No, this isn’t a cast iron thing. Using stainless pans, you can get nonstick effects that, in my experience, far outperform Teflon anyway. The process is called “spot seasoning.” I have cooked crispy, cheesy rice noodles with eggs with zero sticking.
I love my cast iron pans, but stainless is my daily go-to. Added bonus: use 100% copper wool to clean your stainless pan. The copper-coated wool at most grocery stores is problematic; you might get a few uses out of the coated garbage and then it starts shedding metal bits.
It’s the simplest thing in the world with a stainless pan. Bring up the heat, add in some oil, wait for it to smoke, wipe it out with a cloth, in with cold oil, add in your food. It won’t stick.
Thanks for giving a simple summary so I didn’t have to click and watch.
Does this work with cast irons too?
Update: just made eggs sunny side up this way on my moderately unwell seasoned cast iron pan. Worked amazingly well. Who knew I was putting too much oil… I brought the temp down a little after cracking the eggs in.
Hell yeah buddy
belive it or not with enough heat you can cook eggs in a cast iron skillet without any oil ~(Some char may remain in the pan, restrictions apply. Please see your local pedantry department for all complaints about this advice.)~.
“wipe it out with a cloth” I’m curious about the cloth you use and what you do it? Sounds really messy an oil soaked cloth… But you do say it’s the simplest thing…
Sometimes I forget others haven’t accepted tea towels into their heart. I’ve got a dozen or more cloth towels around the house for mopping up. It all comes out in the wash. Cotton ones won’t burn readily, so they’ll dry out a hot oily pan no problem.
Paper towels work fine. Just make sure they’re pure paper and not mixed with synthetics or weird scents or whatever.
Isn’t teflon a cancer-causing “forever chemical”?
Veritasium just released a video about teflon and it’s impacts yesterday https://youtu.be/SC2eSujzrUY tldw they say that it’s fine for non-stick pans at lower temperatures but the smoke it creates at high temperatures is where the danger is. Especially for pet birds.
They are used to produce teflon and will be released if the coating is damaged.
Hey, did you hear veritasium made a video?
Veritasium did a video on this topic a few days ago. I highly recommend it. There’s a bit of nuance here, from what I understand, regarding PTFE which is the chemical composition that Chemours markets as Teflon. The video talks about PTFE being rather inert, passing through our bodies if we ingest it. The real issue is heating the substance above 350° C (662° in freedom units).
I’m not an expert but I think it’s worth reading up on the subject. If there’s anyone else more read up on the subject please let me know if I’m wrong here.
https://lemmy.world/post/29654949
Something like that.
Veritasium just made a great video about the history of Teflon and related chemicals. I got claude to help me put here:
Teflon and PFAS Health Concerns
Teflon (polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE) and related compounds have several health concerns:
Teflon itself
- The intact, long-chain PTFE polymer generally passes through the body without being absorbed, as you noted
- Not considered directly toxic when ingested in its stable form
Related harmful compounds
PFOA (C8) and PFOS:
- Used historically in Teflon manufacturing (not present in final product)
- Extremely persistent “forever chemicals” that bioaccumulate
- Associated with:
- Various cancers (kidney, testicular)
- Immune system impairment
- Thyroid disruption
- Reproductive issues
- Developmental problems
Shorter-chain PFAS (including C6):
- Introduced as “safer” replacements for C8 compounds
- Still very persistent in environment and bodies
- Growing evidence suggests similar health concerns to longer chains
- May be more mobile in environment
Heating concerns
Teflon breakdown:
- At normal cooking temperatures (below 500°F/260°C): minimal risk
- At high temperatures (above 500°F/260°C): Teflon begins to degrade
- At very high temperatures (above 660°F/350°C): releases toxic gases including:
- Fluorinated compounds
- Particulate matter
- Can cause “polymer fume fever” in humans (flu-like symptoms)
- Fatal to birds due to sensitive respiratory systems
Recommendations:
- Don’t preheat empty pans
- Avoid high-heat cooking with Teflon
- Replace scratched or damaged Teflon cookware
- Consider alternatives like cast iron, stainless steel, or ceramic
I have never has success with stainless steel but I will definitely try the heat/wipe/fresh technique if I get a chance.
