Preventing pan drippings from burning and sticking

[Kent Wang]

When roasting meats in the oven, I usually place them on a rack over a Pyrex pan to catch the drippings. However, this often results in the drippings burnings and sticking to the pan, making it very difficult to clean. How can I prevent this sticking? I don't think filling the pan with water would be a good idea as the liquid will steam the meat.

[Anna N]

Line the pan with the new non-stick foil?

[johnsmith45678]

Those broiler pans with the top slotted pan are supposed to keep a lot of radiant heat from getting to the drippings, thus reducing smoking.

America's Test Kitchen recommends adding half a cup of water to drip pans part way through cooking to reduce/eliminate smoking. I've done this.

And, yeah, lining the drip pan with foil is a no-brainer.

Edited August 30, 2006 by johnsmith45678 (log)

[mizducky]

Hmmm. I usually roast in a metal pan rather than a Pyrex one. Admittedly this is a wild speculation, but I can't help wondering if the burning/sticking problem is less with metal than with glass. I'd certainly feel a whole lot more fearless about scouring the hell out of a metal pan than a glass one, if it came to that. Also, I'd often be deglazing the pan and making gravy or something with the drippings; I wouldn't want to do that in a glass pan, because I'm paranoid about putting Pyrex on a range-top burner, even if the manufacturer might say it's a variety of Pyrex that could take such direct heat.

But if you want to stay with the Pyrex, maybe try giving the pan a spritz with non-stick cooking spray before putting it in the oven.

[fiftydollars]

I've had the same problem with both pyrex and metal and the pyrex is just harder to clean.

Cook's Illustrated has a recipe for blasted chicken that calls for adding a few potatoes under the rack (they use a broiling pan) and this does a pretty good job of absorbing the fat and keeping it from burning.

[scott123]

Three things.

First, meat gives off moisture while it roasts. These juices collect in the pan and then evaporate, creating some steam. How much steam? Definitely not enough to 'steam' the meat. Meats will roast fine with a little liquid in the roasting pan. As long as the meat isn't touching the liquid, you're fine. Check on it every once in a while and when the liquid is evaporated, add some water.

Two, glass is a very poor conductor of heat, but at the same time it's transparent allowing radiant heat to pass through it. If you're got the pan on the bottom shelf and it's close to the electrical element, you're basically broiling the juices every time the oven cycles on. You can remove the radiant heat entirely from the equation by either putting a cookie sheet on the shelf below or by placing the glass pan on a piece of foil.

Three, I would definitely not recommend lining the pan with foil. Foil has a tendency to crinkle, making it extremely difficult to scrape off the fond. If you use foil and don't extract every bit of fond from it... that's culinarilly unforgiveable. Also, there's some naturally occuring sodium in meat which is released in the juices. This sodium reacts with the foil to create off flavors.

[johnsmith45678]

Also, there's some naturally occuring sodium in meat which is released in the juices. This sodium reacts with the foil to create off flavors.

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So, by the same logic, does cooking meat in aluminum pans -- which I've seen done numerous times -- also create off flavors?

[Kent Wang]

But if you want to stay with the Pyrex, maybe try giving the pan a spritz with non-stick cooking spray before putting it in the oven.

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This has proven to be a good solution. I just roasted some soup bones for a beef stock. I knew that was going to produce a lot of drippings so I poured about a cup of peanut oil into the pan and was able to easily extract all the fond.

[FabulousFoodBabe]

But if you want to stay with the Pyrex, maybe try giving the pan a spritz with non-stick cooking spray before putting it in the oven.

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This has proven to be a good solution. I just roasted some soup bones for a beef stock. I knew that was going to produce a lot of drippings so I poured about a cup of peanut oil into the pan and was able to easily extract all the fond.

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Wouldn't it be easier to roast over or in a metal pan, and put the pan on the stove top, heat, and deglaze with liquid?

[Richard Kilgore]

Lots of good ideas here, but I would suggest going to a metal pan. More durable and no concerns about adding liquid when hot, using on the range top, etc. There are a number of reasonably priced tri-clad (ss/aulum/ss) roasting pans available now... Sur La Table has high quality ones in two sizes, as do other brands. But avoid the non-stick versions.

[Richard Kilgore]

Here's a link to a discussion on roasting pans that may be helpful.

[scott123]

Also, there's some naturally occuring sodium in meat which is released in the juices. This sodium reacts with the foil to create off flavors.

←

So, by the same logic, does cooking meat in aluminum pans -- which I've seen done numerous times -- also create off flavors?

