Season Your Pans for Non Stick Cooking

Nothing is more frustrating than trying to cook atechnology has come a long way over the years and
delicious meal and having it stick to the bottom ofthere are dozens of infomercials to prove it. But the
the pan. A well season or cured pan will maketruth is even non stick pans will eventually stick.
cooking more fun, easier to clean and create betterFollow the steps for seasoning aluminum pans and
tasting food. There is a saying in the restaurantyour non stick pans will last longer and perform
business; Hot pan - Cold oil. Meaning never put the oilbetter. Remember after the first time, never wash
in a cold pan and then heat it up. By heating the panwith soup again.
first and then adding the oil, then immediately theCast iron and wok's - For cast iron and wok's the
food, you'll have much less sticking. Furthermore ifprocess is similar, but because of the nature of the
you season the pan when you first purchase it, youmetal you'll heat the pans to a much higher
will have even better results.temperature. Fist wash the pan with soup and water
Curing by metal typesthen dry thoroughly. Heat the pan up until it is very
Stainless Steel - Unfortunately stainless steel cannothot. Add two ounces of oil and swirl to coat all sides.
be seasoned because of the hardness of the metal.Let cool and remove excess oil. Heat the pan up
A matter of fact I don't know of a single restaurantagain until it begins to smoke. Add more oil and
which uses stainless steel pan. They are great forrepeat the process until you've done this three times.
storing food because the food won't react with theNever wash again and always store you pans at any
metal, but horrible for cooking. My advice is just stayangle or by hanging so they won't rust.
away from them altogether.By taking the time to properly season you pans, you
Aluminum - First wash the pan with soup and waterwill enjoy cooking much more and increase the life of
using a sponge or cloth (no steel sponge). Rinse andyour investment. I recommend spending a little extra
dry thoroughly. Heat the pan until hot then add twomoney and buying good quality pans and take care
ounces of oil to the pan. Carefully swirl the pan soof them, in the long run you'll be much happier.
the oil coats every part of the pan. Let the pan cool.Another tip is to never buy pans with plastic or
Remove the oil and repeat the process one morewooden handles because you can't place them in the
time. From this point on, never use soap again. Washoven. As you increase you cooking skills you'll find
with warm water and dry with a paper towel. Ifmany recipes start on the burner then move to the
some food does stick us a little salt with oil and aoven. By having an all metal pan this transition is
paper towel to remove it.flawless.
Teflon and other non stick surfaces - Non stick