Steam is invisible, it is a gas. Technically, “steam” is water that is hotter than the boiling point. The waste product of burning natural gas on your stovetop is also steam.
It is when the steam is cooled that water vapor becomes visible, as the air can no longer hold water vapor molecules (humidity) without sufficient kinetic energy, and it begins to collect in clumps of liquid molecules that diffuse light. The same effect happens from simply cooling humid air and not steam: your dryer vent or your breath on a cold day.
Perhaps the heat radiated by the pan and convection currents of hot flame keeps the air above hot, and carries moisture away before you see it precipitate out..
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