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
On a stove, you’re not controlling the temperature. You’re controlling how much heat is being added. The pan doesn’t cool down when you turn down the stove, it just gets hotter more slowly. So the idea is you want get the pan hot enough to sear your food but you don’t want it to get so hot that you burn the outside before the inside gets cooked.
Turning down the heat isn’t part of stopping the food from sticking, it’s just so that the food will cook more evenly.
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