Since buying a forged-iron pan (somewhere in weight between cast iron and carbon steel) our all-clad pans have mainly been resting unused in the cabinet. Stainless is great for sauces, however.
1 Like
No, I donāt cook with canola oil but Iām a home cook. Peanut oil has a
higher smoking temperature and tastes better.
If I was running a restaurant the cost difference might have me deep
frying with canola oil, but the only other significant difference for me is
that canola oil forms a non-stick lacquer when applied thinly and
baked onto cast iron. Peanut oil stays greasy.
Madge is cheaper than therapy.
And look at my cuticles! Dr. Feinman has never been any help there.
1 Like
So you know, that works with stainless steel and aluminum pans too. Heat the pan FIRST, then add some oil/butter.
If only I had a like to give you!
my best skillet came out of street trash, people left furniture and things when they moved.
For regular duty: no soap, so salt. Sponge and water, nothing sticks because the surface is perfect. If a housemate soaped it, warm up and wipe with oil to restore.
Why would anyone bother to clean the fat when you can cook beans? Use fat from sausages to cook beans (bacon probably works, i just donāt buy it much). Heat it up, cook beans.
1 Like
I started using Flaxseed oil and then I seasoned everything with it!
Cheap enamel coated dutch oven that got worn? Flaxseed it!
Ancient ātinā bread pan that I got from my Nana? Flaxseed it!
Even my muffin pan and cookie sheets got flaxseed!
Seriously that shit amazing!
But OMG it tastes terrible, do not cook with it by mistake!
1 Like
Iām a big fan, and can tell no difference from the Trader Joes flax seed oil and the Whole Foods stuff, except $10 or so per same size bottle.
2 Likes
As a canuck I have neither of those shops at hand so I just go to the local bulk/health store and get it out of the fridge there. Still like $20 a bottle, but so long as you keep it in the fridge it wonāt go rancid on you and lasts a long long time!
1 Like
FYI, it makes no difference whether the pan is hot or not before you add your oil. This was a myth popularized by TV chefs (āhot pan, cold oil!ā), but didnāt make any scientific sense, because the thin film of oil or butter is going to hit the panās temperature within seconds of landing in the hot pan. Itās going to be just as hot as if you had added the oil to the pan when it was cold.
Some people say that putting the oil in first increases the chance of it breaking down and smoking, but the oil will be that hot regardless the whole time youāre cooking your food.
[quote=āL_Mariachi, post:40, topic:76583ā]
I donāt know what @stefanjones is drinking in his avatar photo, but Iāll have what heās having.[/quote]
I only drink one mind-altering substance:
7 Likes
Sugar?
Methspresso?
posts must be blah blah blah words words words lorem ipsum happy now?
7 Likes
You might want to read your link, especially the comments.
Actually, if you heat the cold oil in a hold pan and bring it up to temperature, the pan will never become hot enough; the oil will burn by the time the pan gets to optimal temperature ā you are shooting for 600ĀŗF+ for a sautĆ© or sear where grapeseed oil will start to smoke at ~480ĀŗF. The reason hot pan/cold oil works is because when you add the oil to a very hot pan, it starts to vaporize ā the oil in immediate contact with the pan creates a vapor layer that prevents it from bonding to the pan. Obviously, it will burn quickly if no food is added. But cold oil bonds to cold metal, you donāt get this floating oil slick effect ā food sticks to the oil, oil sticks to the metal, and in my experience, cold pan, cold oil leads to sticking.
So why would you want a pan heated to 600ĀŗF+ anyway? Simple ā the added food is a massive heat sink, so you need to compensate for the rapid heat loss of the pan.
Followed by:
What Matthew P. Williams said is correct and not a myth. The science behind it is termed the Leidenfrost Effect [Leidenfrost effect - Wikipedia]. Mythbusters also did a show on a similar topic [http://youtu.be/yTOCAd2QhGg]
2 Likes
MythBusters did not show that using cold oil in a hot pan will create a vapor barrier that keeps food from sticking. Yes there is a thing called the Leidenfrost Effect but MythBusters did not prove its specific applicability in food prep.
We use euro scrubbies on our pans, cast iron or otherwise. Also on other things we donāt use soap on, like wooden plates and bowls. We average 2+ meals per day at home and they see a lot of use. Still, the large ones last 6 months. The cooked on food comes right off with minimal application of elbow grease.
a) The Leidenfrost effect has nothing to do with cooking in a pan with oils. For the Leidenfrost effect to work, the liquid (usually water) needs to boil, as your link shows. The boiling point of canola oil is 671-800ĀŗF, which also happens to be right near its auto-ignition point, so if you are getting your oil that hot you are doing something seriously wrong. (The low-end of that range indicates a very light boil, which would not be enough to create the Leidenfrost effect.)
b) I havenāt seen any evidence of anyone successfully showing the Leidenfrost effect in a pan with cooking oil, even if they use an industrial burner to get the pan up to temperature. If it happened, you would easily see the effects yourself: the oil would ball up into tiny droplets and skitter around the pan.
c) If you are cooking your eggs at 800ĀŗF, or even 600ĀŗF from your own quote, you are again doing something seriously wrong.
1 Like
3 Likes
So, first off, Iām not a chemist. I included that specific info because it was part of YOUR link. If nothing else, you could say that the science is not yet definitive on this claim.
But secondly, cooking IS chemistry. Thereās something about denying ā in some cases, belittling, but Iām not saying thatās you personally ā the observations of millions of cooks over the years that rubs me the wrong way. If we can understand that the temperature of one chemical will affect its reaction with another chemical in a lab setting, why donāt we acknowledge that itās the same thing when someone does it in the kitchen?
As someone who has cooked and cleaned longer than most posters here on BB have been alive, I can tell you that Iād rather deal with a stainless steel or aluminum pan, both while cooking and cleaning, which has been preheated. Thereās a noticeable difference. Can I explain it using fancy chemistry words? No, never studied that subject. But the effect is clear.
BTW, I have found that preheating before adding oil/butter is not necessary with cast iron pans, which are technically the topic here. Probably because of the polymerized surface. But again, I am not a chemist, so I canāt explain that difference.
1 Like
