Non-stick Pans: How Do You Heat Yours?

[weinoo]

Low heat, medium heat, high heat?

Dry, with oil, with liquid, with food already in it?

Tell us you method, please.

[Lisa Shock]

I've started trying to follow this NYT article's advice.

[AAQuesada]

At least at home, I rub all my skillets with a tsp of oil before putting them away. That way they are ready to go. Temper the pan on med for 3 minutes or so depending on the mass of the pan. It does seem to make any pan stick less and clean easier.

[mbhank]

I spray them with Pam and put them on medium heat for a few minutes, add the oil and then raise the heat to high medium or hot.

[weinoo]

I spray them with Pam and put them on medium heat for a few minutes, add the oil and then raise the heat to high medium or hot.

Which is pretty much exactly the opposite of the advice given in that Times article referenced above.

[robirdstx]

I have a glass top electric stove. The largest front burner is the one I use most with my non-stick pans. The medium-low setting is where I start with a dry pan. Once the pan has warmed, I add the oil and adjust the setting for whatever it is I will be cooking.

[David A. Goldfarb]

I usually start it on medium heat with a little oil or butter. It never gets hotter than a little over medium.

[nickrey]

Never to high heat. I've seen what it does to non-stick surfaces (those bubbles do split and the coating goes into the food). Mostly I'll heat to medium before adding food and put a little bit of oil in. With onions and garlic, I put both in together and start the pan off at cold. For some reason this does not lead to blackened garlic that you get when you try this in a pre-heated pan. Perhaps the modernist cuisine people can tell us why: all I know is it works.

[Marlene]

Most of my non stick pans are now Swiss Diamond which can take more heat than a regular non stick pan and can go into the oven as well. I usually start them dry, then add oil or butter on med or med hi, depending on what I'm cooking

[paulraphael]

I treat them the same as any other pan, but watch them more closely. For sauté, preheat on high heat, then fat, then food. You need to have everything ready, because it may be well under a minute between the ideal preheat temp and thermal breakdown of the teflon.

You should not under any circumstances put oil in a nonstick pan before preheating it, or put oil in it before putting it away. That oil can polymerize on the surface of the pan and will be impossible to remove. This is the same process as "seasoning" a cast iron pan, but what is essential treatment for iron will basically wreck a nonstick surface.

I'd suggest that there are very few tasks in the kitchen that a nonstick pan is actually good for. They are overused. Nice for eggs, and delicate fish ... but even with fish, if your technique is good, you can do everything on stainless. If you keep one as a specialty pan, it will last a long time and not be such an annoying burden of fussy cooking and disposablility.

FWIW, pans like Swiss Diamond are teflon pans just like any other. They don't use DuPont's trademarked version, but they use PTFE, just like everyone else, and the thermal properties are identical. There's no free lunch.

Edited March 23, 2011 by paulraphael (log)

[mbhank]

<>I'd suggest that there are very few tasks in the kitchen that a nonstick pan is actually good for. They are overused. Nice for eggs, and delicate fish ...<>

A treated cast iron pan is great for just about everything. The Lodge treated pans are virtually non-stick. Downside - they are heavy.

[paulraphael]

<>I'd suggest that there are very few tasks in the kitchen that a nonstick pan is actually good for. They are overused. Nice for eggs, and delicate fish ...<>

A treated cast iron pan is great for just about everything. The Lodge treated pans are virtually non-stick. Downside - they are heavy.

Well, I think they're somewhat specialized too. They respond very slowly, heat unevenly, and the dark surface makes it almost impossible to see the difference between browned and burned pan drippings. And the seasoning holds odors/flavors, making it inapropriate for more delicately flavored sauces, etc...

Cast iron is great for browning the bejeezus out of things, but not for cooking where control is important. A good cast iron primer at Cooking Issues.

[OliverB]

I've read somewhere to never use cooking spray on non stick pans, I guess there's silicone or who knows what in those sprays that will permanently attach to the non stick. Didn't matter to me, as I never use that stuff anyway, my can is years old and pretty much just a pice of kitchen decor

As for heating, my non stick (I was silly enough to buy an expensive All Clad) goes on medium heat (between 5 and 6 on my electric junker) and I add a bit of oil or butter once it's hot. I also don't increase heat much for cooking, it never sees full heat. But then, I mostly cook eggs in it, or bacon (before I cook eggs in it), neither needs high heat. High heat is for the cast iron pan. After cooking I rinse it with hot water and a brush, nothing else. Never sees a drop of soap, just as my cast iron pan and wok.

Never oil it for storage! Matter of fact, I just read in breath of a wok that it's not a good idea to oil any pan for storage, unless it's going to be used again within days. The oil does go rancid quickly and supposedly seeps into the cast iron pans and steel woks - and the rancid taste stays. I never oil mine after an old cheap wok turned all gummy, so I tend to agree with this. I wash with hot tap water, dry with a paper towel. The remaining heat from the water usually dries the rest quickly. The wok book does say to put the wok on med heat to dry it out completely, something that's probably also good with cast iron pans, but I usually skip it. Air is so dry here, I've never seen rust on my rustable things.

