan to some one that does metal polishing and tell them you want a #8 mirror finish on it. That will give you an RA (roughness average) of about 1 or less microinches. A run of the mill satin finish stainless pan has a 30-39 RA finish that is about 1500 microinches. May look and feel pretty smooth but its far from it. All "seasoning" does is lay down a hardened coating of oil that fills in all the peaks an troughs, and provides a "very" smooth surface, it is all the asperities that get hot and grab on to the food and cause sticking. In a former life I did a good bit of polishing of various metals so I do this for myself. If you really wanted to go TOP DRAWER you could get your stainless electropolished, god only knows how much that would cost, but I am pretty damn sure nothing would stick to it no matter how hot you get it. Or you could take yourself down to Home Depot and for $30 or so get a polishing kit and whale a way on it a good bit. Use the green stick and the stiffest buff (or a 3" close stitched sisal wheel) then go to a softer buff and the brown compound. Keep after it till you can't stand the sight of that pan and you will likely have a damn smooth non-stick surface to cook on.
This is what the difference between the Amazon Basics and the higher price All Clad pan was in this test. The more expensive pan was smoother from the factory. The difference was minimal but enough to notice during clean up. We season metals that are rough like cast iron, we do not need to season smoother stainless. In the end, the more smooth the metal the more likely any layer of oil will be wiped off after cleaning so seasoning stainless is a waste of effort. A good example of this is commercial stainless steel griddles. They are "never" seasoned. They are also cleaned with heavy harsh chemicals daily so any effects of seasoning from normal usage are nullified.
@@brianjohnson9584 Excellent points! I really think focusing on temperature control will get most people the results they are looking for with SS. Happy Cooking!
Your idea appeals to me quite a bit. While reading through a couple ideas occurred to me. One was to finish off the #8 mirror with Jeweler's Rouge. The second was to do a "Cold Steel" dip into liquid Nitrogen to align the cells. This idea comes from Cold Steel knives which are almost legendary for their ability to hold an extremely fine edge and take some pretty brutal abuse.
i have been cooking on stainless my entire life, my parents bought AMC pots and pans in the 70s, they still use the same pots and pans today. I have cooked on mine for decades, too. I have since discovered a love of cast iron, but my stainless stuff is going nowhere. truly an investment for life. just learn to preheat your pans, same for cast iron and stainless.
Any other tips? 😬 I am getting rid of all my Teflon pans and just today got me some stainless steel pans and I almost return them because I keep reading they are non stick.. 😅 seems complicate it
Try them all and keep the ones you love. I’m a career firefighter and I also cook for my family of five on a regular basis. I’ve developed some very good recipes that would cost 30 bucks in a restaurant that I can accomplish in 20 minutes I’m talking taking the groceries out of the bags, cutting the skin off of salmon, whatever entire meal start to finish 20 minutes, but I have to know my cookware first. Oh well season cast iron pan should look like a mirror that you can comb your hair in when you put it up for the night. It should also sit on an electric surface without rocking the pans from the turn of the century, that way the third of all the lodge does are the special ones. But a good stainless pan with a copper coil or layered aluminum will always heat more consistently and be able to see her proteins quicker and more easy but I’m telling you right now if you’ve never had a true French omelette then you’ve never tasted an egg and the best French omelettes are made with Teflon pans.
@@yennyjen5742 its takes a while to get a knack for cooking in stainless but what I do it heat the pan with oil in it and I use an infrared thermometer to check temp. Once it hits around 320-400 range its perfect and eggs won't stick in there. If I'm using butter I use the color of the butter to determine when its ready (brownish). You can also do the mercury ball test which involves a drop of water being added to the pan. It will then bounce around in the pan. Pretty cool. Sometimes I spit in the pan and play with my spit 🤣
I was intimidated by stainless steel for years. I finally decided that I just needed to learn how to use it better. Pre-heating and getting that mercury effect is helpful. I was also letting foods get too hot. I achieved better results at lower temperatures and with patience than trying to get foods cooked quicker. I replaced all of our old non-stick cookware with stainless steel except our flat, square pan. That’s more due to a larger surface area for breads than the type.
@@tomwadek but what if you want your food to brown well just below starting to burn without overcooking like a rare steak or well roasted asparagus that are still aldente you need high heat.
@@JazzyScat proper preheating will help you get good browning. Also making sure you pat your steak dry before browning to remove surface moister. When you preheat your skillet, temperatures can reach 500F. Adding in your oil and allowing that to properly heat just before smoking will get your steak perfectly browned. It’s all about temp control and understand how your pan reacts. Ss conducts heat well and the aluminum in a 3 ply make it very responsive.
I think it largely depends on the quality of the pans. I hated stainless for years, because I had cheap, crappy pans. I inherited some very expensive stainless pans, and I'm absolutely in love with them. I don't season them, and nothing sticks. I think it has to do with the thickness. A thin pan gets cold when you add food, and food sticks to a cold pan. A really thick pan stays hot, and thus doesn't stick.
Bob, I really appreciate that. Thank you so much for your support. I have more great videos to come next year! Happy Holidays and a New Year to you and your loved ones.
When my SS pan has stuck on food, I cover whatever is stuck on with water, add some dish soap and set the pan aside till next morning then into the sink it goes for a wash, the stuck isn't stuck anymore. For eggs I either use my stove's griddle well lubricated or my wife's 30 year old German cast iron pan with the annoying rotating wooden handle.
We purchased our set of Kirkland SS, in 2012. I never thought about "seasoning" them and have never had any problems with stubborn, stuck on food. They clean up beautifully and still look good.
Wow, this video is way more informative than I initially thought! 😂 Too much good information! I'm on day 2 of using a second hand Calphalon stainless steel pan. The first day, I made two over easy eggs that stuck to the pan and the third attempt I basically fried the hell out of it with too much oil. Earlier today I took my time, let the pan pre heat on medium low for about 3 mins then added a little oil and a small amount of butter, let that sizzle for a minute, turned the heat to low and cracked the egg into said pan. It came out perfect! With the ole nonstick I'd add a little oil, turn the fire on to medium, let it heat up for about 2 mins, add the egg, let cook for a bit and done. It was too easy. Unfortunately those crappy T-fal nonstick pans started turning to sh!t and I decided to replace em with stainless steel! When I worked as a line cook we used stainless.. so I just gotta get back into the groove of it.. hopefully. Over easy eggs are a go to for my son and I. We'll keep practicing on the stainless and maybe get a cast iron in the near future. Thank you for this amazing video! It's greatly appreciated. 🍳
Great video Tim thanks! I recently discovered this seasoning technique: Apply an oil to pan and then try to remove it with paper towel. This leaves a microscopic layer of oil. Then heat on a medium low heat and don’t allow it to smoke! Give it about fifteen minutes and let it cool to room temperature. You’re basically polymerizing the oil to the pan by drying the oil out! Results with my carbon steel is great!🙏
I just came across your visor at 4 AM - can’t sleep. Tomorrow I’ll be seasoning my stainless steel. I like to grill pork chops, right on the pan, no grease or oil. I then dump a can of Pork-n-beans on top of them. The beans make getting all that stuck on stiff so easy. And they taste good together like this. When I simply cook in the skillet, I use my metal square spatula to scrap stuff off the surface then clean it. I’ve had this same SaladMaster set of pots and pans since 1974. They still look great.
I’m glad to hear you are enjoying the channel! Ss is incredibly versatile but unforgiving. You have to be careful with your temperatures and properly preheat it. I have a few videos to help with that. Otherwise, ss can do it all and be incredibly nonstick too. I'm Going To Help You Properly Preheat Your Pan ruclips.net/video/MH7JMXWSgv4/видео.html
Such a helpful video! I had been using the cheap toxic non-stick pans my entire life and have now been on a mission to eliminate toxins and chemicals from my home. I'm just about to buy a stainless steel set of pots plus another larger stainless steel saute pan and it's the cleanup of it that's been holding me back. This has answered so many questions and has taught me more about how to actually use stainless steel. Excited to try now!
I spray my cast iron and stainless steel with Pam and heat it then add my oil, it helps. I do take good care of my cast iron, I clean it by heating it up and use a spatula and scrap off any stuck on , clean it, oil, heat it again to seal and wipe out it out.
He's absolutely correct...for baked on pan residue..water to boiling with is enough..and just scour with barkeepers friend to restore shine..like new!!
Hi Tom, I think you are spot on. It is true that oil, onion (sulfuric acid) and heat (400+) creates a very thin polymerized surface however it only lasts 1-2 uses and can be easily washed away. As you stated learning to use your stainless can produce almost the same result. Treating a pan has rapidly dimishing returns. Time is better spent doing what we like best, that’s cooking 🍳 Great video, Ciao
Wow - I read the description information below your video - it's kismet! I literally JUST picked up 2 beautiful "Amazon Commercial" SS skillets for next to nothing at my local thrift store! These babies look like they'll last a lifetime, so of course I wanted to know - like cast iron - how to make them as non-stick as possible. Oh, and I'm also trying to steer clear of chemical-based non-stick pans as well. So happy to have found this video. I will follow your instructions to "season" my new pans to see how they function tomorrow morning...for breakfast! 👍🍳
I’m pretty new at using stainless steel, but really wanted to try it. I’m a disabled senior with a fixed income, so replacing nonstick pans every few years can really add up. I found a nice 10” with a lid at my thrift store for $7 & I’m still on my learning curve in the cooking with this. But I have to say, as many times as I’ve burnt food in it, my Barkeepers soft scrub works like a champ. I just rinse whatever’s loose out of it, put in enough Barkeepers soft scrub to make a like a paste. Sometimes I have to us the dry Barkeepers if I’ve left in too much water, but the biggest is getting the paste substance. Using just a couple dry paper towels, scrub maybe a minute, three at the most, rinse and shines like new! One of the other reasons I decided to try stainless steel is because I really enjoy cooking & making my own sauces from scratch. Nonstick pans have never worked for me leaving any little bits to work with. Which is why I still have my grandmother’s old cast iron pan & her old dutch oven that weighs almost as much as my 6 month old grandbaby.
My all clad d3 I tried that follow that floating water drop . I set the stove top to medium it took 10 min to the floating water drop . Very cool love my SS . I did the fried egg thing and again pre heated the pan then put the butter in and a little oil and the eggs slid right out of the pan . Great video
I am from Australia and I just bought my clad stainless steel pots and pans and I would like to thank you for your video is so helpful.... Thanks Mate and God bless you! ❤😊❤
Hot pan, cold oil = food won’t stick. My fave all around pan/pot is my 6 qt. Le Creuset French Oven for searing, which works perfectly for dishes requiring roux or making sauces and is easy clean. I use my Lodge griddle almost every day which is super easy to care for: coat with oil and/or clean when necessary. I recently bought a Ballarini 10” non-stick fry pan and it’s amazing with tender dishes that don’t require searing like seafood and cheese, with super-easy cleanup. I have 3 different All-Clad skillets for searing large cuts of meat or sautéing large quantities of veggies, 1 of which is an 6”non-stick for easy scrambled eggs. It’s fun to discuss pots and pans. Why hurt yourself trying to make one pan do it all? :)
I've heard this phrase used a lot, "Hot pan, cold oil, never stick." But what does it mean, exactly? You get the pan to its proper preheat temp, then add cold oil, then immediately add the protein, or do you add cold oil, wait for it to come to temp, then add the protein ?
@@michaelbarbone9310you have to put the food directly after the cold oil!!! It creates a temp shock effect that will creates by force air pockets that will creates a non stick result!!! By the time the oil and food cook, the air is trapped , and when you’ll flip afterwards , the ideal temperature will be achieved and will still be non stick from the original trick
Very cool to see our suggested seasoning method featured here! Our stance on it has maybe changed a bit. Temporary seasoning can help if you're planning to cook something where you *really* want the pan to behave in a nonstick way. But by far the more important factor is your actual cooking technique - heat control, when you add your oil/fat, and how much oil/fat you add - that's what will really determine whether you'll get some sticking and fond or not.
Not sure if a wok or cast iron pan would agree with you guys there. The seasoning has to be done at the maximum temperature you will cook at, and not washed too much.
In those two seasoning methods, method 1 sounds like a great way to make a gooey, sticky varnish layer on the pan. Method 2 seems far more reasonable. With cast irons, too, I'll usually buff the inside the cooking surface with paper towel while seasoning to make sure it's as little oil as possible.
I have a set of health craft stainless steel pots and pans for over 30 years now. I seasoned the 8 in pan with lard, only a little bit and buff it when done. Seasoned it 3 times. My eggs literally float around the pan. I have not washed the pan with soap in years. All I do is buff it again while slightly warm with paper towels. It stays shiny and clean like I just scrubbed it with barkeepers friend.
I never even thought to season my stainless. I might give it a shot at some point, but there doesn't seem to be much need. Treating anything that sticks as fond has worked really well for me, and doesn't significantly add to cleanup time.
I oil and heat my stainless steel like you describe before use and then stick it in a dishwasher to clean it. It comes completely clean every time with no manual cleaning/ scrubbing.
I've always used a little water, dish soap, and vinegar in the cleaning boil. Bring it to boil, take off heat and let it cool. Wipes out easily. Also love cast iron, is a must for pan fried steaks.
Vinegar is the key. The acid breaks down the proteins from meat, beans, anything. After drying, if there is any clouding, let pure vinegar sit for an hour or so and sparkling clean stainless is the result.
I have an All-Clad Stainless Steel Copper Core 5-Ply Bonded 12" Fry Pan coming today and will use the light oil seasoning you recommend. I will also treat it the way I do my Carote cookware by seasoning it after drying on the stove, with light oil. That works fine for cast iron pans too.
This is interesting. I'm sure some people will find it useful and I enjoyed the test. The reason I use stainless rather than cast iron or carbon is I don't want to mess with seasoning my skillets. I also make good use of fond quite often so I think I'll just do what I've been doing.
