stainless steel convert

[mindstalk]

When I moved here, I talked about getting a cheap non-stick egg pan again, so I could fry or especially scramble eggs with no cleaning effort. Avi said I needn't need one, that cast iron and stainless steel provided all the non-stick you need. I have slowly been converted, mostly. First I got fried eggs sliding off, but that's pretty easy. Then I found that simple omelettes worked well too: wait till it's a partly-cooked egg pancake, then fold. Finally, today, I did scrambled well.

Key was that I hadn't realized the leidenfrost point (water droplets scurrying around like mercury) is hotter than droplets just evaporating on contact. I waited for the 'mercury', lowered the heat, added a bit of oil and butter, added eggs, stirred once the edges set, voila.

Caveat one: the interior was still a bit runnier that I'd liked, could have cooked longer.

Caveat two: it's 'large curd' scramble waiting for edges to set before gently moving them in. I suspect a 'small curd' scramble of constantly stirring still wouldn't work.

Caveat three: moving beyond eggs, I've had poor results with my pan-fried chicken. Possibly my heat isn't high enough? I'm limited by housemates and smoke detector. But compared to my past two years, using some beat-up Tramontina ceramic, I've been getting either soggy chicken or tons of skin sticking to the pan.

But that leads us to cleaning. When stuff did stick to the stainless steel, like scrambled eggs or excess fond from a meat chop, I'd been using steel wool; this works fine. But a video told me you can simmer water in the pan for a few minutes, basically a de-glaze, and that lets you scrape everything off too. I tried that tonight, and the dire residue from 3 chicken quarters came right off.

Now I'm wondering if I could have made a sauce out of all that... oh well.

Comments

[conuly]

Caveat three: moving beyond eggs, I've had poor results with my pan-fried chicken. Possibly my heat isn't high enough? I'm limited by housemates and smoke detector. But compared to my past two years, using some beat-up Tramontina ceramic, I've been getting either soggy chicken or tons of skin sticking to the pan.

Are you frying with oil?

[mindstalk]

Definitely this last time, and I think with the failed drumsticks before. Not a lot of oil, because pan rather than shallow or deep frying, but that in itself can't be the problem, since it's worked great on different pans and stoves (and air pollution limits.)

[conuly]

Are you putting the oil in the pan while it’s still cold, or otherwise heating the oil before putting in the chicken?

[mindstalk]

Don't remember, so probably have done it either way.

[conuly]

Then that may be your problem. You want a hot pan and cold oil.

[squirrelitude]

Interesting. I've always heated the oil with the (cast iron) skillet and never had a problem with sticking. Is that because it's well-seasoned cast iron, or because I always use a crapload of oil? :-P

[conuly]

Could go either way. It never hurts to use a heck of a lot more oil than you think you ought to, if you're worried about sticking.

[mtbc]

Interesting cleaning tip with the simmering water.

[sraun]

I love that trick for stuck-on food in any pot or pan!

[mindstalk]

Hmm, does it damage the seasoning of cast iron?

[conuly]

I'm pretty sure that boiling cannot remove polymerized oils.