Practical Tip of the Week

Create Your Own Non-Stick Pan

If you’re not a fan of Teflon coatings yet don’t appreciate your eggs hermitically sealed to the bottom of your non-stick pan, give this a try (with precautions!).

Coat your frying pan with enough oil to cover the bottom and perhaps a bit up the side without drowning your food in oil.  I use organic sunflower oil in my All-Clad Stainless Steel. If I happen to goof and pour a little too much, you can reuse it the next time you need to oil a pan. I keep excess oil in a stainless steel lidded prep cup.  Gently heat your frying pan and oil until it begins to slightly sizzle. You’ll notice the oil rippling slightly and the heat will be rising 6” or more above the pan.  Don’t let the oil burn because that will add to scrub time and your kitchen will be smoky. 

Time to add your ingredients with a word of caution. Your oil is dangerously hot. It will splatter as you add food to the pan. Hold your cutting board as a shield while you scrape the food down into the pan to avoid grease hitting your hands, arms, face, and clothes. I wear an apron to protect my clothes. First I saute any vegetables and proteins (such as meat or tofu). Then I add my eggs.

The difference between thoroughly heating the pan prior to adding ingredients vs adding them before the oil heats or even before the sizzling is remarkable. If you wait, your eggs will flip with ease. The pan will be so much cleaner when your eggs are done.

The pan is virtually clean if the oil is preheated. No sticky egg residue.

It’s super important to keep your pots and pans as clean as you can.  Just the smallest bits of dried on food will cause more foods to adhere to the surface each time you cook resulting in a more arduous, time wasting clean up.  Occasionally I give each of my pans’ interiors and exteriors a good scouring with fine steel wool. Verify which grade of steel wool to use with your pan’s manufacturer’s recommendations.