Thank you. I thought so too. I made a follow up video to this because it was so controversial 😂. Check it out Does Seasoning a Stainless Steel Pan Make It Truly Non-Stick? ruclips.net/video/qOSxRcUquKc/видео.html
Hey man! I loved when you said you’ve grown in to stainless steel! Story of my life 😂 I loved cooking since I was 12 yo. When young all I used was Teflon cookware, non stick, easy to use, easy to maintain. My first time with SS was not the happy one. I’ve got so frustrated the everything became a mess that it made me hate it for quite a while. But during collage I was doing a part time as bartender in very classy fine dine restaurant, since in the day time hours it was not to busy I had a lot of time burn. I used it to talk whit chefs, just watching them prepare food was a one time life experience! All they every used (besides thermomix 😂, damn thing is in every fine dine restaurant in the world 😂) was stainless steel, watching them, noticing how creative can you be with ss was amazing. So I made a second attempt, since than all I ever use in the kitchen is stainless steel, and ofc a thermomix 😅 (a pice of advice, get a tm3, all the ones made after are pretty much shit for a suburban house wife with lots of cosmic tesla/nasa functions that interrupt your cooking proces instead of helping). I bearly do the seasoning, and I don’t have a sticking problem. As to cleaning, everything always comes off nicely, sometimes with worse kind of burnt residue I just put a tiny layer of water and leave it for 10-15min. With an extreme residue I fill the pan with water and boil a moment. But with leaving the water in a pan you have to make sure that you rinsed it generously to have as less salt on it ass possible, as salt/water exposure in a long run can make you’re ss prone to rust. As to pans/skillets/woks/pots, I’ve used a culinary products like hendi etc. probably due to the chefs I was talking to ;) I wanted to use everything they were using. But I went UK for period of 5 months. Obviously I did not want to take my kitchenware with me as it’s cheaper to buy it there than to bring it on a plane with you. And I went to ikea there, and bought a pot, skillet and a souce pan, all steinless steal. To my surprise… they were a really great quality, non stick, easy to clean. And since then I mainly use ikea. Try it, you would be surprised:)
Great comment. Thanks for sharing your journey. Ss really is one of the most versatile tools in the kitchen and clad ss with different material levels can really make ss perform in different ways. I actually just made a video on nonstick pans and why they teach bad habits if it’s all people know how to use. I compared an egg test between nonstick and ss. Check it out. Thanks again. ruclips.net/video/7KJxk04MZv8/видео.html
Extremely informative! Thank you. Recently purchased Calphalon’s best SS they sell. I LOVE the pans. Yes intimidated or reluctant due to the sticking or cleanup, however, I rarely walk away from a challenge…like properly seasoning cast iron. However, I wanted SS for its life long wear, and I know clean up would be more difficult at times, but, that’s what Bar Keeper’s Friend is for…and it works very well. So, I won’t be seasoning my SS because I believe it’s better to achieve the right skill level for using them. Plus, I don’t want to be bothered with ”should I strip and re-season the pan, or did I use the right brand of oil to season?” I’d prefer to be bothered with, “is the pan clean and ready to be used as intended.” Either way, I think this all boils down to personal preference.
I agree completely. Congrats on your new purchase! Ss has a learning curve but once you get through that period, it’s a lot of fun to use and clean gets easier every time. Happy cooking!
I’ve had my Lifetime stainless steel pans since 1974. I use A cleaner called Perfect Sink. I use a green scratch pad. Years ago I used Cameo Stainless Steel cleaner. It was powered and it worked beautifully but once I tried Perfect Sink I knew I liked the end result better. It works great on stainless steel sinks too!
Great points in this video. I used to season my stainless steel pans, but don't anymore. I've learned how to cook with stainless steel now, and prefer it in some cases to my carbon steel pans. My favorite egg pan is stainless steel. Good point, though, that seasoning makes for easier clean-up.
I keep a old hot sauce bottle filled with RO well water next to my stovetop to test for the Leidenfrost effect and have never been disappointed. Switched from non-stick to stainless and my Grandmother's Erie and Griswold cast iron as well as Lodge; much better cooking results especially on electric and additionally on induction as well as healthier.
It's not always desirable to have a non stick SS pan. When you sear a protein like a steak, you want the caramelized sugars and proteins from the Maillard effect (browning) to stick to the pan for a sauce. Stainless does a good job at this because it binds to those sugars and proteins, while releasing them when the pan is deglazed with water or an acid. Same goes for an onion which also provides a lot of flavor by light browning. When you season cast iron or carbon steel, it also becomes non-stick, but it will lose its seasoning if exposed to acidic foods like a tomato. So it is best to have SS for some foods while carbon steel and cast iron do well for non-acidic foods cooked in a fat and rarely cleaned with soap. Even a classic French omelette can be done in a well seasoned carbon steel pan, just like pancakes and crêpes. Even though I could season my SS, I never do, because I use cast iron and carbon steel which stay seasoned because they never see acidic foods. SS also has the advantage of heating up a bit quicker on an electric stove.
Hi, thanks for watching. You and I have the same preference and all 3 definitely have their place in the kitchen. Check out my video That I made last year comparing ci, cs, and ss. Happy cooking! ruclips.net/video/-Vtaat40jEw/видео.html
Always clean your cast iron with soap. I use cast iron, enameled cast iron, and stainless steel only. I always wash my cast iron with soap to get all of the oil out. If you leave the oil/fat in the pan it will go rancid and is a health hazard. The only reason you used to hear that you shouldn't use soap is because soaps used to have lye in them that would strip the pan. That is no longer the case so there's no reason not to clean with soap.
@@milky_toast_ soap is the most dangerous thing to use, soap is poisenign' there are better things to use for cleaning, like hot water and vinager' but never ever soap. I came int to the hospital with poisend from dish soap, throwing up getting high fever. never ever again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have a Lodge Outlet here, and the reps there say the acidic thing only applies before you've used it for a while, after it's been used for a few months, the seasoning is strong enough to not allow the acid flavor to absorb into the pan. She was also very clear to say that the washing thing isn't an issue any longer, and after 4 months owning mine, and washing it with a scrub daddy, and dawn, can confirm, it doesn't do anything to it.
Barkeepers friend is a must have for pots and pans, stainless steel sinks, glass topped stove, and induction burners. Would love a video on various cleaning techniques.
Every material has its strengths and weaknesses. I love my Lodge for blasting high temps and cooking on the bbq but I also love my OXO non-stick for doing scrambled eggs. It's not the case of we need to find one material that is best for most things, rather find pans that are best for what you cook and love to eat and for that reason I have four 12" skillets. Overkill? Maybe. But I bought them over 15 years and I use them all. Lodge cast iron 12" Le Creuset enameled 12" All Clad Stainless 12" OXO non-stick 9"
Professionally it makes a gianormous difference. When I have to make 50-60 omelettes and 90-100 scrambled eggs on a single day, there is no time to thoroughly wash the pans for minutes. And using non stick pans is just a bad choice because it always flakes over time I don't want teflon bits on the food I serve. So I season the stainless skillet (almost daily) before service and in between cookings I just basically rinse and wipe.
@@ttonAb2 I heat it up until you get the to the point where water do the little dance thingy. Let it cool down a bit and then I use a paper towel to do a thin layer of oil and then blast the heat until it stops smoking. If I'm not busy with prep I'll do one more time. And ensure the sides are coated nicely. Then I use the pans like normal nonstick pans. Once I use them, I rinse, wipe it with a cloth and back on stove.
This is dumb, just use a cheap non stick and replace it as needed. They're disposable like a cloth or kitchen knives. Sure they will last a month or two but they're cheap and replaceable.
I was lucky enough to inherit my mother-in-laws stainless steel Revere ware. She told me to always use a brillo pad to finish the cleaning and for me this has always made a huge difference. I honestly will never cook with any other pans, I just love them..
That’s a wonderful hand me down. I’m glad you have a pan you love. I made a video on cleaning ss. Check it out if your interested. ruclips.net/video/qNAqS9MP5OE/видео.html
An important step not mentioned is to Polish any cooking surface thoroughly before each use. You’ll be surprised how much crud there is, especially for nonstick pans. Don’t stop until the paper towel pad comes up completely clean. Works great for stainless, cast or carbon steel, or nonstick. A highly polished surface is inherently better surface!
I have a stainless steel pot that I rarely used because food kept sticking. Then, I got an induction cooktop and the stainless steel pot was one of the few pots that I could use. I made popcorn in it several times and then tried cooking in it and food started sticking a bit less and it was easier to clean. I think the popcorn oil was seasoning the pot!
I came to this video looking for how to season stainless steel. Since I definitely want a good clean up, I’ll definitely season the set I am looking to buy.
I have 1 seasoned stainless steel skillet. I treat it just like my iron and carbon steel. After each wash it goes to the burner to dry, once it is dry I add a drop of oil and wipe it evenly, now I remove from heat and allow to dry before I put it up. The skillet is absolutely amazing but honestly, It doesn't make much sense if you have carbon steel to season your stainless. I only seasoned that one because I had not gotten the carbon steel yet. I keep it going seasoned now just because it does seem to heat more evenly (barely).
When I was in China years ago an old cook taught me a really cool trick to make stainless easily non-stick. Heat up your oil throw in a handful of chopped green onions, once they're Browned, pour the excess oil out and cook. I've done omelettes many times in my stainless steel pans and they never stick. It only last like 2 times but it's easy to do and just takes a minute. I'd love to see your test that!
Yup, very cool. It’s another seasoning technique. The onions act as a binding agent for the oil and pan. You can also use potato peels and the starch will help do something similar. I’ve done a follow up to this video. Check it out: Does Seasoning a Stainless Steel Pan Make It Truly Non-Stick? ruclips.net/video/qOSxRcUquKc/видео.html
Give this guy all the likes and views in the world, I really like the simple way of explaining the concepts, even my todler can understand how to use a stainless pan.
I agree that seasoning stainless has an effect, but is not really worth the effort if you properly preheat. By effort, I mean that most seasoning instructions I have seen call for several repetitions of the seasoning process. It will lay down polymerized oil layers that resist sticking while cooking and allow easy cleaning. I love my stainless for eggs, fish, and single dish acidic sauce dishes. I seldom have a terrible clean up problem. Also use carbon and cast with good results.
I *love* my stainless! It's got an aluminum slug in its base, making it very efficient. As you say, they have their ways and once you learn them [they're super-easy to pick up] you can do amazing things. French omelettes done Jacques Pepin-style *without* using a teflon pan is easy enough. On the flip side: I love the Maillard I get on my meat from using stainless [leave it! leave it! leave it *alone!* ]. Wait till you get the heat, and you're golden.
I use my smaller 8 inch 5 all clad pan all the time and it's much easier to use than if I use it unseasoned. When I first got it getting eggs off was a pain and my pan was left unused for a couple of years. But I season my Lodge cast iron pan continually so I decided to treat the all clad as though it was my lodge pan. This means I season just about every time after use, I do it so much I can do the whole job in just minutes. The down side? My pan look brown and stained on the inside from the oil, but it behaves like a nonstick pan. The only important item to have is a good stove fan because if you don't your fire alarms are going to go off. I use the pan mostly for breakfast with veggies fried first then the eggs added for a veggie scrambled with old cheddar added. I'm not interested in the "sticky" bits. I am interested in an easier cleaning cooking experience. And if you are a newbie to seasoning either with a cast iron or all clad pan, season it about four times before you use it. You want a build up in the pan. Also when purchasing a Lodge cast iron pan they claim (and I believe them, I watched their video and saw the pans getting sprayed) their pans are pre-seasoned. They are but it isn't nearly enough. So with a cast iron I definitely season about 5 or 6 times before first use. I use Canola Oil.
I have been seasoning my old ceramic coated cast iron skillets for a long time. I use the quick method you are calling method 2. The ceramic coating like stainless steel is fairly smooth, and not porous. When I wash the pan the seasoning goes away. I think the reason reason cast iron and carbon steel develop longer lasting seasoning is two fold. 1st, we like our stainless steel to be shinny, so we are not ok with letting it get covered with the browner and stronger forms of polymerized oil that form with time and high heat. With cast iron, this seems to be not just more acceptable, but desired. 2nd, cast iron is more porous ( I don't really know about carbon steel) and so it is probably easier to get good adhesion of the seasoning. I suppose when you seasoned your All Clad pan that you were getting good seasoning adhering into the scratches and minor depressions. This aided in cleaning the pan. Another tip that is how to remove that pesky sticky gooey partially polymerized oil that can coat cookware that has been exposed to the splatter from cooking with oil and sitting for some time. Like those skillets hanging over the stove. Scrubbing with coarse salt helps a lot. I'm not sure if this is the abrasive quality or chemistry, or both. The salt idea just popped into my head the other day, and well, it worked.
Totally agree about seasoning CI vs SS. You hit the nail on the head. You also make a great point about salt and it’s cleaning power. I usually use salt on my CI. Thanks for watching.
@@bobwobbabble5151 I've soaked difficult burned on food on stainless steel in vinegar before. That works well overnight. A quick search says that citric acid is stronger. Thanks for the tip.
Excellent video. Never had issues before. The other day, i was prepping to cook eggs. Pan was preheating. My wife asked me to do something. It took way longer than i expected and i burnt the oil onto the pan. Scrubbing with green side of the sponge has barely put a dent to the burnt oil. Today, im going to try 2 things. Vinegar and then “bar keeper” in that order. We’ll see!
Also try those stainless steel scrubbers they are a game changer. And use the bar keeper's friend on a dry pan. My husband burnt my All Clad frying pan beyond recognition once, he felt so bad was going to throw it out and buy me a new one. I was able to get it too look like new again.
Thanks so much for these videos!!....I just treated myself to something I've always wanted; a nice quality (all clad) set of stainless steel cookware and I noticed in the comments on Amazon that quite a few people complained about food stickage so these videos and all these tips are really going to help. Thanks so much! 🤗🤗
I used a carbon steel pan for my daily breakfast French omelette for a few years. Perfect results every day… but I dedicated the pan for omelettes, never used it for anything else, so the seasoning remained intact and I only wiped it with a paper towel after it cooled down, and then it was ready for next morning, no water. About 2 months ago ( after seeing a video about stainless steel pan pans) I decided to test my old IKEA stainless pan that was laying around but not being used very much. Perfect, absolutely nonstick, but you have to preheat to the right temp to get a perfect result. The temperature should be slightly higher than for the carbon steel pan so the omelette is ready after just 30 - 40 seconds after you pour the eggs into the pan. If I don’t use the pan for something else, I just wipe it out with a paper towel as I did with the carbon steel pan and it’s ready for next morning. I am now using the stainless steel pan every day for my breakfast omelette. By the way, my stove is an induction stove.
great conclusion, very true from my experience "seasoning" stainless steel - still behaves like stainless (not truly non-stick) but cleaning is monumentally easier and make cooking on stainless far more enjoyable that cooking with "unseasoned" stainless. However, cleaning with soap and water is necessary with stainless in-between every cooking and a new seasoning but be applied every time. Also using barkeepers is necessary every once and a while to keep the surface free of superficial staining and splotches washing will never get out. Seasoning stainless fry pans (not ideal for pots that boil water) is the ultimate cooking game-changer.
