Calling cooks for pan/pot advice

2gether

Sun, Mar 31 2019, 7:16 am

1) Supposedly cold water to a hot pot or pan ruins the coating. So I'm careful not to immediatly soak them right after cooking. But what do you do after frying onions, for example, and then I want to add the rest on the ingredients and cold water??

2) Metal also is blamed to remove the coating. But how can you fry w/o a utensil? Disposables just melt in the pan, real plastic splatula also melts a bit and impossible to clean, and wooden spoons impossable to clean. Maybe I can manage for my omelet but what about shnitzel, etc?

I'm asking because my frying pan is dying and I want to buy another and not ruin it also. Smile

33055

Sun, Mar 31 2019, 8:06 am

esther11 wrote:

I don’t have an answer for #1, but in terms of #2 I love using heat resistant silicone spatulas and spoons. They are so easy to clean!

Something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Silicon.....r=8-6

I agree with you on #2. Don't rest your utensils on the pan. You can use the hole in the handle or a spoon rest.

I never heard of #1. Maybe invest in a decent frying pan. I have 9 different frying pans and I add cold water all the time. Some are only $20, and I've had them years. The only time the coating come off is if they get scraped with a metal utensil.

Amarante

Sun, Mar 31 2019, 11:12 am

Not sure what your issue is with cooking utensils. I don't use metal in a non-stick pan but silicone or harder plastic if I need to scrape.

The only thing nonstick is absolutely necessary for would be eggs and pancakes :-).

For everything else a really high quality pan works fine unless you are cooking incorrectly. A fully clad pan; a pan with a heavy disc on the bottom for even heating; an enamel over cast iron like Le Creuset or others; high quality anodized aluminum like Calphalon pans. You don't have to spend a huge amount for high quality pan unless you want to splurge on Le Creuset or All Clad fully clad - but fully clad isn't necessary for sautéing anyway as you only need a HEAVY SOLID bottom so that you have even heat which doesn't create spots that burn.

In terms of cooking, let's assume you are making a chicken breast sautéed with a pan sauce - or you are sautéing aromatics like onions and garlic to start a sauce. With a regular (not non-stick) you start sautéing at a relatively low heat - you don't want to burn the stuff and you need a very minimal amount of oil. When you sauté stuff it creates a "crusty" surface on the pan which is called the fond. When you add liquid like wine or broth or even a bit of water, you stir it and the fond is released into the sauce and helps create the flavor. My definition might be a bit muddled because it depends on the specific recipe but generally deglazing the fond with a bit of liquid essentially eliminates any kind of need for nonstick because there isn't anything sticking to the surface of the pan - the deglazing releases it into the liquid as part of the cooking process.

In terms of ruining a pan with cold water, I think what that advice means is that you don't take a hot pot from the stove and then run it under cold water because that will warp the pot.

Vintage

Sun, Mar 31 2019, 11:19 am

2gether wrote:

What type of coating? (I.e. non-stick or conditioning on cast iron, etc.)

Add the rest of the ingredients first, then add water that isn't super cold, rather somewhere around room temp. Barring that, just take the pan off the heat when you add the additional ingredients after frying the onions, and again, adding cold water shouldn't be a problem if you wait a few minutes but at any rate, try not to add extremely cold water. The closer to room temp, the better.

As for utensils: It sounds like you are using extreme heat. I would not go for non-stick in a frying pan (there are lots of great options for stainless), try not to use extreme heat on a regular basis, and go for keeping the surface conditioned w/a little oil. Even here, you probably won't want to scratch the surface w/a metal utensil but if you are careful, meaning you try to keep the surface conditioned and don't go for extreme heat too often, you should be able to do pretty well.

I use regular pan surfaces, along w/enameled cast iron for pots, and I find this way of doing things works well. Conditioning and cooking temps are key. I also prefer using metal utensils.

Let me know if this helps.

All the Best!

zaq

Sun, Mar 31 2019, 12:21 pm

I ditched my coated pans years ago. I’m stainless steel with copper-or aluminum-bottom all the way. No matter how often I burn things right down to elemental carbon, steel wool or copper scrubbies and some elbow grease get them gleaming again.

Most of my cookware is almost 40 years old, some even older, and still looks fine despite being borderline abused. I mean, I never used a skillet to whack a burglar on the head or tried to blowtorch a saucepan, but things get dropped pretty often and I regularly “render a burnt offering unto the L-rd”.