Sis anyone else watch the video? I was waiting for his”spot seasoning method” until I saw just how much oil he used to cook and egg without sticking to his wok. Dude lost all credibility right there, and I quit watching
This is how you cook with stainless. Get a high smoke point oil, get the pan and oil plenty hot, the put the food in. It immediately sears the contact surface and this is what prevents sticking. This is also why you slowly place food in the pan (other than to avoid spatter), it gives a little extra time for this to happen. Otherwise you gotta wait for the surface to brown and hopefully unstick, which might work for things like chicken or the skin side of fish, but anything liquid like eggs or super soft like the fish meat will have a good chance of sticking.
IOW, just do what chefs usually tell you to do with stainless and get it hot with the correct oil. Best odds of not sticking. Modern non-stick pans are pretty good if you obey the rules about using them.
Yeah plus when cooking some foods in stainless (such as meat) you want some sticking so you can build a fond which you then deglaze to make a pan sauce. Carbon steel is less ideal for this because the seasoning will react with acids such as vinegars, wines, or citrus which are all common ingredients in pan sauces. While a well-seasoned carbon steel pan can survive a deglaze with vinegar the dissolved seasoning can ruin the flavour of your pan sauce.
This is how you cook with stainless. Get a high smoke point oil, get the pan and oil plenty hot, the put the food in.
This is not, strictly speaking, true for eggs.
I’ve cooked eggs in stainless nearly every day for the last couple of decades. I can crack a few eggs in a properly prepared cold pan, and still get non stick effects, such that the food will slide right out without using a tool.
The level of heat which would require a high smoke point oil is generally much too high for cooking most styles of eggs anyway.
People should use whatever method works for them, I’m not judging, but high heat is not required for most styles of eggs.
I have that same wok. You need a lot more oil for a flat bottom wok than a round bottom because the flat bottom doesn’t let the oil pool to the middle.
You absolutely can get nonstick eggs with a stainless steel frying pan and a small amount of oil but you need to actually practice heat control and cooking technique. It’s actually much easier with butter because the water in it will begin to fizz and you just need to wait for the fizzing to stop and the pan will be just about hot enough.
You still need to use the right heat setting which is specific to your stove and pan, so practice is needed but you can get a good feel for it by how quickly the butter melts. If it melts rapidly and gives off a lot of steam and begins browning then the pan is too hot (unless you want to do a crispy egg, but that should be done with oil instead of butter which has milk solids that burn and turn bitter).
Recipe:
1 egg
3/4 cup of your favorite oil
1 medium banana
1 pinch lemon zest
Put oil in pan over medium high heat until oil just smokes, allow to smoke for 15 seconds, then reduce temperature to “egg making temperature”. Add egg. Burn the shit out of that innocent bastard and push it around while repeating “egg slide freely!”. Remove your egg with a crispy, brown bottom and wet, runny whites from the skillet. Reserve oil.
Into one large coffee mug, pour your oil, add lemon zest.
Last, throw all this in the trash with your Teflon skillet, and eat the banana.
I prefer carbon steel. You get the same seasoning of cast iron and easy care, but it’s lighter so it heats more quickly and evenly. It’s a bit more expensive than cast iron but much cheaper than an All-Clad stainless pan.
I only use stainless for acidic foods, like tomato sauces.
Carbon steel FTW. I have a hand-hammered carbon steel wok (as well as one carbon steel knife). I live on a sailboat which means salt air. These two pieces of carbon steel perform so well that I’m willing to accept their higher maintenance “costs” (cost, in the effort context).
Both have their place. I think both stainless and carbon steel are extremely cheap in the long run compared to nonstick for the simple fact these pans don’t wear out. Both types of pans will last for generations and can take a real beating, even from metal utensils, though carbon steel does not give a damn about scratches whereas stainless can lose some aesthetic appeal (barkeepers friend can help polish it up though)!
