Why does oil/butter alone in a hot pan burn, but if you add food to the oil the oil doesn’t burn?

Question

Even if the pan appears to be at the same temperature

In: 1

Answer 1

The food contains water, which is released as the food cooks. Water boils at a lower temperature than oils used in cooking will burn at. While there’s water to boil, the oil can’t get too much hotter than the boiling point of water that it’s in close contact with, because any additional heat goes into boiling more water.