Gonna try SS pans....any advice?

[berettafan]

Love my Field Co cast iron but need a few more pans and would like to develop my sauce game so have ordered some Allclad 3 ply.

I've been watching stuff on youtube about best practices and my understanding thus far is you need to heat the pan up on medium before adding fat and protein. Sounds like almost never turn past medium heat.

So this makes sense to me for chicken and seafood but i'm not clear on searing steaks. Some videos i see say 'get it piping hot before adding oil' but i'm not seeing that universally. So for those who use SS what is your routine for steaks and a good sear?

If med/high for searing then at what point do you lower to med heat and introduce butter for basting? If doing a pan sauce then I assume you're turning down to med after removing steaks to rest then deglazing and adding stock/butter/etc? How about if very thick steaks and using pan in oven after sear? Do you pull from oven, remove steaks and put on med burner for sauce?

Appreciate any help here!

[Bill Douglas]

I've found everything sticks to my SS pans.

However not all SS is equal and I bought a very grey looking SS frying pan that chefs use and supposedly doesn't stick. They're right. Doesn't rust and doesn't stick, but isn't shiney and pretty like other SS cookware.

[masraum]

Demeyere Atlantis, Belgian, 7 ply, very well made. The skillets are very thick and perform similar to cast iron. Get the skillet hot, add oil, immediately add food, and you shouldn't have a problem with sticking. The other pots are thick on the bottom and for a bit up the sides (the skillets are thick everywhere).

[berettafan]

So you don't heat the oil before adding the food? This doesn't result in the food soaking it up?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by berettafan

So you don't heat the oil before adding the food? This doesn't result in the food soaking it up?

I don't deep fry in my pans. I add the oil and very quickly add the food. It browns but does not stick (I learned that here). If you put the oil in and then heat the pan and then add the food, major sticking to the pan. I haven't noticed the food being extra greasy.

The 7 ply demeyere skillets are very thick and heavy (similar to a cast iron pan) so they are good for searing meat because like cast iron, they hold the heat well.

[berettafan]

Ok so we're saying the very thin layer of oil isn't enough to soak into the food. I got it!

[Danimal16]

I have tried the Demeyere, All-Clad and others, but my favorite is Fissler. They are on sale right now and YES you need to season a SS fry pan and use oil. Fissler also makes the worlds best Pressure Cooker (at least IMHO). https://www.fissler.com/us/products/product-detail/steelux-pro-stainless-steel-pan/

[911boost]

I have two Field Co pans and a few Lodge that I use often, I also have Allclad SS and agree with the advice on heating.

[wswartzwel]

I heat my skillet till a drop of water will dance around on it then add a touch of oil. when the oil is shimmering I add my eggs. no sticking


America test kitchen reviews some SS skillets

https://youtube.com/watch?v=KzNOy10nz6s&feature=share

[cstreit]

SS Pans? Don't give them free reign on interrogations... Limit their powers.

[mjohnson]

Meh on any nuance between the fancy brands. We have all-clad and beat on them daily, they keep up well. Some are non-induction (typically they're Al exterior) but most are induction-friendly.

It's gonna stick - if you're cooking a sturdy protein just be patient and it'll release. Always do the "drag through the hot fat" as you drop it. That helps.

If you're doing eggs or something fragile like some fish... Get a restaurant-quality nonstick pan. Replace every two years. That's maybe $10/yr for cooking bliss.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by mjohnson

Meh on any nuance between the fancy brands. We have all-clad and beat on them daily, they keep up well. Some are non-induction (typically they're Al exterior) but most are induction-friendly.

It's gonna stick - if you're cooking a sturdy protein just be patient and it'll release. Always do the "drag through the hot fat" as you drop it. That helps.

If you're doing eggs or something fragile like some fish... Get a restaurant-quality nonstick pan. Replace every two years. That's maybe $10/yr for cooking bliss.

All-Clad has a line, I thought they stopped making them, but it looks like they are available still/again, "Copper Core." I think they are 5 ply and one of the inner layers are copper. I have always thought those might be a nice set of pans.

