Tips for cooking with stainless steel?

[elektra]

My new stainless steel pots and pans should arrive today. Hooray!
So any pointers?
I read the in the customer reviews about heating the pans first, about not letting oil cool in the pan, a "teflon to stainless" adjustment period....
It was all a little overwhelming to this cooking novice. I just don't want to ruin the pans, have stuff stuck to the bottom, or burn my food.
What is involved in this "adjustment period" basically?

I could use a cheat sheet!

[bubbaray]

I have never heard of an adjustment period for SS pans. I just took mine out of the box from Costco, washed them and then used as normal. I just use more oil than I would with Teflon.

As for clean up, sometimes the frypan needs to be soaked and then scrubbed with a green scrubbie. That is pretty much only when DH makes fried eggs and doesn't soak the pan right away (ie., he often will make fried eggs in the morning and leave the pan until dinner -- all he needs to do is put some water& soap into the pan and leave it on the cooktop until dinner when he does the dishes.

We regularly put our Lagostina SS pots/pans in the d/w. Usually they come spotless clean the first cycle. Except for the stupid egg/frying pan issue above. LOL

[egoldber]

I think the adjustment period is for the user, not the pan.

I did have a learning curve when I first switched to stainless from teflon. You will have to play around to find the best heat setting and how much oil to use. Confession, we use a Pam spray vs. oil and I love it. Initially I would err on the side of more oil vs. less.

ETA: I have used oil and do use oil occasionally, I just prefer the convenience of the spray.

[elektra]

I think the adjustment period is for the user, not the pan.

I did have a learning curve when I first switched to stainless from teflon. You will have to play around to find the best heat setting and how much oil to use. Confession, we use a Pam spray vs. oil and I love it. Initially I would err on the side of more oil vs. less.

ETA: I have used oil and do use oil occasionally, I just prefer the convenience of the spray.

Yes, the adjustment period is for me!
And that is another thing I read- I will need to use less heat and more oil (or PAM).

[egoldber]

The heat thing is hard for me to assess because we have a semi-professional cooktop that gets VERY hot. I use low or low-medium heat and let it sit for awhile to heat up. I can now tell by holding my hand over the pan if it is hot enough.

To check the heat, I put a small dot of egg into the pan. (I use a fork to mix my eggs and I just drizzle a little egg from the fork.) If it sizzles, it's hot enough. It it doesn't sizzle, it's not.

[SnuggleBuggles]

To check the heat, I put a small dot of egg into the pan. (I use a fork to mix my eggs and I just drizzle a little egg from the fork.) If it sizzles, it's hot enough. It it doesn't sizzle, it's not.

I just do that with water.

Beth

[lizzywednesday]

I test my pans using the water-drop method (drop water into the pan when you think it's hot; if it sizzles, cook away)

And, if you don't already have one, a Misto spray bottle is one of my favorite things for the kitchen. I registered for (and received) two - one to use for olive oil and one to use for neutral oil (canola, vegetable, etc.) but my DH didn't understand that line of reasoning.

I'd prefer not to have my stainless run through the dishwasher, but I simply do not have the time or energy to hand-wash them. (I do pre-rinse or soak them, though.)

[anamika]

And if you do get anything stuck on, try adding some baking soda and scrubbing. Works like a charm.
I love SS. It's pretty much all we use in India.

[daisymommy]

One big thing I wanted to add is heat up your pan FIRST--then add the oil.
Which is the reverse from cooking with Teflon, so people often forget that, and then everything sticks.
So just remember "hot pan, cold oil, and your food won't spoil".
Then let the oil warm up a little before adding your food. This creates almost a non-stick barrier between the pan and your food.

Enjoy!

Oh! and even though this isn't exactly "green", those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are amazing for getting the outside (or inside) back to their pristine new like condition after you have used and abused them for a year

Other than that, I use Bon-Ami (it's like natural Ajax; found in Target next to the "green" cleaners), or a baking soda and hot water paste to clean out any stuck on bits. But most things clean right off with soap and water, no problem.

[elektra]

Thanks for the tips!
We have been using the pans and it is taking some getting used to.
DH made some potatoes- (like breakfast potatoes- just diced and sauteed in oil) and they got all stuck to the bottom. After the food was served, DH told me that all you had to do was to fill the pan with water and heat it back up and it would take off the stuck stuff. And that seems to work!
And DH used quite a bit of oil to begin with too. I'm not happy about all that oil, but I guess we need to do that now. The potatoes did taste pretty good!
When cooking the eggs though, I think the oil got too hot. We heated up the pan before adding the oil, but I think the oil got too hot, as it left a stain in the pan.

I guess it's just going to be some trial and error on our parts.

I did boil ravioli last night and that went fine.