←

Yes, it does. The time that the fond (or meat) spends in contact with the pan plays a big part and it may not be a huge impairment in taste, but for those with a discerning palate, an aluminum pan fond has a different taste than a s/s one. Salt and acids react with aluminum. It's better to roast with either stainless steel or enamel coated steel/iron.

[johnsmith45678]

Also, there's some naturally occuring sodium in meat which is released in the juices. This sodium reacts with the foil to create off flavors.

←

So, by the same logic, does cooking meat in aluminum pans -- which I've seen done numerous times -- also create off flavors?

←

Yes, it does. The time that the fond (or meat) spends in contact with the pan plays a big part and it may not be a huge impairment in taste, but for those with a discerning palate, an aluminum pan fond has a different taste than a s/s one. Salt and acids react with aluminum. It's better to roast with either stainless steel or enamel coated steel/iron.

←

Not arguing, as I know aluminum is reactive -- with acid foods IIRC -- but in my experience, the vast majority of restaurants use aluminum pans and the more expensive stainless steel coated pans are a rare sight -- in restaurant supply shops too. Of course I've never worked in restaurants at The French Laundry level, so I don't know what they use.

[scott123]

Also, there's some naturally occuring sodium in meat which is released in the juices. This sodium reacts with the foil to create off flavors.

←

So, by the same logic, does cooking meat in aluminum pans -- which I've seen done numerous times -- also create off flavors?

←

Yes, it does. The time that the fond (or meat) spends in contact with the pan plays a big part and it may not be a huge impairment in taste, but for those with a discerning palate, an aluminum pan fond has a different taste than a s/s one. Salt and acids react with aluminum. It's better to roast with either stainless steel or enamel coated steel/iron.

←

Not arguing, as I know aluminum is reactive -- with acid foods IIRC -- but in my experience, the vast majority of restaurants use aluminum pans and the more expensive stainless steel coated pans are a rare sight -- in restaurant supply shops too. Of course I've never worked in restaurants at The French Laundry level, so I don't know what they use.

←

Salt (sodium chloride) in an aluminum pan creates aluminum chloride. There are those people who feel that aluminum chloride causes alzheimer's, but I'm not one of them. Aluminum chloride, as far as I'm concerned, isn't a safety issue but an issue of taste.

Take an aluminum pan, add some salt/water, let it simmer for a few hours. Taste it. The very noticeable, very disagreeable taste (beyond the saltiness) will be aluminum chloride.

Restaurants cut corners all the time. They use inferior ingredients like shortening, frozen meat, excessive amounts of msg, and cook/bake with aluminum. Also, if a particular pre-prepared dish doesn't move well for a few days, instead of tossing it, they'll often recycle it into another dish. Am I talking about all restaurants? Of course not. Generally speaking, though, most restaurants are not the model for ideal food prep. It's money first, food second. Aluminum - cheap. Stainless steel - expensive. The home cook can, if they so chose, raise the bar and spend the extra money for the superior attributes of stainless steel.

Edited August 31, 2006 by scott123 (log)

[Kent Wang]

Wouldn't it be easier to roast over or in a metal pan, and put the pan on the stove top, heat, and deglaze with liquid?

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You are right. I have only pyrex roasting pans. I'll have to acquire some metal ones soon.

Thanks, Richard, for the links.

[Dave Hatfield]

Here's three solutions:

1) stainless steel or enameled cast iron roasting pans. Cast iron's my favorite.

2) Slow roast your meat. The temperature doesn't get hot enough to burn the juices. Do the flash at the begining.

3) Always deglaze with wine using high heat & a wooden spatula to scrape everything off. Even if you don't want to make gravy (if not, why not I'd ask?) it still makes pan cleaning easy.

[Kent Wang]

2) Slow roast your meat. The temperature doesn't get hot enough to burn the juices. Do the flash at the begining.

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Do you think slow roasting can maximize the amount of browning? If anything it seems like a good, fast broil may be best.

[Torrilin]

Alternate method:

I mostly roast in pyrex. Typical roasts around here are chicken or beef tritip, since they're sized well for feeding 2 people and the leftovers aren't overwhelming. Instead of using a roasting rack (expensive, inedible) I roast meats on a bed of veggies. I end up with a nicely liquid, intensely flavorful pan juice. Often I don't bother thickening it because it's so good plain.

This would not work well for all roasts. Having random carrots stuck to the bottom of your beautifully done prime rib is not a good plan. But when it works, it's very convenient and tasty.

I do high heat roasting. Chicken needs a pretty high heat initially to get the skin to crisp, and it roasts better when I start it thighs up, so going at high heat the whole time is good. And for beef, high heat seems to be the best way to get a crispy fat cap and still have the interior as rare as I like it *and* have the veggies done when the meat is done.

Emily