I subscribed because you're willing to do a lot of tests and not just talk. However, the general rule with both cast iron and stainless steel is you don't use soaps because that will get rid of seasoning. I've found that to be 100% the case with cast iron. I took the manufacturer's instruction on my nickel-free stainless stockpot to wash and dry first(you should do this with anything to get rid of oils used in manufacturing), then season and let sit about for hours or overnight before first use, and then not only not use soaps/detergents, but don't use harsh scrubbers. All that done, that has worked very well for me and even my curries, soups, and stews left cooking overnight have resulted in no real sticking that I could not get off with a soap-less sponge. I don't think soaps/detergents are your friends AT ALL here.
When I learned to Season a skillet the person that taught me did not use oil. He placed salt in the pan and heated it until the salt turned brown. That was over 40 years ago and it worked then and still works for me today. Thanks for making the video. It brought back fond memories of the head Chef of the food services department in the hospital where I worked in my teenage years.
Cleaning SS is pretty easy. The main thing is that the surface is fairly indestructible, so you _can_ clean as aggressively as necessary, and with any product you want really. Although it will need polishing less often if you're careful. But you can re-polish as needed. Just give it one quick scrub with a brush to get your stains physically "thin". If needed, scrape it with something flat (rounded edges are a plus so you don't gouge the metal). Don't clean too much though. It's just a quick first pass. Then fill it with hot water, and like 1 drop of degreaser concentrate (the blue-ish purple sort, not the weak red-purple). Let it sit for a while. The stuff which is really burned in will lift off pretty easily. Best to do the cleaning prep right after cooking, and then come back and wash the soaked/degreased pan after dinner (or later in the day, whatever). A scraper and a brush is ideal for the first pass. You just want to get the burned on stuff "thin" so water can get into it down to the metal. Second pass, after a degreasing soak, is best with a scrub-pad of some kind. The key is that you don't spend 15 minutes scrubbing. You spend 1 minute, and then another 1 minute an hour later. Worst case, you put it down and let it soak again. Grease is the barrier to soaking effect. It insulates the burned on grime from being penetrated by water. Degreaser is key, water is key, time is key, effort is not key. Abrasives aren't needed, breaking through grease so water can turn stains into mush (with time) is needed. Even horribly burned in stains will turn to mush if cleaned right. I don't season them, even though it's recommended. Degreaser makes cleaning easy. But it eats away at a seasoned coating. Letting water & a grease-cutting agent have time to work is how you bulk-clean a hundred pans in a commercial setting. You'd be at work all night if you tried to just clean with maximum effort. Prep it, go do other stuff, come back. Same principal with floor mopping. Want a deep clean? Over-soak the floor, with something which cuts grease (harsher soaps, Dawn without lotion, degreaser, etc) let it sit, then just be sure to mop it up _before_ it dries. 2 passes, easy peasy. Mind your footing, soapy water is slick. Degreaser doubly so. If you have a cat, do an extra pass with just hot water at the end to lift off any soap residue. They lick off anything that gets on their fur, and it can't be good for them to lick up cleaning chemicals (or anything else, floor wax, bug spray, etc). Anything that gets _on_ a cat ends up in their stomach. Similarly, put a little tub of soapy water in the sink. And drop dirty silverware in it throughout the day. When you go to clean it, stuff just wipes right off. Abrasives = hard work, and more wear on the finish. Water cleans fantastically, so long as grease isn't preventing it from penetrating. Lower the cohesion of molecules so water can get through the grease, let it soak, wipe it up. Choose smooth silverware with a chrome-like polished finish, especially between the tines on the forks. A more mirror-finish SS is MUCH easier to clean. Just a less porous surface for stuff to stick to, kinda like glass. So in the end, scrubbing less and avoiding abrasives makes your stuff easier to clean for more years. Can always re-polish the surface with some jewler's polish & a power-tool buff though. So the lifespan on SS is infinite. You wanna see your face in the pan. Not a 'gloss' on top of uneven metal, i mean make the metal reflective. Make it look like chrome, not like glossy silver. Then nothing's gonna stick to it much. Nothing for "stuff" to grab onto. Most commercial SS cookware is not properly polished out of the box. But SS can be made to look very much like chrome. When it is, it cleans much like glass. Mind you, some products sold as SS aren't really SS. There's a wide range of metals sold as SS, and only some of them are actually any good. The stainless steel types which are used in surgical tools are best (for something you're going to wash routinely anyway). Avoid chinese metalurgy standards...
" 1 drop of degreaser concentrate (the blue-ish purple sort, not the weak red-purple)" Can you give this a name. I don't recognize it, and I'm somewhat color blind anyway. Or, will any hand dish soap do?
@@Percoola Uh, I'm not sure what the difference is chemically. I have seen "heavy duty degreaser" sold commercially and industrially both, and they _tend_ to come in two basic types. And unfortunately I only know tell them apart by color of the fluid. There's the orangey-red sort, and the violet-blue sort. The violet blue sort is vastly more potent at cutting through grease. It can actually be quite a skin irritant if not diluted. If you're red/green colorblind, then get the more bluish one. If totally colorblind, I dunno :) Basically the color of grapefruit juice vs. the color of grape soda (if those are distinguishable in a glass). Don't overpay though. in a supermarket the 'good' sort is much more expensive. But at a hardware store, you can find generic brands of the good stuff at a fraction of the price. Really anything which cuts through grease is the key though. Dawn dish soap would suffice. Basically any soap which leaves your hands feeling overly dried out is 'good' at being soap hehe. And soaps which leave your hands feeling comfortable are generally also too gentle at 'cleaning' ;) Almost all modern soaps are essentially grease-fighting agents. Ye olden lye soaps were a little different, they'd clean your skin by dissolving the top layer of skin off, so what's left is clean hehe. But modern soaps of almost all kinds are basically anti-grease, by way of reducing the cohesion of molecules of water when dissolved into it (which allows oil & water to 'mix', and thereby allows water to dissolve grease). So, the worse it dries out your hands, the more 'work' it's doing as a soap. 90% of cleanup of food stuff on pans & such is overcoming the greasy resistance of the gunk to dissolving in water. A pure burned-carbon stain isn't grease really anymore though, and takes some serious effort to remove. But ideally you're not burning food onto your cookware THAT much hehe. I just like the violet-purple degreaser concentrate, cuz you can get it cheaply by the gallon at hardware stores, and it only takes a tiny squirt (I just poke an itty bitty hole in the under-cap seal with a toothpick) to turn a whole sink full of hot water into a vat of doom for greasy gunk on dishes. Weaker soaps, you'd need to use more. But yeah, in a busy restaurant setting. You dump everything into hot water with a highly de-greasing soap, and just let it soak while you do other things. When you come back, most things come out of a dishwasher clean without any scrubbing. The ones that don't though (there's always a few stubborn ones), you can just toss back in the sink of hot water to soak again. Interestingly, if you use soap with insufficient grease-cutting potency, or just use too little soap, it can gradually cause your drains to clog up. If you can see beads of oil on the surface of your dish water, it doesn't have enough degreasing effect. I have sometimes added a tiny bit more degreaser to dish water after finishing cleaning, just because i saw that the oil had built up enough to start to overpower the degreasing effect (oil bubbles on the water), and I wanted to make sure that the pipes stayed clear long-term. Obviously, none of this is really compatible with the "seasoned" cookware thought process though. It's not the only approach. But I like to just use all glass & high-polish stainless steel (unseasoned). Just took the restaurant cleaning logic home with me after getting out of that line of work ;)
I have the mindset that if I had to season a SS pan in order to use it then I'd just stick to cast iron. Like you, I love cast iron but I got a All-Clad frying pan for Christmas and after a disaster with scrambled eggs, I have the pan mastered and I love it. I still use cast iron for certain things but I use the SS every single day and have never thought of seasoning it.
I honestly just bought a decent 10" nonstick with good overall reviews and a 12" stainless. I use the stainless for everything except eggs basically.. I don't see a point in trying to season something that's meant to have certain properties. For example I'll slowly cook some eggs and cream cheese in the nonstick and toast bread/tomatoes in the stainless and voila. Cast iron is cool, especially if you use it with higher heat/lol and dry it relatively often. Carbon steel... I guess if you want a lighter than cast iron pan without the potential brittleness of it being cast iron I'd go for it. I'm guessing the oxidation of carbon steel helps with polymerized oil adherence to some degree. I wonder if you could just abrade a stainless pan and build up an equal quality seasoning to cast iron or carbon steel. I'm ranting.
Eggs and hamburger patties are the most common thing I cook in my pans. I float everything on a thick layer of high quality butter and never have a problem. Temperature control is important. Moderate your temperatures and take things slower. Also, I think soap strips and fouls some very flavorful elements worth keeping for your next meal. Hot steamy water to remove stuck on food I think is best.
Stuff sticking to stainless steel is the norm for me. I might soak and/or use a stainless steel mesh (not steel wool but the thicker mesh) followed by scotch brite and then dishwasher, maybe handwash. Sometimes I might just dishwasher it but it might require followup. In addition, I generally prefer stainless because I don't have to worry about damaging or overheating a non-stick coating. I can abuse it, scrub the crap out of it til it's clean, then use it again. No special care required. Maybe that'll change if I learn how to make things not stick to it.
Something I noticed about your All-Clad is when you put the egg in, it wanted to go towards the edge. Mine isn't flat - there's a slight hump in the middle. I've had two like that. Recently purchased a two pan set from Costco which are flat, cook more even, and are feeling great.
Looking forward to your next stainless steel video... I have been using my stainless steel to make stock just by lightly pan frying proteins on the skillet and get the full flavor of the fond into the broth... Very helpful when making congee in my opinion... And cleaning was not a big problem after watching some good advise including yours before using it like this... Thank you 😊
For burnt on, caked stuff on the bottom of a pot or pan, the boiling water is great but a few tablespoons of baking powder added to the water really helps!
@@tomwadek You might be tempted to add a bit of dish soap but I don't recommend it, unless you plan to constantly watch the pot because it will boil over!
Did the result surprise you? According to the poll, the majority thought temperature control is more important (agreed). I tried to make this very controversial topic a fun video. Hope you all enjoyed it.
The result somewhat surprised me. Clearly, once you clean a stainless pan with soap, any coating will be compromised. You'd need to periodically re-season it. Prior to seeing this, I used the Epicurious method, which only specified 1/8" of vegetable oil. I haven't used the pan since, so we'll see. For a better controlled test, both pans should be the same brand. Maybe part of what made the All-Clad easier to clean is that it's just a better skillet?
I seasoned my SS with it real clean. After using a SS pan, I clean it with real hot water but NO soap on the inside (I use soap on the outside), and dry it. Sometimes I do have to let SS soak for awhile before cleaning. My SS pans are less sticky, and cleaning is fast.
Great work bro, do a experiment video or Do's/Dont's on cooking Acidic food in Cast iron and carbon steel, I am sure many people got lot of questions on that... Thanks
20 years ago I bought Tupperware Chef series non stick pots and pans. About 5 years in the non stick coating started to peel. I sent them back to Tupperware and they replaced(no cost) with stainless steel. I love my cookware but I do use cast iron every so often.
it doesn't matter if you spend a million dollars or 5 dollars the 316 stainless is the same on both sets. they will react the same on the surface, the difference in the pan is in the thickness and layers to give a more even heat distribution
Yup. I happened to be in Big Lots one day and saw a 3 ply ss 10" pan for $20. For shits and giggle I bought it and it was just as good as my All Clad as far as cooking and cleaning. The thing will All Clad is there is no seam between the inside and outside of the pan and the sides seem a little thicker. The cheaper pan definitely had a seam where the 3 play was on the bottom and the sides were not noticeably thicker. And the real kicker for me is it has a comfortable handle unlike the All Clad.
I cook on a restaurant-style stainless steel grill (cooking surface about 30” x 16” with three coils built in). After it has been thoroughly cleaned with a grill brick, it looks like new and has stripped away any seasoning-and it tends to stick. However, after multiple uses, during which a patina-like surface develops, sticking is greatly reduced. Easy cleaning is accomplished with a thin blade and oil with paper towel while the grill still is hot. Eventually the surface becomes too dark and smokes and sticks (maybe because I make pancakes with sugar), and I need to use a grill brick to return to a new-ish surface.
I grew up having to wash those stainless steel pans and despised them for all of the work they put me through. When I grew up, I bought the Teflon non-stick pans for years and years..... until, of course, all this stuff about how the finish would cause cancer came out. So then I jumped aboard the cast iron bandwagon, but dang those suckers are heavy. So then I tried some of the newer non-stick finishes out there at the same time I was trying to teach myself how to stir fry. Non-stick + high temps. Yeah.... that's good for you, not to mention that the non-stick finish went away after the first high-temp adventure. So then I sucked it up and bought the stainless steal and what do you know-- 71 years of age and I find out that a simple thing like waiting until the pan's hot, combined with finally knowing what it is to deglaze a pan (hot water into a hot pan you talked about) is solving all my stainless steel issues. On the other hand, did you give your pan a fair shake? Did you do enough of the seasoning?Did you re-oil the hot pan after each use until you got several layers onto it? I find myself still curious, but not as obsessed after watching the video.... so thanks for that. :)
Thank you for sharing your real world experience. I’m glad you enjoyed my video. For me, it always goes back to the fundamentals and I did this video to highlight exactly what your talking about. Sometimes we get caught up in the next greatest trick and forget the simplest of things like making sure the pan is hot. Thanks again for sharing. Happy cooking.