After buying this rather expensive pan I did some research on non stick pans for somebody else, the wide spread conclusion seems to be is "buy cheap, replace often" since no nonstick pan lives for ever, and a $120 pan won't live 10 times longer than a $12 pan. Considering that my cheap nonstick from Safeway lived a good 5 or 6 years, I tend to agree with this advice and will not buy any more expensive ones.

[weinoo]

I'd suggest that there are very few tasks in the kitchen that a nonstick pan is actually good for. They are overused. Nice for eggs, and delicate fish ... but even with fish, if your technique is good, you can do everything on stainless. If you keep one as a specialty pan, it will last a long time and not be such an annoying burden of fussy cooking and disposablility.

I think this is a fairly generalized statement. I would suggest that there are a lot of tasks nonstick is good for and it all depends on your level of cooking skill. Plenty of restaurants use inexpensive nonstick pans exactly because of their qualities.

[AaronM]

I put it on the stove and heat it to the necessary heat level.

[weinoo]

I put it on the stove and heat it to the necessary heat level.

I suppose that's what we all do. But some of us do it over low heat and dry, some over medium heat with oil, and some even over high heat. That's kinda what I was asking in the OP.

[emannths]

I don't do it any differently than when I heat a stainless clad pan, meaning I heat it empty until it reaches the temperature I want, then I add fat then food. But since I generally use the nonstick pan for things with high initial pan temp is not needed, I don't think this is much of a problem (not enough for me to care about anyway).

I like nonstick pans for anything I don't need to sear well because they're easy to clean and the drawbacks are minimal. I especially like them for pan-frying starchy foods that would otherwise tend to coat a stainless pan with a layer of starch (potatoes, gnocchi, pasta, long cooking vegetables like eggplant and zucchini, etc).

Edited March 23, 2011 by emannths (log)

[Toliver]

I've read somewhere to never use cooking spray on non stick pans, I guess there's silicone or who knows what in those sprays that will permanently attach to the non stick.

I would love for an SSB to weigh in on this. My mom has a small non-stick frying pan she uses to fry eggs. She only uses the non-stick spray in it as opposed to oil/butter/fat. It is now an "everything sticks in it" pan.

What gives? Is there something in the non-stick spray causing the sticking issue? She leaves the pan on the heat for a bit before cooking anything. Is this causing the sticking problem...heating it up without anything in the pan?

[paulraphael]

I'd suggest that there are very few tasks in the kitchen that a nonstick pan is actually good for. They are overused. Nice for eggs, and delicate fish ... but even with fish, if your technique is good, you can do everything on stainless. If you keep one as a specialty pan, it will last a long time and not be such an annoying burden of fussy cooking and disposablility.

I think this is a fairly generalized statement. I would suggest that there are a lot of tasks nonstick is good for and it all depends on your level of cooking skill. Plenty of restaurants use inexpensive nonstick pans exactly because of their qualities.

Sure, they're easy and allow for a certain amount of slop. This can be a great advantage, not just for unskilled cooks, but for skilled ones who have a hundred things to juggle. I was surprised to see nonstick pans in use at Le Bernardin; they use them mostly for fish with the skin on it (I think they had one black bass dish that they served like this when I was in the kitchen). I do this on a stainless surface at home, which I think gives even better control and better browning, but I saw why the sauté cooks there used nonstick, in spite of being much better cooks than me: they had orders flying in and out at twice the pace that I've ever seen a short order cook handle. pans were thown from counter to stove to oven to pass in a total blur. used pans ended up in a pile in the corner, still hot enough to char side towels with their handles. No one had time to pay attention and get the release time exaclty right on every single piece of bass, and be extra delicate with a spatula. But at home I do ... I'm making one or two fish at a time. I like the results I get when I'm not contending with that insulating layer of teflon. I also like my pans to last more than a couple of weeks, which is probably their lifespan at Le Bernardin.

And for less delicate foods? I don't see any advantage to nonstick, but many disadvantages. They rule the omelette word, that's about it.

[AaronM]

I put it on the stove and heat it to the necessary heat level.

I suppose that's what we all do. But some of us do it over low heat and dry, some over medium heat with oil, and some even over high heat. That's kinda what I was asking in the OP.

Oh, I wasn't being snarky. I just heat it like any other pan I have. No care is put into it.

[OliverB]

I would love for an SSB to weigh in on this. My mom has a small non-stick frying pan she uses to fry eggs. She only uses the non-stick spray in it as opposed to oil/butter/fat. It is now an "everything sticks in it" pan.

What gives? Is there something in the non-stick spray causing the sticking issue? She leaves the pan on the heat for a bit before cooking anything. Is this causing the sticking problem...heating it up without anything in the pan?