Besides the chemical reactivity differences, stainless pans (especially clad pans with aluminum or copper cores) tend to be much faster to react to temperature changes than carbon steel. At the same time can’t hold as much thermal energy due to lower density, so carbon steel is better for searing a large piece of food without cooling down too much (which can start boiling the food instead of searing).
I appreciate that people have found solutions for avoiding materials that can become dangerous when overheated. I, too, have gone on PFOA-free journeys.
But oh my god, that egg is swimming in oil! I don’t want that many calories, and I don’t want to feel a greasy egg in my mouth.
I understand this solution is great for many people, and they should be proud and happy that they have reached their Teflon-free goals.
But as a person who can’t digest high amounts of fats without consequences and watches their calories, this is only a solution for people who love bathing their food in oil. I also avoid saturated fats, which are superior for their non-stick properties. I want to use olive oil, nothing else.
But fine, I will try it on my stainless pan and see what happens. Olive oil, heat to smoke, wipe, then a small amount of olive oil again for normal cooking.
If it works I’ll be thrilled. If not, back to my trusty teflons that never fail me. Wish me luck! Got any more tips?
Yeah, don’t use that huge amount of oil. I’ve never had eggs stick in my cast iron, using 1-2 tablespoons of oil or butter. It shouldn’t need to swim in oil and if it is, you’re doing something wrong
Bought a carbon steel pan - never looked back, it is excellent and lasts forever!
I have a well seasoned good quality one that makes eggs as well as a nonstick pan. Took time to get to that point though. Sugary American bacon is the surest way to end up having to reseason it though.
Got one too, searing steacks is wonderful but I sure can’t make eggs without garbling them!
my seasoning flaked off and it became metallic appearance. I was struggling with obtaining stable seasoning, but found a reddit post that suggesting Blueing process. You heat-up your clean wok a lot with no-oil the iron reacts with oxygen to form magnetite Fe3O4 which holds seasoning much better. After you blue your wok, you season it by heating up some oil, but generally it seasons itself diring usage. If something starts sticking, more oil and more heat usually does the job.
I never used teflon because I read somewhere that you mustn’t heat it up to a certain point. I just used stainless steel all my life until I got a cast iron skillet.
Still use the stainless steel pan for 97% of cooking
“a stainless… steel… WOK.”
I’m going to need a supercut of this guy saying “WOK”.
Even easier, heat the stainless steel pan until water balls up and skitters/rolls across it instead of evaporating.
Add oil and you can fry an egg on that pan
What’s the consensus on ceramic pots? They seem to be easier for nonstick and I don’t think they have the same issues as Teflon.
Some people, like me, can’t possibly keep non-stick pans safe. I live on a sailboat, and the effort to keep non-stick pans (even ceramic) safe from damage is disproportionate to the advantages. Also, I am away from resupply for long periods of time. If my pan gets damaged, I can’t just hop down to the store to replace it.
I have started to hate my ceramic skillets. They started sticking a couple of years after we bought them, and it’s a pain to lose half of an egg to the pan…
Hmm good to know, we have a couple and they seem great so far, but wasn’t sure how others felt.
laughs in stainless steel and cast iron
I just use butter to cook my eggs. I also pay attention to the bonds that the bottom of the egg form with the pan. By using a stainless turner on a stainless pan you can get between the egg and the bonds it’s forming with the pan. The more often you manipulate it and make sure those bonds don’t form, the more “non-stick” the egg is.
I usually pan flip single eggs cooked with this method because the egg slides around the pan easily.
My wife has a problem doing the same though, so I buy a couple of the disposable Teflon junk pans on a recurring basis.
I’ve been looking at the pirotech pans which are supposed to be nonstick and fully recyclable, but I’ve been unable to find a lot of reviews on them.
In addition to the tips in this thread: Parchment paper rounds that fit inside the pan and work great for really really sticky stuff