[jyl]

After a while, the shiny stainless pan will get scratched and dull, and there will start to be stickage. Use your drill and a buffing pad with compound, and polish the pan up. It will be very slick and practically non-stick. For a while.

My favorite SS pans are All-Clad, because the handle has a “U” cross section, and you can put your thumb in the “U” so the handle and pan won’t rotate. Pans with slippery round-section handles will rotate, usually when heavily loaded with spillable stuff. Especially with wet or greasy hands.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jyl

After a while, the shiny stainless pan will get scratched and dull, and there will start to be stickage. Use your drill and a buffing pad with compound, and polish the pan up. It will be very slick and practically non-stick. For a while.

My favorite SS pans are All-Clad, because the handle has a “U” cross section, and you can put your thumb in the “U” so the handle and pan won’t rotate. Pans with slippery round-section handles will rotate, usually when heavily loaded with spillable stuff. Especially with wet or greasy hands.

That's the only downside that I've found to the Demeyere. The handles are good, but not great because they are (not round) but too close to round to provide great/full control if loaded up.

[Roswell]

Originally Posted by masraum

Demeyere Atlantis, Belgian, 7 ply, very well made. The skillets are very thick and perform similar to cast iron. Get the skillet hot, add oil, immediately add food, and you shouldn't have a problem with sticking. The other pots are thick on the bottom and for a bit up the sides (the skillets are thick everywhere).

Demeyere Atlantis is the best, period. I use it for everything BUT searing steak. There is not a close second...its that good

[jyl]

Originally Posted by masraum

That's the only downside that I've found to the Demeyere. The handles are good, but not great because they are (not round) but too close to round to provide great/full control if loaded up.

I’d like to rough up some of my round handles, but wife probably wouldn’t understand it.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by Danimal16

I have tried the Demeyere, All-Clad and others, but my favorite is Fissler. They are on sale right now and YES you need to season a SS fry pan and use oil. Fissler also makes the worlds best Pressure Cooker (at least IMHO). https://www.fissler.com/us/products/product-detail/steelux-pro-stainless-steel-pan/

The first thing I found upon going to a Thrift store was a Fissler Pressure Cooker for $12...it only took me one hit of la dolce vita for me to be hooked.

[tabs]

The protocol for SS pans to not stick is..

1. Heat pan on stove wt notin in it

2. When hot put in oil let heat

3. Put in food...

The advantage tri ply and Five plys is that you do not need as much heat to cook..

When you use heavy gauge copper you don't need much heat at all.. It cooks very gently..

I have found a fair amount of good heavy French copper pans in the Thrifts over the years..

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Love my Field Co cast iron but need a few more pans and would like to develop my sauce game so have ordered some Allclad 3 ply.

We have them. Replaced Calphalon stuff about 5 years ago. Got tired of hand washing the calphalon pans.

Pros: Dishwasher safe. Glass lids - can see what’s happening.
Cons. **** for frying.

Buy a $50 calphalon everyday pan to fry, use the bbq grill to sear, and you’ll like them. Try to do either of these and you won’t.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Will a better bike make me faster? Will a better car make me a better driver?

To some degree, yes. But few need the best, and even the best is often times subjective.

IMHO, no one looking for advice on pans needs anything better than All-Clad. Quality is indisputable, it's workhorse cookware and treated properly and with respect, will allow you to make anything, and as good as any cookware deemed "better." Of coarse only cast iron should be used for rib eyes, strips and even porterhouses. Filets, otherwise knows as sauce delivery vehicles, stainless is fine. Seasoned carbon steel in which you can reliably make crepes is the best IMHO. But stainless with copper and aluminum is fine for every day and more.

I've recently found that the cooktop is more important than the pans put on it. Recently having bought a 5 year old range that sells for $14K today allows me keep a beurre blanc on the stove top all day long without breaking if I want to. Yes, a proper sauce pan is important but the flame, and control of the flame, under it even more so. That goes goes for everything from delicate sauces to delicate fishes and deglazing the pan for a sauce. The flame, and your control of the heat, is everything. How the pan reacts to your inputs is, almost, secondary.

You can't go wrong with All-Clad for everything from Dover sole with a taragon duxelles to basic seared salmon with a crispy skin and everything in between.