I have cast iron cookware and a carbon steel flat griddle like you see in a diner with gas burners under it. I don't have any stainless cookware so I've never seasoned any, obviously. When I season my cast iron and carbon steel I think I may be doing it a little differently than you did. Maybe my way will give you a different result with your stainless steel. I use corn oil because it has a nice high smoke point without being too expensive. I will put my cast iron in the oven at 400 degrees F to open the pores, then I take it out and put a few drops of oil on it and, after spreading it around, do my best to rub every bit of it off of the skillet or whatever. There will still be oil on the surface, no matter how I try, but that super thin film is all that will ever be in contact with the cooking surface even if I fill the skillet with oil. Next I set the cast iron on the stove top burner until it starts smoking. Next I remove it, wait 'til it stops smoking, add a few drops of oil, wipe it like I did before, trying to remove it all, almost buffing it, then back on the burner 'til it smokes. With new cookware it may take as many as 4 of these cycles, but 2 is usually enough for just touching up the seasoning. Some will do this in the oven but I have found that it generates much less smoke in the house doing it on the stove top after the pre-heat and it takes waaay less time. Finally I put it in the 400 degree oven and shut the oven off and let it all cool down to room temperature. With the carbon steel gas griddle top I turn on the burners, let to plate heat up to 400 rub a little oil on it buff it off as completely as I can and turn up the heat 'til I get smoke. Next I spread oil, rub it all off, heat 'til it smokes, turn it off, recoat on and on until it looks a little darker and call it good. I keep a cotton bandanna sightly moistened with corn oil in a zip lock bag under the sink to wipe down my cook ware before I put it away. The cast iron will usually be a little hot because I always throw it on a burner for a minute if I have to use a little water to clean it. I want it to be dry and putting it on the stove top is a good way to insure that and while the pores are open rubbing a little oil on will prevent rust. Anytime I add oil I will rub with a cloth or paper towel to try to remove every bit that I can. That is the secret to not having gummy cast iron and eliminates the need to invert your stuff in the oven. I don't know if this will work on stainless but it sure works with cast iron and carbon steel.
Hi John, I have a video on seasoning carbon steel and cast iron. This video was following the suggested seasoning for stainless steel. I didn’t find it necessary to season ss but rather to focus more on temperature control. Thanks for watching. How To Season Your Carbon Steel or Cast Iron Skillet | What Removes Pan Seasoning? ruclips.net/video/n3dcpQ9aTr4/видео.html
I have used stainless steel for decades... to clean light debris, a stainless steel scrubber gets it off easy. It helps to clean the skillet while it is still warm. If things are really stuck, you just fill it with water, bring it to a boil, turn off the heat and go eat your meal. After your meal, it all comes out easy. You can even add a squirt of dish liquid when boiling if you want but I've found it mostly unnecessary. The hardest food to cook in any skillet are eggs... sunny side up or over easy. Scrambled are super easy in any skillet so that isn't a good thing to show as an example... let me see you do over easy... that's a fair test of your 'skills' LOL
I've got 4 skillets I use regularly one cast iron, two stainless and one nonstick. My favorite is the larger stainless and my least favorite is the nonstick.
It's not splatter from oil... It's the greasy steam from whatever you are cooking that floats up and onto your pans. That's why I hate open concept kitchens, they get grease all over your home, and belongings.
So I'm wondering how durable the seasoning has ended up being after using it more. Does the dish detergent quickly eat away at it and cause you to have to reseason the pan frequently? If so, how many cleanings can you do before the next pan seasoning is required, to retain the quality of the pan being easier to clean? Edit: Oh and I recall in another video for cast iron pans a manufacturer saying that flax seed oil was the best for creating a durable seasoning. I'm not sure if the best oil for stainless steel is also flax, but it might be one factor to consider in these tests.
For ci or cs the season is different and hold up a lot better. Once you have good seasoning, soap will not harm it. I always wash my iron skillets with soap and water with no issues. The seasoning really bonds. With ss, the seasoning is stripped pretty easily. I don’t see a need to season ss but rather just focus on the fundamentals like temperature control.
HI TOM, so my husband is a maintenance man at an apartment complex and when he was doing a make ready in one of the apartments he found a set of 3 stainless steel fry pans and brought them home. they do not have a name on them but the do have 5 dots on the bottoms and where the handle connects to the pan, anyway, i was wondering how to find out what the brand is because i actually enjoy cooking on them (still trial and error but enjoy using them) and am thinking about getting pots as well. thw dots are like 3 on top and two below that. dont know how to attach a pic.
Well, technically, it does make it more non-stick. As you said, it was easier to clean after cooking, which means the carbon and build-up from cooking did not attach to the stainless as hard as it normally does, so I would have to conclude that it helps keep the food from sticking into the pores and scratches in the stainless making it just a little more non-stick and easier to clean
A key factor to consider is the type of fat used. Butter or ghee will give you much better results than oil when frying an egg or making an omelette for example. I have a non stick pan which is over 5 years old and cooking eggs in this pan compared to a stainless steel pan of the same age and make is a disaster. A stainless steel pan will last for decades but a pan with a non stick coating starts to degrade significantly after a few years and becomes useless. After years of experience with stainless steel, understanding temperature control and the importance of using the right fat, I will never buy a non-stick pan again.
actually America's Test Kitchen did a test and found that oil outperformed butter. Reason being that butter has a high water content. Ghee would be preferable to butter, or an oil/butter mix if you want butter for the flavor.
What I'd like to know is if it's seasoned is it more forgiving if not heated enough for the amateur stainless steel chefs among us. Or the other question is if it creates less fond if seasoned.
Great topic Tom! I've tried these tricks too... I haven't found the "sweet spot" to season them. I prefer a super clean from scratch surface (i.e. barkeeper's friend and pre-heated) myself. Great content as always!
I am with you on that one. I am not a professional cook so I am not using my skillets all day long and I take pride in the fact that they look almost new.
Seasoning method #2, roughly, has worked better for me. This is what I tried with carbon steel or cast Iron pans. I had tried at first, something like method #1. What happened was that it ended up with a way too thick coating of oil that could not and did not really polymerize. What I ended up with was a pan that was relatively nonstick, but with a seasoning layer that was not durable and would flake off. The pan never really got a good cooking ability, and it looked like hell. In my opinion, for whatever it is worth, I think that seasoning a pan is something like using spray paint. Usually, on the back of the can, they say something like "several thin coats are better than one thick coat".
Lol! I love the paint can analogy! The thing about ss is that when you do wash the pan ( because you’ll need to clean the fond left over) you’ll end up stripping the seasoning anyways. Where as with carbon still or cast iron, the fond left over is way easier to wash away and can often times be wiped away. My personally opinion is stainless steel probably get little benefits from seasoning. It’s better to focus on mastering temperature control and the fundamentals. Thanks for watching.
Hello Tom, your videos are great and very helpful. Just discovered your channel after I got myself my first stainless steel frying pan. Followed your advice on preheating the pan (leidenfrost method), then adding room temperatur ghee and heating it untill shimmering before adding room temperatur eggs (or fish fillet, pork chop etc.) and had very good results. I have used that Tramontina pan (made in brazil) already about seven times But twice out of the seven times, while heating it up on a small to medium gas flame, it made a very loud banging/popping sound, which I found quite frightening. Do you have any explanation why this happened? Could the pan be faulty or did I do something wrong? Greetings from Sri Lanka
Hi, I don’t think you did anything wrong. If it’s a multiple layered ss pan then it may be faulty and when the metals are contracting or expanding, it’s making that sound. I would contact the manufacture and mention it. It doesn’t sound normal.
@@tomwadek Wow Tom, thanks for beeing so generous with your time and answering me this quick! Yeah, it happened again yesterday when preparing a barramundi fillet - twice even, first the usual loud bang, followed by a second less intenisive one, while heating up the pan on low flame. Fish turned out wonderful and nothing got stuck in the pan. But I just don't feel comfortable to continue with this pan - hopefully I will be able to get it changed to a new one. I will keep you posted on this matter. Thanks again.
@@ingridexel5525 The popping sounds usually mean the three-layer base isn't right. Probably a faulty device. I've used many tramontina pans in the past and had one replaced because of that.
Thanks a lot for this video but here at home it does not work. How often i must season a atainless steel pan? Before every use? And how shall i clean it after use? Have big trouble with codfish: every time it sticks and does not release after one and a half minute like a steak does. It is like i would have used glue to fix it. The same with eggs: creating an egg sunny side up is impossible, it always leads to scrambled eggs. Only steaks become fine. Must i buy a new stainless steel pan? Please help me!
Everytime I decide to give stainless another shot, I always ask myself WHY afterwards😬? Can you tell me if the only perk in using stainless is fond? Because if thats it, then the only time I should be using it is when I want to make sauce or gravy after cooking the main event, correct? I love my anodized cookware for every part of the cooking + cleaning. Tks for the video
The older I get, the more I reach for my ss. I love as because it can do it all. It takes time to adjust to ss because of the learning curve but once you do learn to use it, you’ll be a better cook.
@@tomwadek point taken. Tell me this then..my mom had a ss we refered to as the EGG pan. Can you tell me how to cook eggs easy over rather than yolk well done. Tks in advance 👍
@@michelleaw1325 I have a few videos that will help you. Check out my ss playlist. The trick is all about temp control. Start with a properly preheated pan, the Leidenfrost effect will help you there, then oil, and lower the temp when the eggs go in. Lift the pan off the burner and monitor the temps. Ss heat up and cools down very quickly. ruclips.net/p/PLo3QpFeM5ior8rRSWdC2Wzl_FqXb4RfD2
I have a Conolon saute pan,a pressed steel omelette pan,a pressed steel large frying pan and two cast iron 10” frying pans, When they’re worn out I might try Stainless Steel again !
I was having trouble on an old Calphalon skillet. Not until I polished it inside with 0000 steel wool did it do right. It had fine pitting throughout the bottom before. Not sure if it was from iron crystals in the metal or acid attack from cooking peppers in it long ago. Anyway, the oil coats and no bare spots or beading. They tell you not to steel wool a pan, but I'm guessing Brillo or scouring pads are much coarser. The fine 0000 did the trick for me.
Excluding my cast iron, I clean my pots and pans by taking them outside, filling them with Dawn and water, and leaving them overnight. The next day, everything falls out. On rare occasions that I still have some stubborn areas, I have a cordless drill with a long nylon bristle brush that I can use to remove the rest quickly. Garden hose clean, and there you go. Nothing went down the kitchen sink, & the pots didn't scratch or mark the sink either. I learned long ago that if you use corn starch, keep it from going down the sink. Corn starch is brutal on plumbing. Fats and grease all go outside.
Check out my latest video on all the different ways to clean stainless steel pans!
All The Different Ways To Clean Stainless Steel Cookware
ruclips.net/video/qNAqS9MP5OE/видео.html
true, thicker butted pan
gets clean easier
A quick way to clean your stainless steel is to just add hot water to the pot, add a bit of baking soda and a pinch of dishsoap. Let it rest for about 5-10 mins, use a scrapper and it just comes off like butter.
I used to do exactly this with my old roommate's stainless pans. I even got a plastic scraper because she was SO sure I was going to scratch her pans. 😄
@@Kalleron I use the plastic scrapper that you use to take get the last bit of cake mix from the bowl, works well.
or just cold water and vinegar and let sink in
@@mywordsmyhandleAlkalis like baking soda work better than acids for removing burnt on food
The spray dish soaps are magic on burnt foods, even too good. Used it on my cast iron and needed a full re-season
My grandmother cooked for a living and started teaching my 2 siblings and I how to cook when we were in elementary school in the 1960's. She had cast iron and stainless steel pots & pans we better not burn anything in them. I also bake a little bit but not as well as Grandmother. There are some dishes my wife won't eat unless I cook them and I think she's a lot better cook. Since I've been medically retired from driving for a living I've been able to get my cooking skills back up. We generally cook from scratch in my house and being a Diabetic and heart patient that's a good thing. At my last doctor's appointment I wasn't chastised for anything for a change which surprised me. One of the best things in life that I was taught was how to cook. We also have 3 woks. On active duty I learned some things from the cooks we had and when overseas I liked to go to restaurants where I could watch the cooks to see how they did it. My wife has finally stopped asking me where did I learn how to do certain things and she doesn't mind when I'm in the kitchen cooking.
I've been cleaning pans with steel wool for about 50 years which works better than plastic.
I'm sending your video to my stepsister who I think needs it.
Thank you for sharing. Your grandmother sounds like an awesome person. I wish you good health and happy cooking
My favorite pan passed down from my mom- a “wolfgang puck” stainless steel pan. It’s at least 20 years old. Best pan I have by far!
my parents got a stainless steel pan about 30 years ago but never got the hang of using it, one day I noticed it laying in storage barely getting any use, but I have developed the skills to use it since then.
That's wonderful! keep at it. SS is a great tool to have.
Here is a little 411 on stainless, before first use/seasoning take your pan to some one that does metal polishing and tell them you want a #8 mirror finish on it. That will give you an RA (roughness average) of about 1 or less microinches. A run of the mill satin finish stainless pan has a 30-39 RA finish that is about 1500 microinches. May look and feel pretty smooth but its far from it. All "seasoning" does is lay down a hardened coating of oil that fills in all the peaks an troughs, and provides a "very" smooth surface, it is all the asperities that get hot and grab on to the food and cause sticking. In a former life I did a good bit of polishing of various metals so I do this for myself. If you really wanted to go TOP DRAWER you could get your stainless electropolished, god only knows how much that would cost, but I am pretty damn sure nothing would stick to it no matter how hot you get it.
Or you could take yourself down to Home Depot and for $30 or so get a polishing kit and whale a way on it a good bit. Use the green stick and the stiffest buff (or a 3" close stitched sisal wheel) then go to a softer buff and the brown compound. Keep after it till you can't stand the sight of that pan and you will likely have a damn smooth non-stick surface to cook on.
Thanks for the suggestion and for watching, happy cooking!
This is what the difference between the Amazon Basics and the higher price All Clad pan was in this test. The more expensive pan was smoother from the factory. The difference was minimal but enough to notice during clean up. We season metals that are rough like cast iron, we do not need to season smoother stainless. In the end, the more smooth the metal the more likely any layer of oil will be wiped off after cleaning so seasoning stainless is a waste of effort.
A good example of this is commercial stainless steel griddles. They are "never" seasoned. They are also cleaned with heavy harsh chemicals daily so any effects of seasoning from normal usage are nullified.
@@brianjohnson9584 Excellent points! I really think focusing on temperature control will get most people the results they are looking for with SS. Happy Cooking!
Your idea appeals to me quite a bit. While reading through a couple ideas occurred to me. One was to finish off the #8 mirror with Jeweler's Rouge. The second was to do a "Cold Steel" dip into liquid Nitrogen to align the cells. This idea comes from Cold Steel knives which are almost legendary for their ability to hold an extremely fine edge and take some pretty brutal abuse.