I don't recall where I read this, but supposedly something in the spray forms a permanent bond with the non stick surface, thus making it a stick surface and the pan is ruined. My pam says it contains canola oil, grain alcohol, and soy lecithin plus propellant. The alcohol is probably just a thinner and evaporates quick, canola oil has been in my pan many times, so I can only imagine it's that soy stuff that's causing problems?

I don't use it anymore, I use their grilling spray (or weber grill spray) on the bbq sometimes, but never in a pan. Those contain some kind of silicone or some other unpronounceable stuff. I think I remember that the silicone is the problem, but can't be sure, it's been a while that I read this.

Now, since the "natural" pam is basically just oil, why not just use a tsp of oil? The calories saved with the spray seem completely negligible to me, and you don't have to deal with over spray all over the stove and counter. Or a tiny bit of butter, which makes eggs so much better....

[lancastermike]

I would love for an SSB to weigh in on this. My mom has a small non-stick frying pan she uses to fry eggs. She only uses the non-stick spray in it as opposed to oil/butter/fat. It is now an "everything sticks in it" pan.

What gives? Is there something in the non-stick spray causing the sticking issue? She leaves the pan on the heat for a bit before cooking anything. Is this causing the sticking problem...heating it up without anything in the pan?

I don't recall where I read this, but supposedly something in the spray forms a permanent bond with the non stick surface, thus making it a stick surface and the pan is ruined. My pam says it contains canola oil, grain alcohol, and soy lecithin plus propellant. The alcohol is probably just a thinner and evaporates quick, canola oil has been in my pan many times, so I can only imagine it's that soy stuff that's causing problems?

I don't use it anymore, I use their grilling spray (or weber grill spray) on the bbq sometimes, but never in a pan. Those contain some kind of silicone or some other unpronounceable stuff. I think I remember that the silicone is the problem, but can't be sure, it's been a while that I read this.

Now, since the "natural" pam is basically just oil, why not just use a tsp of oil? The calories saved with the spray seem completely negligible to me, and you don't have to deal with over spray all over the stove and counter. Or a tiny bit of butter, which makes eggs so much better....

more of that molecular stuff causing trouble

[weinoo]

I was surprised to see nonstick pans in use at Le Bernardin; they use them mostly for fish with the skin on it (I think they had one black bass dish that they served like this when I was in the kitchen). I do this on a stainless surface at home, which I think gives even better control and better browning...

But you're a pro; you've worked at Le Bernadin .

more of that molecular stuff causing trouble

Nah - it's the lecithin...as the NY Times article referenced above explains.

[paulraphael]

I've read somewhere to never use cooking spray on non stick pans, I guess there's silicone or who knows what in those sprays that will permanently attach to the non stick.

I would love for an SSB to weigh in on this. My mom has a small non-stick frying pan she uses to fry eggs. She only uses the non-stick spray in it as opposed to oil/butter/fat. It is now an "everything sticks in it" pan.

What gives? Is there something in the non-stick spray causing the sticking issue? She leaves the pan on the heat for a bit before cooking anything. Is this causing the sticking problem...heating it up without anything in the pan?

Most of those sprays just contain some kind of refined oil and a propellant. Nothing terribly high tech. But the oils tend to be of the polyunsaturated type (canola, etc.), which are the quickest to polymerize. Your mom is getting the same result she'd get if she put a film of caonla or saflower oil on the pan and heated it long enough to cook solid. This turns a nonstick pan into a permastick pan.

This kind of polymerized oil is the base of what makes cast iron and spun steel stick resistant, but in those cases, the oil is heated enough for some of the oil to carbonize (burn to a black crisp). The carbon particles embedded into the plastic-like polymerized oil help keep the pan from sticking. But it doesn't do as much as teflon. and this process happens at temperatures that would wreck the teflon coating completely.

[xxchef]

I would suggest that there are a lot of tasks nonstick is good for and it all depends on your level of cooking skill. Plenty of restaurants use inexpensive nonstick pans exactly because of their qualities.

Those inexpensive non-stick commercial pans are exactly what I use on a daily basis for anything sauteed/fried etc. I have two sets (14", 10", 6"). One is 7 years old and the other about 3. I do a lot of HOT pan searing, dry or with a little fat (lard/oil/butter/sometimes Pam) and they are holding up well with no blistering, delamination or worn spots and while I'm conscious of their supposed fragility I still use regular metal spoons, forks, whisks, and spatulas in them all the time.

Maybe I'm just lucky but I think they actually cook better now than when new. They are black as night now and I suspect they have actually taken on something of a "seasoning" over time. For all I know there's no non-stick left (not going to dwell on that right now).

I've never been particularly careful with clean-up either. Mostly all they need is a hot water/mild soap/sponge swish but I'm not afraid to take a green scrubby pad to them if necessary once in a while.