Hard anodized pan burning everything- help!

studying_torah

Wed, Jul 15 2015, 3:14 pm

I have a deep hard anodized cuisinart pan, & a smooth electric stove top.
Everything seems to burn, bec the oil or sauce always seems to disappear.
Even on a lower flame or w the pan covered. Example, I put in chicken plus bbq sauce and stir. A few seconds later, the pan is dry w no more sauce . Where is it going?
Aside from burning, it's also annoying if I'm making stir fry and want sauce for the rice or noodles, there isn't any.
Why not and what to do to keep sauce in the pan?
Ra mom- any ideas?

Amarante

Wed, Jul 15 2015, 6:39 pm

I have some of the anodized pans and they work well for me. Not sure what kind of pans you have been using but these are highly heat conductive and so you might have to adjust the heat much lower than in pans you were using the past.

Also electric stoves don't respond as quickly to heat adjustments so I will sometimes slide the pan off the heat for a minute or so when I want to lower the heat. On the positive side, electric stoves simmer at a low temperature much better than gas does.

Not sure how much oil you are using. I generally cook with only a small amount of oil and so there would not be excess in the pan. There is a particular way that you stir fry for best results by the way and the liquid portion is really added at the very end for maybe a minutes or so. Briefly, you sauté the protein - - remove from the heat. Then you do the veggies with the toughest veggies added first - I.e. carrots and broccoli (for example). You might even need to add a few tablespoons of water to these vegetables and cover for a few minutes until they soften (but there shouldn't be liquid left for a proper stir fry). Then add the softer veggies like mushrooms. Then you add the meat back in with the liquid (generally with cornstarch in the liquid).

Hope this helps.

ETA - I learned this technique from the America's Test Kitchen television series and it really produces stir fry results as close as a home kitchen can get to takeout. Since most stoves don't have the wattage of a true wok, you don't get identical results but very very good for a home kitchen. My best friend scoffed at me when I tried to explain it to her but then she became a convert. LOL

Amarante

Thu, Jul 16 2015, 7:39 am

Without knowing the recipes, it's hard to make a diagnosis. In general, food cooked in a skillet on top of the stove either has a "pan sauce" which is created in the end - I.e. you sauté the protein and then deglaze the pan with liquid and other flavorings at the very end. Or there is a significant amount of liquid added and the food simmers for awhile - I.e. sear the protein, sear the veggies and then add liquid (I.e. broth, wine, canned tomatoes etc.).

BBQ sauce is fairly thick and high in sugar and generally doesn't lend itself to being seared in a skillet. But again, without knowing what recipe you are trying to cook, it's hard to give advice.

studying_torah

Thu, Jul 16 2015, 12:03 pm

Ok I will try to clarify- for meat sauce I brown some chopped meat or chicken then pour in tomato paste and sauce etc. It will dry up and seem to disappear.
However last night, I used cutlets and at first the onions seemed to almost burn ( oil disappeared) added more veg and cutlets and then soy sauce. It all seemed so dry but I covered it and suddenly it was full of liquid ?! Where did it go? Where did it come from?

zaq

Thu, Jul 16 2015, 3:15 pm

Sounds as if you have your heat too high; the pans are getting too hot and the liquid is evaporating into the air of your kitchen. When you covered the pan, the liquid that "sweated" out of the veggies and cutlets (by the way, "sweating" is the actual technical cooking term) remained in the pan--or, more precisely, evaporated, then condensed onto the lid and dripped back into the pan. When you want to preserve the juices, you cover the pan and simmer on the lowest possible heat; when you want to reduce the liquid volume and concentrate the flavors, you uncover the pan and boil rapidly on high heat.

zaq

Thu, Jul 16 2015, 3:18 pm

BTW, if the bottom of your pan is dark, you need to use lower heat than the recipe calls for because the dark color absorbs more heat. If you like your cookware shiny-bright on the outside, you need higher heat because the bright surface reflects heat away. So, yeah, your mirror-bright sparkling pans may look pretty but they are wasting energy.

Amarante

Thu, Jul 16 2015, 3:48 pm

Zaq succinctly summarized it. Anodized aluminum is great to cook with because it is highly conductive but you have to take that into consideration when you cook with it and use lower temperatures and watch carefully.

I don't know how much oil you use to cook but in general, you don't need much to cook. A bit for the pan at a low temperature and then the vegetables sweat and release the moisture. But this is done at a fairly low temperature.