@@tomwadek
i have been cooking on stainless my entire life, my parents bought AMC pots and pans in the 70s, they still use the same pots and pans today. I have cooked on mine for decades, too. I have since discovered a love of cast iron, but my stainless stuff is going nowhere. truly an investment for life. just learn to preheat your pans, same for cast iron and stainless.
Agreed. Thanks for sharing. Happy cooking
Any other tips? 😬 I am getting rid of all my Teflon pans and just today got me some stainless steel pans and I almost return them because I keep reading they are non stick.. 😅 seems complicate it
Try them all and keep the ones you love. I’m a career firefighter and I also cook for my family of five on a regular basis. I’ve developed some very good recipes that would cost 30 bucks in a restaurant that I can accomplish in 20 minutes I’m talking taking the groceries out of the bags, cutting the skin off of salmon, whatever entire meal start to finish 20 minutes, but I have to know my cookware first. Oh well season cast iron pan should look like a mirror that you can comb your hair in when you put it up for the night. It should also sit on an electric surface without rocking the pans from the turn of the century, that way the third of all the lodge does are the special ones. But a good stainless pan with a copper coil or layered aluminum will always heat more consistently and be able to see her proteins quicker and more easy but I’m telling you right now if you’ve never had a true French omelette then you’ve never tasted an egg and the best French omelettes are made with Teflon pans.
@@yennyjen5742 once you get used to them they’re wonderful. They don’t wear out like the Teflon so you can keep your favorite and not replace it.
@@yennyjen5742 its takes a while to get a knack for cooking in stainless but what I do it heat the pan with oil in it and I use an infrared thermometer to check temp. Once it hits around 320-400 range its perfect and eggs won't stick in there. If I'm using butter I use the color of the butter to determine when its ready (brownish).
You can also do the mercury ball test which involves a drop of water being added to the pan. It will then bounce around in the pan. Pretty cool. Sometimes I spit in the pan and play with my spit 🤣
I was intimidated by stainless steel for years. I finally decided that I just needed to learn how to use it better. Pre-heating and getting that mercury effect is helpful. I was also letting foods get too hot. I achieved better results at lower temperatures and with patience than trying to get foods cooked quicker. I replaced all of our old non-stick cookware with stainless steel except our flat, square pan. That’s more due to a larger surface area for breads than the type.
That’s wonderful to hear. You rarely need to go above medium heat with ss. Thanks for watching. Happy cooking!
@@tomwadek Just throw out stainless and buy a real pan and season it!
@@tomwadek but what if you want your food to brown well just below starting to burn without overcooking like a rare steak or well roasted asparagus that are still aldente you need high heat.
@@JazzyScat proper preheating will help you get good browning. Also making sure you pat your steak dry before browning to remove surface moister. When you preheat your skillet, temperatures can reach 500F. Adding in your oil and allowing that to properly heat just before smoking will get your steak perfectly browned. It’s all about temp control and understand how your pan reacts. Ss conducts heat well and the aluminum in a 3 ply make it very responsive.
@@tomwadek so I can use high heat but need to put the food in when it reaches the start of the oil smoking a little bit to avoid sticking?
I been cooking for 35 years and i just learned so much from you !!! Thank you !!!
Glad I could help! Thanks for your support
I think it largely depends on the quality of the pans. I hated stainless for years, because I had cheap, crappy pans. I inherited some very expensive stainless pans, and I'm absolutely in love with them. I don't season them, and nothing sticks. I think it has to do with the thickness. A thin pan gets cold when you add food, and food sticks to a cold pan. A really thick pan stays hot, and thus doesn't stick.
Thanks for watching. Happy cooking!
What brand of stainless steel pans did you inherit?
@@Citizenesse8 All-Clad
While cooking with my Alll-Clad, meats stick until they're ready to turn and then release for the perfect sear.
All clad is what he is using in the video
Ive been hoping to find a genuinely informative cooking channel on youtube for years. I found your channel! Thanks for posting such great content!
Bob, I really appreciate that. Thank you so much for your support. I have more great videos to come next year! Happy Holidays and a New Year to you and your loved ones.
When my SS pan has stuck on food, I cover whatever is stuck on with water, add some dish soap and set the pan aside till next morning then into the sink it goes for a wash, the stuck isn't stuck anymore. For eggs I either use my stove's griddle well lubricated or my wife's 30 year old German cast iron pan with the annoying rotating wooden handle.
We purchased our set of Kirkland SS, in 2012. I never thought about "seasoning" them and have never had any problems with stubborn, stuck on food. They clean up beautifully and still look good.
That’s wonderful!
Wow, this video is way more informative than I initially thought! 😂 Too much good information! I'm on day 2 of using a second hand Calphalon stainless steel pan. The first day, I made two over easy eggs that stuck to the pan and the third attempt I basically fried the hell out of it with too much oil. Earlier today I took my time, let the pan pre heat on medium low for about 3 mins then added a little oil and a small amount of butter, let that sizzle for a minute, turned the heat to low and cracked the egg into said pan. It came out perfect! With the ole nonstick I'd add a little oil, turn the fire on to medium, let it heat up for about 2 mins, add the egg, let cook for a bit and done. It was too easy. Unfortunately those crappy T-fal nonstick pans started turning to sh!t and I decided to replace em with stainless steel! When I worked as a line cook we used stainless.. so I just gotta get back into the groove of it.. hopefully. Over easy eggs are a go to for my son and I. We'll keep practicing on the stainless and maybe get a cast iron in the near future. Thank you for this amazing video! It's greatly appreciated. 🍳
I’m glad I could help! Ss is all about temperature control. You’re on the right path, keep it up!
Great video Tim thanks!
I recently discovered this seasoning technique:
Apply an oil to pan and then try to remove it with paper towel. This leaves a microscopic layer of oil. Then heat on a medium low heat and don’t allow it to smoke! Give it about fifteen minutes and let it cool to room temperature. You’re basically polymerizing the oil to the pan by drying the oil out! Results with my carbon steel is great!🙏
I just came across your visor at 4 AM - can’t sleep. Tomorrow I’ll be seasoning my stainless steel.
I like to grill pork chops, right on the pan, no grease or oil. I then dump a can of Pork-n-beans on top of them. The beans make getting all that stuck on stiff so easy. And they taste good together like this.
When I simply cook in the skillet, I use my metal square spatula to scrap stuff off the surface then clean it. I’ve had this same SaladMaster set of pots and pans since 1974. They still look great.
I’m glad to hear you are enjoying the channel! Ss is incredibly versatile but unforgiving. You have to be careful with your temperatures and properly preheat it. I have a few videos to help with that. Otherwise, ss can do it all and be incredibly nonstick too.
I'm Going To Help You Properly Preheat Your Pan
ruclips.net/video/MH7JMXWSgv4/видео.html
Such a helpful video! I had been using the cheap toxic non-stick pans my entire life and have now been on a mission to eliminate toxins and chemicals from my home. I'm just about to buy a stainless steel set of pots plus another larger stainless steel saute pan and it's the cleanup of it that's been holding me back. This has answered so many questions and has taught me more about how to actually use stainless steel. Excited to try now!
Thank you! That was my goal was to help inspire people to give ss and try. Keep me updated and happy cooking!
I spray my cast iron and stainless steel with Pam and heat it then add my oil, it helps. I do take good care of my cast iron, I clean it by heating it up and use a spatula and scrap off any stuck on , clean it, oil, heat it again to seal and wipe out it out.
Should you use SOS pads or similar for cleaning? It cleans really fast.
He's absolutely correct...for baked on pan residue..water to boiling with is enough..and just scour with barkeepers friend to restore shine..like new!!
Hi Tom, I think you are spot on. It is true that oil, onion (sulfuric acid) and heat (400+) creates a very thin polymerized surface however it only lasts 1-2 uses and can be easily washed away. As you stated learning to use your stainless can produce almost the same result. Treating a pan has rapidly dimishing
returns. Time is better spent doing what we like best, that’s cooking 🍳 Great video, Ciao
Thank you. I did a follow
Up to this video and found the same results. ruclips.net/video/qOSxRcUquKc/видео.htmlsi=mTrNSCdg_1bxl4aJ
Wow - I read the description information below your video - it's kismet! I literally JUST picked up 2 beautiful "Amazon Commercial" SS skillets for next to nothing at my local thrift store! These babies look like they'll last a lifetime, so of course I wanted to know - like cast iron - how to make them as non-stick as possible. Oh, and I'm also trying to steer clear of chemical-based non-stick pans as well. So happy to have found this video. I will follow your instructions to "season" my new pans to see how they function tomorrow morning...for breakfast! 👍🍳
I’m pretty new at using stainless steel, but really wanted to try it. I’m a disabled senior with a fixed income, so replacing nonstick pans every few years can really add up. I found a nice 10” with a lid at my thrift store for $7 & I’m still on my learning curve in the cooking with this. But I have to say, as many times as I’ve burnt food in it, my Barkeepers soft scrub works like a champ. I just rinse whatever’s loose out of it, put in enough Barkeepers soft scrub to make a like a paste. Sometimes I have to us the dry Barkeepers if I’ve left in too much water, but the biggest is getting the paste substance. Using just a couple dry paper towels, scrub maybe a minute, three at the most, rinse and shines like new!
One of the other reasons I decided to try stainless steel is because I really enjoy cooking & making my own sauces from scratch. Nonstick pans have never worked for me leaving any little bits to work with. Which is why I still have my grandmother’s old cast iron pan & her old dutch oven that weighs almost as much as my 6 month old grandbaby.
That’s the beauty of cooking. Learning new things and creating delicious food. Cheers!
My all clad d3 I tried that follow that floating water drop . I set the stove top to medium it took 10 min to the floating water drop . Very cool love my SS . I did the fried egg thing and again pre heated the pan then put the butter in and a little oil and the eggs slid right out of the pan . Great video
Glad I could help! I’m glad your enjoying your ss skillet. Thanks for watching! Happy cooking!
I am from Australia and I just bought my clad stainless steel pots and pans and I would like to thank you for your video is so helpful.... Thanks Mate and God bless you! ❤😊❤
Hot pan, cold oil = food won’t stick. My fave all around pan/pot is my 6 qt. Le Creuset French Oven for searing, which works perfectly for dishes requiring roux or making sauces and is easy clean. I use my Lodge griddle almost every day which is super easy to care for: coat with oil and/or clean when necessary. I recently bought a Ballarini 10” non-stick fry pan and it’s amazing with tender dishes that don’t require searing like seafood and cheese, with super-easy cleanup. I have 3 different All-Clad skillets for searing large cuts of meat or sautéing large quantities of veggies, 1 of which is an 6”non-stick for easy scrambled eggs. It’s fun to discuss pots and pans. Why hurt yourself trying to make one pan do it all? :)
:-)
The non stick is toxic fyi
I've heard this phrase used a lot, "Hot pan, cold oil, never stick." But what does it mean, exactly? You get the pan to its proper preheat temp, then add cold oil, then immediately add the protein, or do you add cold oil, wait for it to come to temp, then add the protein ?
@@michaelbarbone9310you have to put the food directly after the cold oil!!! It creates a temp shock effect that will creates by force air pockets that will creates a non stick result!!! By the time the oil and food cook, the air is trapped , and when you’ll flip afterwards , the ideal temperature will be achieved and will still be non stick from the original trick
@@OhWanya Thank you.
Very cool to see our suggested seasoning method featured here! Our stance on it has maybe changed a bit. Temporary seasoning can help if you're planning to cook something where you *really* want the pan to behave in a nonstick way. But by far the more important factor is your actual cooking technique - heat control, when you add your oil/fat, and how much oil/fat you add - that's what will really determine whether you'll get some sticking and fond or not.
Thanks for commenting. I completely agree, temp control and focusing on the fundamental will be the better options in the long run.
I agree with you 100%, best advice ever. "...actual cooking technique - heat control, when you add your oil/fat, and how much oil/fat you add..."
Not sure if a wok or cast iron pan would agree with you guys there. The seasoning has to be done at the maximum temperature you will cook at, and not washed too much.
fond is bottom. I don't understand what english people mean when they misuse this french word.
@@pablo321123 Fond is the carbonized residue left on the *bottom* of the pan.
In those two seasoning methods, method 1 sounds like a great way to make a gooey, sticky varnish layer on the pan. Method 2 seems far more reasonable. With cast irons, too, I'll usually buff the inside the cooking surface with paper towel while seasoning to make sure it's as little oil as possible.
I have a set of health craft stainless steel pots and pans for over 30 years now. I seasoned the 8 in pan with lard, only a little bit and buff it when done. Seasoned it 3 times. My eggs literally float around the pan. I have not washed the pan with soap in years. All I do is buff it again while slightly warm with paper towels. It stays shiny and clean like I just scrubbed it with barkeepers friend.
I never even thought to season my stainless. I might give it a shot at some point, but there doesn't seem to be much need. Treating anything that sticks as fond has worked really well for me, and doesn't significantly add to cleanup time.
I agree, glad I could help. Happy cookin!
I oil and heat my stainless steel like you describe before use and then stick it in a dishwasher to clean it. It comes completely clean every time with no manual cleaning/ scrubbing.
Thanks for sharing!
I've always used a little water, dish soap, and vinegar in the cleaning boil. Bring it to boil, take off heat and let it cool. Wipes out easily. Also love cast iron, is a must for pan fried steaks.
Yup, I usually boil some water and it’s good as new. Thanks for watching. Happy cooking
Vinegar is the key. The acid breaks down the proteins from meat, beans, anything. After drying, if there is any clouding, let pure vinegar sit for an hour or so and sparkling clean stainless is the result.
I have an All-Clad Stainless Steel Copper Core 5-Ply Bonded 12" Fry Pan coming today and will use the light oil seasoning you recommend. I will also treat it the way I do my Carote cookware by seasoning it after drying on the stove, with light oil. That works fine for cast iron pans too.
This is interesting. I'm sure some people will find it useful and I enjoyed the test. The reason I use stainless rather than cast iron or carbon is I don't want to mess with seasoning my skillets. I also make good use of fond quite often so I think I'll just do what I've been doing.
Thank you. I thought so too. I made a follow up video to this because it was so controversial 😂. Check it out
Does Seasoning a Stainless Steel Pan Make It Truly Non-Stick?
ruclips.net/video/qOSxRcUquKc/видео.html
Hey man! I loved when you said you’ve grown in to stainless steel! Story of my life 😂
I loved cooking since I was 12 yo. When young all I used was Teflon cookware, non stick, easy to use, easy to maintain. My first time with SS was not the happy one. I’ve got so frustrated the everything became a mess that it made me hate it for quite a while. But during collage I was doing a part time as bartender in very classy fine dine restaurant, since in the day time hours it was not to busy I had a lot of time burn. I used it to talk whit chefs, just watching them prepare food was a one time life experience!
