How to Avoid Sticking with Stainless Clad PanUpdated 10 months ago

Perhaps the biggest misconception about stainless steel is that food sticks to it. Thankfully, with the proper technique, sticking is easily avoidable.

1. Temper Your Food

Set yourself up for success and temper your ingredients, or bring them to room temperature (or close to it) before they even reach the pan. Putting cold food into a hot pan increases the likelihood that your food will stick, and food will cook more evenly if it’s already at room temperature.

Let proteins sit at room temperature for about 20 to 30 minutes, and vegetables for longer. The ingredient’s core temperature may not be exactly at room temperature, but that’s fine—as long as the surface isn’t straight-from-the-fridge-cold, you’ll avoid stickage.

2. Use Enough Oil

Preheat your pan for a few minutes before adding oil—more on that below. If you’re going to cook over high heat, use oil with a high smoke point, such as grapeseed or sunflower. If you’re only cooking over medium heat, olive oil works too. Avoid cooking sprays, which can cake onto the pan’s surface.

How much oil you should use depends on what you’re cooking, but in general a thin coating will suffice—especially if you’re cooking something like skin-on chicken that will render out more fat as it cooks. 

To avoid sticking, let the oil heat up for a few minutes before adding your ingredient. You’ll know you’re ready to cook once the oil shimmers and ripples across the surface, but if the oil starts to smoke, then your pan is too hot.

3. Be Careful with Delicate Ingredients

If you’re cooking something more delicate, like fish or eggs, then adding a little more oil to the pan will help reduce sticking. But it really comes down to making sure your pan and oil are properly preheating, and letting your food cook long enough before stirring or flipping.

For skin-on fish—which we recommend for the delightfully crispy fish skin you’ll achieve in stainless steel—lay the filet skin-side down, making sure it’s flat against the skillet’s surface. Let the fish cook until it easily releases when you slide a thin spatula underneath. If it’s not releasing easily, then that means it needs to cook longer. Once flipped, cook to your desired degree of doneness.

For eggs, preheat your pan over medium-high heat, do the water test (see below), add your oil, then cook eggs in your preferred method, whether scrambled or fried. Do keep in mind that the eggs will cook quickly—for scrambled, we’re talking 1-2 minutes, tops—since you’re using medium-high heat. If you’re making fried eggs, reduce the heat to medium-low after adding the eggs, then cook until the whites and yolks are as set as you’d like. Know that if you cook over higher heat, you’ll get crispy whites with browned, lacy edges.