Cooking on Stainless Steel for Beginners
There’s a reason that stainless steel cookware is trusted by professional chefs around the world – it’s the most versatile cooking surface you can find. However, for home cooks used to cooking on a coated non-stick surface, the idea of stainless steel can be daunting. Will your food stick? Will it be easy to clean? We’ll tackle cleaning in another post (but, the short answer is: yes, cleaning stainless is easy!).
Let’s go over the four key ways to keep food from sticking to your new stainless steel cookware, ensuring your food remains intact and unstuck, all while protecting the integrity of your pan for years to come.
1. Preheat
The same way you preheat your oven before baking, remember to preheat your pan before adding any food to the cooking surface. A preheated pan means that your food will be cooking from the moment it touches the surface, ensuring that it cooks evenly. A neat trick is to drip water on the surface and when you see it jump or dance on the pan, the pan is preheated and ready to cook.
2. Keep it moderate
Use medium to moderate heat to avoid damaging your pan and the food inside of it. Over-heating your pan can also damage any oils you are using to cook with. The only time to turn the heat up to high is when boiling liquids.
3. Fat is your friend
After about 2-3 minutes of preheating your pan, add a fat source such as butter or oil. Since different fats have unique smoking points, you will want to ensure you choose one based on your cooking temperature to avoid overheating the fat, rendering it bitter. Some common fats are butter which can be used at low heat and is great for cooking eggs, olive oil for moderate heat (think sautéing vegetables or cooking a delicate fish), and Grapeseed/Vegetable oil on higher heat when you are searing proteins. Once the oil is shimmering or when the butter has finished bubbling, you are ready to begin cooking.
4. Be patient
Once you place your food in the pan, don’t be in a rush to move it around. If you move your food too early, it will stick to the cooking surface. The stainless steel surface will actively release your food when it is ready to be flipped. You can test this by gently nudging your food from side to side. If you encounter resistance, give it some more time. Once you can easily move the food along the cooking surface, it’s ready to flip or remove.
Give these tips a try, and let us know what dishes you created in the comments!
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Thank you for your comment. The use of medium to medium-high heat is a recommendation. With All-Clad's bonded technology, each piece of cookware is designed to heat evenly and quickly. If the heat setting is too high, the chance of over-heating your pan increases. As a result, this can damage any oils you are using to cook with or burn the food.
How does all-clad do on an induction cook top
All-Clad Stainless Steel and Copper Cookware, as well as our HA1 Hard Anodized Nonstick Series, is designed to be optimal for all cooktops including Induction.
Thank you for your question. We do not recommend using PAM or other nonstick cooking sprays as they may cause damage to your cookware. We recommend using fat in its pure form or oil added to a spray bottle.
Thank you and we hope this helps!
You are welcome! For more helpful tips and tricks to get the most out of your All-Clad, visit our Care and Use page here: https://www.all-clad.com/care-use
We hope you enjoy your All-Clad for a lifetime!
The water drop test should be used prior to adding oil. This test will determine whether your pan is properly preheated.
We are very sorry to hear you have experienced some difficulties with food sticking to your pans. Cooking with stainless steel can be tricky at times. Here is a link that includes some helpful tips and tricks when cooking with stainless steel - https://www.all-clad.com/care-use
Additionally, if you would like further assistance, please feel free to contact us at any time here - https://www.all-clad.com/contact
Thank you, and we hope this helps!
Thank you for your question. You may certainly use All-Clad's Stainless Steel Cookware to make scrambled eggs! When making your eggs, add a generous amount of butter or oil to your pan. Allow your pan to preheat and then add in your eggs. Let your eggs cook undisturbed until you can push or move the eggs without any resistance. Once this occurs, you can continue to cook your scrambled eggs.
We hope this helps!
Thank you for your question. All-Clad's Stainless Steel Cookware is compatible with all cooktops, including electric coil cooktops.
When cooking with your Stainless Steel All-Clad, it is very important to ensure that your pan is properly preheated on a low to medium heat setting. prior to adding foods. To ensure that your pan is properly preheated, splash a small amount of water into your pan. If your pan is preheated, the water will dance on the pan. Then, add enough oil to cover the pan’s surface.
For more helpful tips and tricks, please visit our Care & Use Page here: https://www.all-clad.com/care-use
We hope this helps!
Thank you for your question. Traditionally, when cooking with stainless steel, a form of fat must be used in order to prevent food from sticking. However, there are a few potential solutions that may be helpful for you. When sautéing, use approximately 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or broth to help prevent sticking. As the liquid evaporates, add more as needed to brown your food. Be sure to only add a small amount of liquid at a time to prevent steaming your food. We hope this helps!
That is wonderful to hear! We hope you enjoy cooking with your All-Clad. We thank you for being a member of the All-Clad Community!