All they every used (besides thermomix 😂, damn thing is in every fine dine restaurant in the world 😂) was stainless steel, watching them, noticing how creative can you be with ss was amazing. So I made a second attempt, since than all I ever use in the kitchen is stainless steel, and ofc a thermomix 😅 (a pice of advice, get a tm3, all the ones made after are pretty much shit for a suburban house wife with lots of cosmic tesla/nasa functions that interrupt your cooking proces instead of helping).
I bearly do the seasoning, and I don’t have a sticking problem. As to cleaning, everything always comes off nicely, sometimes with worse kind of burnt residue I just put a tiny layer of water and leave it for 10-15min. With an extreme residue I fill the pan with water and boil a moment.
But with leaving the water in a pan you have to make sure that you rinsed it generously to have as less salt on it ass possible, as salt/water exposure in a long run can make you’re ss prone to rust.
As to pans/skillets/woks/pots, I’ve used a culinary products like hendi etc. probably due to the chefs I was talking to ;) I wanted to use everything they were using. But I went UK for period of 5 months. Obviously I did not want to take my kitchenware with me as it’s cheaper to buy it there than to bring it on a plane with you.
And I went to ikea there, and bought a pot, skillet and a souce pan, all steinless steal.
To my surprise… they were a really great quality, non stick, easy to clean. And since then I mainly use ikea.
Try it, you would be surprised:)
Great comment. Thanks for sharing your journey. Ss really is one of the most versatile tools in the kitchen and clad ss with different material levels can really make ss perform in different ways. I actually just made a video on nonstick pans and why they teach bad habits if it’s all people know how to use. I compared an egg test between nonstick and ss. Check it out. Thanks again.
ruclips.net/video/7KJxk04MZv8/видео.html
Extremely informative!
Thank you.
Recently purchased Calphalon’s best SS they sell. I LOVE the pans. Yes intimidated or reluctant due to the sticking or cleanup, however, I rarely walk away from a challenge…like properly seasoning cast iron. However, I wanted SS for its life long wear, and I know clean up would be more difficult at times, but, that’s what Bar Keeper’s Friend is for…and it works very well. So, I won’t be seasoning my SS because I believe it’s better to achieve the right skill level for using them. Plus, I don’t want to be bothered with ”should I strip and re-season the pan, or did I use the right brand of oil to season?” I’d prefer to be bothered with, “is the pan clean and ready to be used as intended.”
Either way, I think this all boils down to personal preference.
I agree completely. Congrats on your new purchase! Ss has a learning curve but once you get through that period, it’s a lot of fun to use and clean gets easier every time. Happy cooking!
I’ve had my Lifetime stainless steel pans since 1974. I use A cleaner called Perfect Sink. I use a green scratch pad. Years ago I used Cameo Stainless Steel cleaner. It was powered and it worked beautifully but once I tried Perfect Sink I knew I liked the end result better. It works great on stainless steel sinks too!
Great points in this video. I used to season my stainless steel pans, but don't anymore. I've learned how to cook with stainless steel now, and prefer it in some cases to my carbon steel pans. My favorite egg pan is stainless steel. Good point, though, that seasoning makes for easier clean-up.
Thanks for sharing! Always great hearing from you!
Smart, scientific, humble man right here. Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for the kind words! I’m glad you enjoyed the video
After seasoning stainless, I highly recommend using a second fat when you cook. I use butter when cooking eggs and I get great results.
I keep a old hot sauce bottle filled with RO well water next to my stovetop to test for the Leidenfrost effect and have never been disappointed. Switched from non-stick to stainless and my Grandmother's Erie and Griswold cast iron as well as Lodge; much better cooking results especially on electric and additionally on induction as well as healthier.
Great tip!
It's not always desirable to have a non stick SS pan. When you sear a protein like a steak, you want the caramelized sugars and proteins from the Maillard effect (browning) to stick to the pan for a sauce. Stainless does a good job at this because it binds to those sugars and proteins, while releasing them when the pan is deglazed with water or an acid. Same goes for an onion which also provides a lot of flavor by light browning.
When you season cast iron or carbon steel, it also becomes non-stick, but it will lose its seasoning if exposed to acidic foods like a tomato. So it is best to have SS for some foods while carbon steel and cast iron do well for non-acidic foods cooked in a fat and rarely cleaned with soap. Even a classic French omelette can be done in a well seasoned carbon steel pan, just like pancakes and crêpes. Even though I could season my SS, I never do, because I use cast iron and carbon steel which stay seasoned because they never see acidic foods. SS also has the advantage of heating up a bit quicker on an electric stove.
Hi, thanks for watching. You and I have the same preference and all 3 definitely have their place in the kitchen. Check out my video That I made last year comparing ci, cs, and ss. Happy cooking!
ruclips.net/video/-Vtaat40jEw/видео.html
Always clean your cast iron with soap. I use cast iron, enameled cast iron, and stainless steel only. I always wash my cast iron with soap to get all of the oil out. If you leave the oil/fat in the pan it will go rancid and is a health hazard. The only reason you used to hear that you shouldn't use soap is because soaps used to have lye in them that would strip the pan. That is no longer the case so there's no reason not to clean with soap.
@@milky_toast_ I just about to write the same comment. I soak my cast iron in soapy water in the sink if they need it without issue.
@@milky_toast_ soap is the most dangerous thing to use, soap is poisenign' there are better things to use for cleaning, like hot water and vinager' but never ever soap. I came int to the hospital with poisend from dish soap, throwing up getting high fever. never ever again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have a Lodge Outlet here, and the reps there say the acidic thing only applies before you've used it for a while, after it's been used for a few months, the seasoning is strong enough to not allow the acid flavor to absorb into the pan.
She was also very clear to say that the washing thing isn't an issue any longer, and after 4 months owning mine, and washing it with a scrub daddy, and dawn, can confirm, it doesn't do anything to it.
Barkeepers friend is a must have for pots and pans, stainless steel sinks, glass topped stove, and induction burners. Would love a video on various cleaning techniques.
I’m working on that video now. Thanks for watching.
Every material has its strengths and weaknesses. I love my Lodge for blasting high temps and cooking on the bbq but I also love my OXO non-stick for doing scrambled eggs. It's not the case of we need to find one material that is best for most things, rather find pans that are best for what you cook and love to eat and for that reason I have four 12" skillets. Overkill? Maybe. But I bought them over 15 years and I use them all.
Lodge cast iron 12"
Le Creuset enameled 12"
All Clad Stainless 12"
OXO non-stick 9"
That’s wonderful! Every skillets has its pros and cons.
Yes, I agree. Use the right pan for the job.
Skip to 17:50 for the answer to the question posed in the title
Thanks, fyi I’ve included chapters so you can skip around. That chapter is titled “final thoughts”
Professionally it makes a gianormous difference.
When I have to make 50-60 omelettes and 90-100 scrambled eggs on a single day, there is no time to thoroughly wash the pans for minutes. And using non stick pans is just a bad choice because it always flakes over time I don't want teflon bits on the food I serve.
So I season the stainless skillet (almost daily) before service and in between cookings I just basically rinse and wipe.
That makes a lot of sense if it’s something your using back to back like a dinner or buffet services.
Which method do you use to season it? And then do you put in a bunch of oil after?
@@ttonAb2 I heat it up until you get the to the point where water do the little dance thingy. Let it cool down a bit and then I use a paper towel to do a thin layer of oil and then blast the heat until it stops smoking. If I'm not busy with prep I'll do one more time. And ensure the sides are coated nicely.
Then I use the pans like normal nonstick pans. Once I use them, I rinse, wipe it with a cloth and back on stove.
@@fujimeira thank you!
This is dumb, just use a cheap non stick and replace it as needed. They're disposable like a cloth or kitchen knives. Sure they will last a month or two but they're cheap and replaceable.
Dawn powerwash with a brass or stainless pot scrubber works great with little effort.
I didn't even think about seasoning a steel pan. This was highly informative and very helpful. This was an awesome video!!!!
Glad you enjoyed it
I was lucky enough to inherit my mother-in-laws stainless steel Revere ware. She told me to always use a brillo pad to finish the cleaning and for me this has always made a huge difference. I honestly will never cook with any other pans, I just love them..
That’s a wonderful hand me down. I’m glad you have a pan you love. I made a video on cleaning ss. Check it out if your interested.
ruclips.net/video/qNAqS9MP5OE/видео.html
An important step not mentioned is to Polish any cooking surface thoroughly before each use. You’ll be surprised how much crud there is, especially for nonstick pans. Don’t stop until the paper towel pad comes up completely clean. Works great for stainless, cast or carbon steel, or nonstick. A highly polished surface is inherently better surface!
Very good!! I was doing to take back my Costco stainless steel set of pots. I’m going to definitely give them a try
I have a stainless steel pot that I rarely used because food kept sticking. Then, I got an induction cooktop and the stainless steel pot was one of the few pots that I could use. I made popcorn in it several times and then tried cooking in it and food started sticking a bit less and it was easier to clean. I think the popcorn oil was seasoning the pot!
Thanks for sharing!
I came to this video looking for how to season stainless steel. Since I definitely want a good clean up, I’ll definitely season the set I am looking to buy.
Check out my updated video. Does Seasoning a Stainless Steel Pan Make It Truly Non-Stick?
ruclips.net/video/qOSxRcUquKc/видео.html
You've just got yourself a subscriber! Great content bro
Awesome, thank you!
I have 1 seasoned stainless steel skillet. I treat it just like my iron and carbon steel. After each wash it goes to the burner to dry, once it is dry I add a drop of oil and wipe it evenly, now I remove from heat and allow to dry before I put it up. The skillet is absolutely amazing but honestly, It doesn't make much sense if you have carbon steel to season your stainless. I only seasoned that one because I had not gotten the carbon steel yet. I keep it going seasoned now just because it does seem to heat more evenly (barely).
When I was in China years ago an old cook taught me a really cool trick to make stainless easily non-stick. Heat up your oil throw in a handful of chopped green onions, once they're Browned, pour the excess oil out and cook. I've done omelettes many times in my stainless steel pans and they never stick. It only last like 2 times but it's easy to do and just takes a minute. I'd love to see your test that!
Yup, very cool. It’s another seasoning technique. The onions act as a binding agent for the oil and pan. You can also use potato peels and the starch will help do something similar. I’ve done a follow up to this video. Check it out:
Does Seasoning a Stainless Steel Pan Make It Truly Non-Stick?
ruclips.net/video/qOSxRcUquKc/видео.html
Give this guy all the likes and views in the world, I really like the simple way of explaining the concepts, even my todler can understand how to use a stainless pan.
Thank you! Glad you’re finding my videos helpful
I agree that seasoning stainless has an effect, but is not really worth the effort if you properly preheat. By effort, I mean that most seasoning instructions I have seen call for several repetitions of the seasoning process. It will lay down polymerized oil layers that resist sticking while cooking and allow easy cleaning. I love my stainless for eggs, fish, and single dish acidic sauce dishes. I seldom have a terrible clean up problem. Also use carbon and cast with good results.
I agree, thanks for watching.
Thanks!
that's very kind of you. Thank You!
I *love* my stainless! It's got an aluminum slug in its base, making it very efficient. As you say, they have their ways and once you learn them [they're super-easy to pick up] you can do amazing things. French omelettes done Jacques Pepin-style *without* using a teflon pan is easy enough. On the flip side: I love the Maillard I get on my meat from using stainless [leave it! leave it! leave it *alone!* ]. Wait till you get the heat, and you're golden.
Right, there’s that learning curve but once you get over it, great things will come. Thanks for watching
I use my smaller 8 inch 5 all clad pan all the time and it's much easier to use than if I use it unseasoned. When I first got it getting eggs off was a pain and my pan was left unused for a couple of years. But I season my Lodge cast iron pan continually so I decided to treat the all clad as though it was my lodge pan. This means I season just about every time after use, I do it so much I can do the whole job in just minutes. The down side? My pan look brown and stained on the inside from the oil, but it behaves like a nonstick pan. The only important item to have is a good stove fan because if you don't your fire alarms are going to go off. I use the pan mostly for breakfast with veggies fried first then the eggs added for a veggie scrambled with old cheddar added. I'm not interested in the "sticky" bits. I am interested in an easier cleaning cooking experience. And if you are a newbie to seasoning either with a cast iron or all clad pan, season it about four times before you use it. You want a build up in the pan. Also when purchasing a Lodge cast iron pan they claim (and I believe them, I watched their video and saw the pans getting sprayed) their pans are pre-seasoned. They are but it isn't nearly enough. So with a cast iron I definitely season about 5 or 6 times before first use. I use Canola Oil.
I have been seasoning my old ceramic coated cast iron skillets for a long time. I use the quick method you are calling method 2. The ceramic coating like stainless steel is fairly smooth, and not porous. When I wash the pan the seasoning goes away.
I think the reason reason cast iron and carbon steel develop longer lasting seasoning is two fold.
1st, we like our stainless steel to be shinny, so we are not ok with letting it get covered with the browner and stronger forms of polymerized oil that form with time and high heat. With cast iron, this seems to be not just more acceptable, but desired.
2nd, cast iron is more porous ( I don't really know about carbon steel) and so it is probably easier to get good adhesion of the seasoning. I suppose when you seasoned your All Clad pan that you were getting good seasoning adhering into the scratches and minor depressions. This aided in cleaning the pan.
Another tip that is how to remove that pesky sticky gooey partially polymerized oil that can coat cookware that has been exposed to the splatter from cooking with oil and sitting for some time. Like those skillets hanging over the stove.
Scrubbing with coarse salt helps a lot. I'm not sure if this is the abrasive quality or chemistry, or both. The salt idea just popped into my head the other day, and well, it worked.
Totally agree about seasoning CI vs SS. You hit the nail on the head. You also make a great point about salt and it’s cleaning power. I usually use salt on my CI. Thanks for watching.
You can make a stainless steel pan look brand new with a teaspoon of citric acid.
@@bobwobbabble5151 I've soaked difficult burned on food on stainless steel in vinegar before. That works well overnight. A quick search says that citric acid is stronger. Thanks for the tip.
