I just ordered my first stainless steel pan and I’m kind of nervous about using it. I think I’ve hyped it up in a head a bit. I’ve been watching soooo many videos about the leidenfrost effect when heating up stainless steel pans but not ONE video where they explain why it’s nonstick even after lowering the temperature after attaining the effect. I saw someone say that the expanding of the metal from the heat makes it nonstick but that still doesn’t explain how it remains so even after turning it back down to low.
In: Physics
Stainless steel tends to stick as a result of the proteins of the meat binding to the surface of the pan. Nonstick doesn’t have this effect due to their teflon coating, and cast iron is seasoned with a thin layer of polymerized fat coating the metal and preventing the protein from having direct contact with the metal, preventing sticking.
By making the pan hot first, the natural moisture in your food instantly vaporizes upon contact creating an insulating barrier also preventing proteins from sticking to the surface.
Generally, you don’t actually want to cook your food at high temperature so they’re more or less telling you to lower the heat to the actual temperature you want to use. Fortunately, most stainless steel is fairly thin and low in thermal mass so even the initial high pan temperature will quickly lower.
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