The Real Reason Your Food Sticks To The Pan And how to make it stop

By

Julie R. Thomson
01/16/2015 

07:41am EST  

Updated August 03, 2019



Mornings are hard. But mornings met with eggs that stick to the pan, those are the worst. They're also all too common.

Cooking in anything other than nonstick pans runs the risk of, well, having food stick. It's frustrating and might convince you to dismiss the cancer warnings and buy nonstick pans. Don't do this. Instead, learn to master the pans you have. It's easier than you think: you just need to get it to the right temperature.


In order to cook meals seamlessly in anything other than a nonstick, such as stainless steel, the pan must reach the temperature of 320 degrees Fahrenheit. While a little practice will allow you to intuitively know once a pan's hot enough, there's a simple trick that also gets the job done. Here it is: Take a bit of water, drop it in the pan. If it does nothing, it's too cold. If it bubbles and steams, it's still too cold. But, if it bubbles and glides along the pan, the temperature is just right.


If that terminology is confusing, watch the video below for a visual demonstration (along with a scientific explanation).

Once the pan has reached the right temperature, you'll be flipping fried eggs with no problems. There are other rewards too, like beautifully-browned meats and awesome pan sauces -- plus a certain level of all around badass-ness -- which, by the way, you could never get with a nonstick pan.