Excellent video. Never had issues before. The other day, i was prepping to cook eggs. Pan was preheating. My wife asked me to do something. It took way longer than i expected and i burnt the oil onto the pan. Scrubbing with green side of the sponge has barely put a dent to the burnt oil. Today, im going to try 2 things. Vinegar and then “bar keeper” in that order. We’ll see!
Also try those stainless steel scrubbers they are a game changer.
And use the bar keeper's friend on a dry pan.
My husband burnt my All Clad frying pan beyond recognition once, he felt so bad was going to throw it out and buy me a new one. I was able to get it too look like new again.
Thanks so much for these videos!!....I just treated myself to something I've always wanted; a nice quality (all clad) set of stainless steel cookware and I noticed in the comments on Amazon that quite a few people complained about food stickage so these videos and all these tips are really going to help. Thanks so much! 🤗🤗
Glad I could help! Goodluck and happy cooking!
I used a carbon steel pan for my daily breakfast French omelette for a few years. Perfect results every day… but I dedicated the pan for omelettes, never used it for anything else, so the seasoning remained intact and I only wiped it with a paper towel after it cooled down, and then it was ready for next morning, no water.
About 2 months ago ( after seeing a video about stainless steel pan pans) I decided to test my old IKEA stainless pan that was laying around but not being used very much. Perfect, absolutely nonstick, but you have to preheat to the right temp to get a perfect result. The temperature should be slightly higher than for the carbon steel pan so the omelette is ready after just 30 - 40 seconds after you pour the eggs into the pan. If I don’t use the pan for something else, I just wipe it out with a paper towel as I did with the carbon steel pan and it’s ready for next morning. I am now using the stainless steel pan every day for my breakfast omelette. By the way, my stove is an induction stove.
That’s wonderful. Thanks for sharing
great conclusion, very true from my experience "seasoning" stainless steel - still behaves like stainless (not truly non-stick) but cleaning is monumentally easier and make cooking on stainless far more enjoyable that cooking with "unseasoned" stainless. However, cleaning with soap and water is necessary with stainless in-between every cooking and a new seasoning but be applied every time. Also using barkeepers is necessary every once and a while to keep the surface free of superficial staining and splotches washing will never get out. Seasoning stainless fry pans (not ideal for pots that boil water) is the ultimate cooking game-changer.
I agree completely. I actually just released a video all about cleaning SS recently. Check it out. ruclips.net/video/qNAqS9MP5OE/видео.html
I subscribed because you're willing to do a lot of tests and not just talk. However, the general rule with both cast iron and stainless steel is you don't use soaps because that will get rid of seasoning. I've found that to be 100% the case with cast iron. I took the manufacturer's instruction on my nickel-free stainless stockpot to wash and dry first(you should do this with anything to get rid of oils used in manufacturing), then season and let sit about for hours or overnight before first use, and then not only not use soaps/detergents, but don't use harsh scrubbers. All that done, that has worked very well for me and even my curries, soups, and stews left cooking overnight have resulted in no real sticking that I could not get off with a soap-less sponge. I don't think soaps/detergents are your friends AT ALL here.
When I learned to Season a skillet the person that taught me did not use oil. He placed salt in the pan and heated it until the salt turned brown. That was over 40 years ago and it worked then and still works for me today. Thanks for making the video. It brought back fond memories of the head Chef of the food services department in the hospital where I worked in my teenage years.
That’s wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing that memory!
How often do you have to repeat this process? Sounds a lot less messy then the oil. 👍
That sounds like a bad joke. He literally seasoned the pan...
Cleaning SS is pretty easy. The main thing is that the surface is fairly indestructible, so you _can_ clean as aggressively as necessary, and with any product you want really. Although it will need polishing less often if you're careful. But you can re-polish as needed.
Just give it one quick scrub with a brush to get your stains physically "thin". If needed, scrape it with something flat (rounded edges are a plus so you don't gouge the metal). Don't clean too much though. It's just a quick first pass. Then fill it with hot water, and like 1 drop of degreaser concentrate (the blue-ish purple sort, not the weak red-purple). Let it sit for a while. The stuff which is really burned in will lift off pretty easily. Best to do the cleaning prep right after cooking, and then come back and wash the soaked/degreased pan after dinner (or later in the day, whatever).
A scraper and a brush is ideal for the first pass. You just want to get the burned on stuff "thin" so water can get into it down to the metal. Second pass, after a degreasing soak, is best with a scrub-pad of some kind. The key is that you don't spend 15 minutes scrubbing. You spend 1 minute, and then another 1 minute an hour later. Worst case, you put it down and let it soak again. Grease is the barrier to soaking effect. It insulates the burned on grime from being penetrated by water. Degreaser is key, water is key, time is key, effort is not key. Abrasives aren't needed, breaking through grease so water can turn stains into mush (with time) is needed. Even horribly burned in stains will turn to mush if cleaned right.
I don't season them, even though it's recommended. Degreaser makes cleaning easy. But it eats away at a seasoned coating. Letting water & a grease-cutting agent have time to work is how you bulk-clean a hundred pans in a commercial setting. You'd be at work all night if you tried to just clean with maximum effort. Prep it, go do other stuff, come back.
Same principal with floor mopping. Want a deep clean? Over-soak the floor, with something which cuts grease (harsher soaps, Dawn without lotion, degreaser, etc) let it sit, then just be sure to mop it up _before_ it dries. 2 passes, easy peasy. Mind your footing, soapy water is slick. Degreaser doubly so. If you have a cat, do an extra pass with just hot water at the end to lift off any soap residue. They lick off anything that gets on their fur, and it can't be good for them to lick up cleaning chemicals (or anything else, floor wax, bug spray, etc). Anything that gets _on_ a cat ends up in their stomach.
Similarly, put a little tub of soapy water in the sink. And drop dirty silverware in it throughout the day. When you go to clean it, stuff just wipes right off.
Abrasives = hard work, and more wear on the finish. Water cleans fantastically, so long as grease isn't preventing it from penetrating. Lower the cohesion of molecules so water can get through the grease, let it soak, wipe it up. Choose smooth silverware with a chrome-like polished finish, especially between the tines on the forks.
A more mirror-finish SS is MUCH easier to clean. Just a less porous surface for stuff to stick to, kinda like glass. So in the end, scrubbing less and avoiding abrasives makes your stuff easier to clean for more years. Can always re-polish the surface with some jewler's polish & a power-tool buff though. So the lifespan on SS is infinite. You wanna see your face in the pan. Not a 'gloss' on top of uneven metal, i mean make the metal reflective. Make it look like chrome, not like glossy silver. Then nothing's gonna stick to it much. Nothing for "stuff" to grab onto. Most commercial SS cookware is not properly polished out of the box. But SS can be made to look very much like chrome. When it is, it cleans much like glass.
Mind you, some products sold as SS aren't really SS. There's a wide range of metals sold as SS, and only some of them are actually any good. The stainless steel types which are used in surgical tools are best (for something you're going to wash routinely anyway). Avoid chinese metalurgy standards...
" 1 drop of degreaser concentrate (the blue-ish purple sort, not the weak red-purple)" Can you give this a name. I don't recognize it, and I'm somewhat color blind anyway. Or, will any hand dish soap do?
@@Percoola Uh, I'm not sure what the difference is chemically. I have seen "heavy duty degreaser" sold commercially and industrially both, and they _tend_ to come in two basic types. And unfortunately I only know tell them apart by color of the fluid. There's the orangey-red sort, and the violet-blue sort. The violet blue sort is vastly more potent at cutting through grease. It can actually be quite a skin irritant if not diluted.
If you're red/green colorblind, then get the more bluish one. If totally colorblind, I dunno :) Basically the color of grapefruit juice vs. the color of grape soda (if those are distinguishable in a glass).
Don't overpay though. in a supermarket the 'good' sort is much more expensive. But at a hardware store, you can find generic brands of the good stuff at a fraction of the price.
Really anything which cuts through grease is the key though. Dawn dish soap would suffice. Basically any soap which leaves your hands feeling overly dried out is 'good' at being soap hehe. And soaps which leave your hands feeling comfortable are generally also too gentle at 'cleaning' ;)
Almost all modern soaps are essentially grease-fighting agents. Ye olden lye soaps were a little different, they'd clean your skin by dissolving the top layer of skin off, so what's left is clean hehe. But modern soaps of almost all kinds are basically anti-grease, by way of reducing the cohesion of molecules of water when dissolved into it (which allows oil & water to 'mix', and thereby allows water to dissolve grease). So, the worse it dries out your hands, the more 'work' it's doing as a soap.
90% of cleanup of food stuff on pans & such is overcoming the greasy resistance of the gunk to dissolving in water. A pure burned-carbon stain isn't grease really anymore though, and takes some serious effort to remove. But ideally you're not burning food onto your cookware THAT much hehe.
I just like the violet-purple degreaser concentrate, cuz you can get it cheaply by the gallon at hardware stores, and it only takes a tiny squirt (I just poke an itty bitty hole in the under-cap seal with a toothpick) to turn a whole sink full of hot water into a vat of doom for greasy gunk on dishes. Weaker soaps, you'd need to use more.
But yeah, in a busy restaurant setting. You dump everything into hot water with a highly de-greasing soap, and just let it soak while you do other things. When you come back, most things come out of a dishwasher clean without any scrubbing. The ones that don't though (there's always a few stubborn ones), you can just toss back in the sink of hot water to soak again.
Interestingly, if you use soap with insufficient grease-cutting potency, or just use too little soap, it can gradually cause your drains to clog up. If you can see beads of oil on the surface of your dish water, it doesn't have enough degreasing effect. I have sometimes added a tiny bit more degreaser to dish water after finishing cleaning, just because i saw that the oil had built up enough to start to overpower the degreasing effect (oil bubbles on the water), and I wanted to make sure that the pipes stayed clear long-term.
Obviously, none of this is really compatible with the "seasoned" cookware thought process though. It's not the only approach. But I like to just use all glass & high-polish stainless steel (unseasoned). Just took the restaurant cleaning logic home with me after getting out of that line of work ;)
@@kathrynck Thanks. I'll look for blue. And the little toothpick hole is a good tip.
I have the mindset that if I had to season a SS pan in order to use it then I'd just stick to cast iron. Like you, I love cast iron but I got a All-Clad frying pan for Christmas and after a disaster with scrambled eggs, I have the pan mastered and I love it. I still use cast iron for certain things but I use the SS every single day and have never thought of seasoning it.
Same, ss is growing on me. There’s a bit of a learning curve but once you get over it, they are awesome. Glad you enjoyed the video. Happy cooking!
I honestly just bought a decent 10" nonstick with good overall reviews and a 12" stainless. I use the stainless for everything except eggs basically.. I don't see a point in trying to season something that's meant to have certain properties. For example I'll slowly cook some eggs and cream cheese in the nonstick and toast bread/tomatoes in the stainless and voila. Cast iron is cool, especially if you use it with higher heat/lol and dry it relatively often. Carbon steel... I guess if you want a lighter than cast iron pan without the potential brittleness of it being cast iron I'd go for it. I'm guessing the oxidation of carbon steel helps with polymerized oil adherence to some degree. I wonder if you could just abrade a stainless pan and build up an equal quality seasoning to cast iron or carbon steel. I'm ranting.
Eggs and hamburger patties are the most common thing I cook in my pans. I float everything on a thick layer of high quality butter and never have a problem. Temperature control is important. Moderate your temperatures and take things slower. Also, I think soap strips and fouls some very flavorful elements worth keeping for your next meal. Hot steamy water to remove stuck on food I think is best.
Stuff sticking to stainless steel is the norm for me. I might soak and/or use a stainless steel mesh (not steel wool but the thicker mesh) followed by scotch brite and then dishwasher, maybe handwash. Sometimes I might just dishwasher it but it might require followup. In addition, I generally prefer stainless because I don't have to worry about damaging or overheating a non-stick coating. I can abuse it, scrub the crap out of it til it's clean, then use it again. No special care required. Maybe that'll change if I learn how to make things not stick to it.
Something I noticed about your All-Clad is when you put the egg in, it wanted to go towards the edge. Mine isn't flat - there's a slight hump in the middle. I've had two like that. Recently purchased a two pan set from Costco which are flat, cook more even, and are feeling great.
Good tip!
Looking forward to your next stainless steel video... I have been using my stainless steel to make stock just by lightly pan frying proteins on the skillet and get the full flavor of the fond into the broth... Very helpful when making congee in my opinion... And cleaning was not a big problem after watching some good advise including yours before using it like this... Thank you 😊
That’s so cool! I’m glad my videos have been helpful. It’s always great to hear these experiences. Thanks for watching. More to come
For burnt on, caked stuff on the bottom of a pot or pan, the boiling water is great but a few tablespoons of baking powder added to the water really helps!
I like that method too. I’m thinking about doing a video with some cleaning recommendations
@@tomwadek You might be tempted to add a bit of dish soap but I don't recommend it, unless you plan to constantly watch the pot because it will boil over!
Did the result surprise you? According to the poll, the majority thought temperature control is more important (agreed). I tried to make this very controversial topic a fun video. Hope you all enjoyed it.
The result somewhat surprised me. Clearly, once you clean a stainless pan with soap, any coating will be compromised. You'd need to periodically re-season it. Prior to seeing this, I used the Epicurious method, which only specified 1/8" of vegetable oil. I haven't used the pan since, so we'll see. For a better controlled test, both pans should be the same brand. Maybe part of what made the All-Clad easier to clean is that it's just a better skillet?
@@aokateoleary it could be but also using different pans really helped me identify that something was wrong. Thanks for watching. Happy cooking!
I seasoned my SS with it real clean. After using a SS pan, I clean it with real hot water but NO soap on the inside (I use soap on the outside), and dry it. Sometimes I do have to let SS soak for awhile before cleaning. My SS pans are less sticky, and cleaning is fast.
Nice! Glad it’s working well for you. Happy cooking
Great work bro, do a experiment video or Do's/Dont's on cooking Acidic food in Cast iron and carbon steel, I am sure many people got lot of questions on that... Thanks
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll look into it. Happy cooking
@@tomwadek I second this request
20 years ago I bought Tupperware Chef series non stick pots and pans. About 5 years in the non stick coating started to peel. I sent them back to Tupperware and they replaced(no cost) with stainless steel. I love my cookware but I do use cast iron every so often.
Thanks for sharing!
it doesn't matter if you spend a million dollars or 5 dollars the 316 stainless is the same on both sets. they will react the same on the surface, the difference in the pan is in the thickness and layers to give a more even heat distribution
Yup. I happened to be in Big Lots one day and saw a 3 ply ss 10" pan for $20. For shits and giggle I bought it and it was just as good as my All Clad as far as cooking and cleaning. The thing will All Clad is there is no seam between the inside and outside of the pan and the sides seem a little thicker. The cheaper pan definitely had a seam where the 3 play was on the bottom and the sides were not noticeably thicker. And the real kicker for me is it has a comfortable handle unlike the All Clad.
I cook on a restaurant-style stainless steel grill (cooking surface about 30” x 16” with three coils built in). After it has been thoroughly cleaned with a grill brick, it looks like new and has stripped away any seasoning-and it tends to stick. However, after multiple uses, during which a patina-like surface develops, sticking is greatly reduced. Easy cleaning is accomplished with a thin blade and oil with paper towel while the grill still is hot. Eventually the surface becomes too dark and smokes and sticks (maybe because I make pancakes with sugar), and I need to use a grill brick to return to a new-ish surface.
Thanks for sharing! I remember those days! The late night deep cleaning. Happy cooking!
I grew up having to wash those stainless steel pans and despised them for all of the work they put me through. When I grew up, I bought the Teflon non-stick pans for years and years..... until, of course, all this stuff about how the finish would cause cancer came out. So then I jumped aboard the cast iron bandwagon, but dang those suckers are heavy. So then I tried some of the newer non-stick finishes out there at the same time I was trying to teach myself how to stir fry. Non-stick + high temps. Yeah.... that's good for you, not to mention that the non-stick finish went away after the first high-temp adventure. So then I sucked it up and bought the stainless steal and what do you know-- 71 years of age and I find out that a simple thing like waiting until the pan's hot, combined with finally knowing what it is to deglaze a pan (hot water into a hot pan you talked about) is solving all my stainless steel issues.
On the other hand, did you give your pan a fair shake? Did you do enough of the seasoning?Did you re-oil the hot pan after each use until you got several layers onto it? I find myself still curious, but not as obsessed after watching the video.... so thanks for that. :)
Thank you for sharing your real world experience. I’m glad you enjoyed my video. For me, it always goes back to the fundamentals and I did this video to highlight exactly what your talking about. Sometimes we get caught up in the next greatest trick and forget the simplest of things like making sure the pan is hot. Thanks again for sharing. Happy cooking.
I have cast iron cookware and a carbon steel flat griddle like you see in a diner with gas burners under it. I don't have any stainless cookware so I've never seasoned any, obviously. When I season my cast iron and carbon steel I think I may be doing it a little differently than you did. Maybe my way will give you a different result with your stainless steel. I use corn oil because it has a nice high smoke point without being too expensive. I will put my cast iron in the oven at 400 degrees F to open the pores, then I take it out and put a few drops of oil on it and, after spreading it around, do my best to rub every bit of it off of the skillet or whatever. There will still be oil on the surface, no matter how I try, but that super thin film is all that will ever be in contact with the cooking surface even if I fill the skillet with oil. Next I set the cast iron on the stove top burner until it starts smoking. Next I remove it, wait 'til it stops smoking, add a few drops of oil, wipe it like I did before, trying to remove it all, almost buffing it, then back on the burner 'til it smokes. With new cookware it may take as many as 4 of these cycles, but 2 is usually enough for just touching up the seasoning. Some will do this in the oven but I have found that it generates much less smoke in the house doing it on the stove top after the pre-heat and it takes waaay less time. Finally I put it in the 400 degree oven and shut the oven off and let it all cool down to room temperature. With the carbon steel gas griddle top I turn on the burners, let to plate heat up to 400 rub a little oil on it buff it off as completely as I can and turn up the heat 'til I get smoke. Next I spread oil, rub it all off, heat 'til it smokes, turn it off, recoat on and on until it looks a little darker and call it good. I keep a cotton bandanna sightly moistened with corn oil in a zip lock bag under the sink to wipe down my cook ware before I put it away. The cast iron will usually be a little hot because I always throw it on a burner for a minute if I have to use a little water to clean it. I want it to be dry and putting it on the stove top is a good way to insure that and while the pores are open rubbing a little oil on will prevent rust. Anytime I add oil I will rub with a cloth or paper towel to try to remove every bit that I can. That is the secret to not having gummy cast iron and eliminates the need to invert your stuff in the oven. I don't know if this will work on stainless but it sure works with cast iron and carbon steel.
Hi John, I have a video on seasoning carbon steel and cast iron. This video was following the suggested seasoning for stainless steel. I didn’t find it necessary to season ss but rather to focus more on temperature control. Thanks for watching.
How To Season Your Carbon Steel or Cast Iron Skillet | What Removes Pan Seasoning?
ruclips.net/video/n3dcpQ9aTr4/видео.html
I have used stainless steel for decades... to clean light debris, a stainless steel scrubber gets it off easy. It helps to clean the skillet while it is still warm. If things are really stuck, you just fill it with water, bring it to a boil, turn off the heat and go eat your meal. After your meal, it all comes out easy. You can even add a squirt of dish liquid when boiling if you want but I've found it mostly unnecessary. The hardest food to cook in any skillet are eggs... sunny side up or over easy. Scrambled are super easy in any skillet so that isn't a good thing to show as an example... let me see you do over easy... that's a fair test of your 'skills' LOL
Lol, thanks for sharing your experience. Happy cooking.
I've got 4 skillets I use regularly one cast iron, two stainless and one nonstick. My favorite is the larger stainless and my least favorite is the nonstick.
It's not splatter from oil... It's the greasy steam from whatever you are cooking that floats up and onto your pans. That's why I hate open concept kitchens, they get grease all over your home, and belongings.
I have a carbon steel wok that ive had difficulty with so i bought a stainless steel wok and decided to do some research. Great video! Subscribed!
Glad I could help!
So I'm wondering how durable the seasoning has ended up being after using it more. Does the dish detergent quickly eat away at it and cause you to have to reseason the pan frequently? If so, how many cleanings can you do before the next pan seasoning is required, to retain the quality of the pan being easier to clean? Edit: Oh and I recall in another video for cast iron pans a manufacturer saying that flax seed oil was the best for creating a durable seasoning. I'm not sure if the best oil for stainless steel is also flax, but it might be one factor to consider in these tests.
For ci or cs the season is different and hold up a lot better. Once you have good seasoning, soap will not harm it. I always wash my iron skillets with soap and water with no issues. The seasoning really bonds. With ss, the seasoning is stripped pretty easily. I don’t see a need to season ss but rather just focus on the fundamentals like temperature control.
Thank you.
HI TOM, so my husband is a maintenance man at an apartment complex and when he was doing a make ready in one of the apartments he found a set of 3 stainless steel fry pans and brought them home. they do not have a name on them but the do have 5 dots on the bottoms and where the handle connects to the pan, anyway, i was wondering how to find out what the brand is because i actually enjoy cooking on them (still trial and error but enjoy using them) and am thinking about getting pots as well. thw dots are like 3 on top and two below that. dont know how to attach a pic.
That’s so cool. You’re welcome to shoot me pics to my Instagram. @tomwadek
@@tomwadek cool, thank you. Tried to Google it but Google doesn't understand 5 dots not spots.
Well, technically, it does make it more non-stick. As you said, it was easier to clean after cooking, which means the carbon and build-up from cooking did not attach to the stainless as hard as it normally does, so I would have to conclude that it helps keep the food from sticking into the pores and scratches in the stainless making it just a little more non-stick and easier to clean
But it’s very short lived.
A key factor to consider is the type of fat used. Butter or ghee will give you much better results than oil when frying an egg or making an omelette for example. I have a non stick pan which is over 5 years old and cooking eggs in this pan compared to a stainless steel pan of the same age and make is a disaster. A stainless steel pan will last for decades but a pan with a non stick coating starts to degrade significantly after a few years and becomes useless. After years of experience with stainless steel, understanding temperature control and the importance of using the right fat, I will never buy a non-stick pan again.
actually America's Test Kitchen did a test and found that oil outperformed butter. Reason being that butter has a high water content. Ghee would be preferable to butter, or an oil/butter mix if you want butter for the flavor.
What I'd like to know is if it's seasoned is it more forgiving if not heated enough for the amateur stainless steel chefs among us.
Or the other question is if it creates less fond if seasoned.
Looked like it created the same amount of fond but it was much more “flakey”. I don’t think it added any benefits as far as pre heating.
Thanks for your quick reply!
@@FrankMattheus no problem!
Great topic Tom! I've tried these tricks too... I haven't found the "sweet spot" to season them. I prefer a super clean from scratch surface (i.e. barkeeper's friend and pre-heated) myself. Great content as always!
Thanks for watching. I appreciate the support. Happy cooking!
I am with you on that one. I am not a professional cook so I am not using my skillets all day long and I take pride in the fact that they look almost new.
Very good…just got a stainless…what are you your best top 5 for beginners? Thanks.
Omlet,scrambelled eggs,egg sandwich,,throw eggs all Into the pan
Seasoning method #2, roughly, has worked better for me. This is what I tried with carbon steel or cast Iron pans. I had tried at first, something like method #1. What happened was that it ended up with a way too thick coating of oil that could not and did not really polymerize. What I ended up with was a pan that was relatively nonstick, but with a seasoning layer that was not durable and would flake off. The pan never really got a good cooking ability, and it looked like hell. In my opinion, for whatever it is worth, I think that seasoning a pan is something like using spray paint. Usually, on the back of the can, they say something like "several thin coats are better than one thick coat".
Lol! I love the paint can analogy! The thing about ss is that when you do wash the pan ( because you’ll need to clean the fond left over) you’ll end up stripping the seasoning anyways. Where as with carbon still or cast iron, the fond left over is way easier to wash away and can often times be wiped away. My personally opinion is stainless steel probably get little benefits from seasoning. It’s better to focus on mastering temperature control and the fundamentals. Thanks for watching.
Yes please make a video on how to clean/care for stainless steel. I've had mine for a while and cleaning them is still a hassle
Hello Tom, your videos are great and very helpful.
Just discovered your channel after I got myself my first stainless steel frying pan.
Followed your advice on preheating the pan (leidenfrost method), then adding room temperatur ghee and heating it untill shimmering before adding room temperatur eggs (or fish fillet, pork chop etc.) and had very good results. I have used that Tramontina pan (made in brazil) already about seven times
But twice out of the seven times, while heating it up on a small to medium gas flame, it made a very loud banging/popping sound, which I found quite frightening.
Do you have any explanation why this happened? Could the pan be faulty or did I do something wrong?
Greetings from Sri Lanka
Hi, I don’t think you did anything wrong. If it’s a multiple layered ss pan then it may be faulty and when the metals are contracting or expanding, it’s making that sound. I would contact the manufacture and mention it. It doesn’t sound normal.
@@tomwadek Wow Tom, thanks for beeing so generous with your time and answering me this quick!
Yeah, it happened again yesterday when preparing a barramundi fillet - twice even, first the usual loud bang, followed by a second less intenisive one, while heating up the pan on low flame.
Fish turned out wonderful and nothing got stuck in the pan.
But I just don't feel comfortable to continue with this pan - hopefully I will be able to get it changed to a new one.
I will keep you posted on this matter.
Thanks again.
@@ingridexel5525 glad I could help. Keep me posted. Goodluck.
@@ingridexel5525 The popping sounds usually mean the three-layer base isn't right. Probably a faulty device. I've used many tramontina pans in the past and had one replaced because of that.
Thanks a lot for this video but here at home it does not work. How often i must season a atainless steel pan? Before every use? And how shall i clean it after use? Have big trouble with codfish: every time it sticks and does not release after one and a half minute like a steak does.
It is like i would have used glue to fix it. The same with eggs: creating an egg sunny side up is impossible, it always leads to scrambled eggs.
Only steaks become fine.
Must i buy a new stainless steel pan? Please help me!
Everytime I decide to give stainless another shot, I always ask myself WHY afterwards😬? Can you tell me if the only perk in using stainless is fond? Because if thats it, then the only time I should be using it is when I want to make sauce or gravy after cooking the main event, correct? I love my anodized cookware for every part of the cooking + cleaning.
Tks for the video
The older I get, the more I reach for my ss. I love as because it can do it all. It takes time to adjust to ss because of the learning curve but once you do learn to use it, you’ll be a better cook.
@@tomwadek point taken. Tell me this then..my mom had a ss we refered to as the EGG pan. Can you tell me how to cook eggs easy over rather than yolk well done. Tks in advance 👍
@@michelleaw1325 I have a few videos that will help you. Check out my ss playlist. The trick is all about temp control. Start with a properly preheated pan, the Leidenfrost effect will help you there, then oil, and lower the temp when the eggs go in. Lift the pan off the burner and monitor the temps. Ss heat up and cools down very quickly.
ruclips.net/p/PLo3QpFeM5ior8rRSWdC2Wzl_FqXb4RfD2
@@tomwadek I'm gonna have faith, and try for that soft yolk in the am. Will let ya know if I succeed. 👍
Thank you for the work you put into your video. I learned a lot from it.
No problem! Glad your enjoying the channel
I have a Conolon saute pan,a pressed steel omelette pan,a pressed steel large frying pan and two cast iron 10” frying pans, When they’re worn out I might try Stainless Steel again !
I was having trouble on an old Calphalon skillet. Not until I polished it inside with 0000 steel wool did it do right. It had fine pitting throughout the bottom before. Not sure if it was from iron crystals in the metal or acid attack from cooking peppers in it long ago. Anyway, the oil coats and no bare spots or beading. They tell you not to steel wool a pan, but I'm guessing Brillo or scouring pads are much coarser. The fine 0000 did the trick for me.
Thanks for sharing. Glad it worked out for you. Happy cooking!
Excluding my cast iron, I clean my pots and pans by taking them outside, filling them with Dawn and water, and leaving them overnight. The next day, everything falls out. On rare occasions that I still have some stubborn areas, I have a cordless drill with a long nylon bristle brush that I can use to remove the rest quickly. Garden hose clean, and there you go. Nothing went down the kitchen sink, & the pots didn't scratch or mark the sink either. I learned long ago that if you use corn starch, keep it from going down the sink. Corn starch is brutal on plumbing. Fats and grease all go outside.
That sounds like a great way to clean your cookware!