I bought my daughter and SIL some All-Clad stainless steel cookware a couple
of years ago. I learned this weekend that they don't use it very often
because it sticks, badly.

Does anyone have a solution for this? You can't season SS, can you?

"texpat" > wrote in message
news:3n5Sd.13235$ds.6450@okepread07...
>I bought my daughter and SIL some All-Clad stainless steel cookware a
>couple of years ago. I learned this weekend that they don't use it very
>often because it sticks, badly.
>
> Does anyone have a solution for this? You can't season SS, can you?

Silly people,. The just don't know how to cook.

No, you cannot season it. You have to heat the pan, then add some oil, then
cook. Some stuff will stick a b it and under certain circumstances, that is
good. The stuck stuff in call the "fond" and when you deglaze the pan it
help make a flavorful sauce.

I don't use SS for eggs because a Teflon coated pan work best for that.
Cast iron is often used too, but some things just do better in a good SS
pan.
--
Ed
http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/

Thanks, Ed. I'll forward your reply to them. I had also suggested this to
them, but I'm sure they'll take it more seriously if someone BESIDES their
mother says it.


"Edwin Pawlowski" > wrote in message
om...
>
> "texpat" > wrote in message
> news:3n5Sd.13235$ds.6450@okepread07...
>>I bought my daughter and SIL some All-Clad stainless steel cookware a
>>couple of years ago. I learned this weekend that they don't use it very
>>often because it sticks, badly.
>>
>> Does anyone have a solution for this? You can't season SS, can you?
>
> Silly people,. The just don't know how to cook.
>
> No, you cannot season it. You have to heat the pan, then add some oil,
> then cook. Some stuff will stick a b it and under certain circumstances,
> that is good. The stuck stuff in call the "fond" and when you deglaze the
> pan it help make a flavorful sauce.
>
> I don't use SS for eggs because a Teflon coated pan work best for that.
> Cast iron is often used too, but some things just do better in a good SS
> pan.
> --
> Ed
> http://pages.cthome.net/edhome/
>

texpat wrote:
>
> I bought my daughter and SIL some All-Clad stainless steel
> cookware a couple of years ago. I learned this weekend that
> they don't use it very often because it sticks, badly.
>
> Does anyone have a solution for this? You can't season SS, can you?

Good cookware like All Clad is stick resisant not non-stick. The
kids can't tell the difference, probably because they're never
been told the difference.

With stick resistant cookware, when you put the meat in the oiled
pan, it will stick for a while and then release. More importantly
it releases when it is time to flip the meat to cook the other
side. What they've been doing is impatience. Since with a
non-stick pan they can flip and flip and flip any time, they have
been trying to do that. Doesn't work, wrong way to do it. They
also probably don't use oil like Edwin Pawlowski mentioned.

On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 14:15:02 -0600, "texpat"
> wrote:

> Thanks, Ed. I'll forward your reply to them. I had also suggested this to
> them, but I'm sure they'll take it more seriously if someone BESIDES their
> mother says it.

I don't use SS, but I think that for meat not to stick you
need to move it around a bit when you first add it to the
pan. I've seen it done that way on TV cooking shows.

sf

texpat wrote:
[snip]
> Does anyone have a solution for this?

Yes, if they'll send these pesky sticking pans to me I'll pay the
postage. <grinning greedily>

Seriously, as the others posted: heat the pan, add the oil, place the
meat in, and leave it alone. If you try to move it around too soon it
will stick and break apart. If you leave it alone it will firm up and
come loose from the pan with just a nudge when it's ready.

-aem

"sf" > wrote in message
news
> On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 14:15:02 -0600, "texpat"
> > wrote:
>
> > Thanks, Ed. I'll forward your reply to them. I had also suggested this
to
> > them, but I'm sure they'll take it more seriously if someone BESIDES
their
> > mother says it.
>
> I don't use SS, but I think that for meat not to stick you
> need to move it around a bit when you first add it to the
> pan. I've seen it done that way on TV cooking shows.
>

Actually, if you just put meat into a hot pan and leave it alone, it will
release on its own, leaving a fond behind. You can then deglaze the pan and
made a sauce or just use water and clean the pan. I think putting meat into
a SS pan and then moving it just makes things worse.

Déjà vu!

One of the first discussions that I participated in on this newsgroup (this
was before the name change in early 1987 to rec.food.cooking) was a general
query about cookware, and the same points came up. Strengths and weaknesses
of the common types, people's experiences with them, things sticking or not
sticking to stainless steel. That was in net.cooks in 1984 or so. (Still
have it, at least on paper.) It seemed then as if that discussion might
answer most such questions. (But with declining archiving, lack of use of
it, the frequently-asked-question syndrome, etc., it did not.)

On newsgroups it's déjà vu over, and over, and over again.

Just a thought -- Max


"Edwin Pawlowski" in om...
>
> No, you cannot season it. You have to heat the pan, then add some oil,
> then cook. Some stuff will stick a bit and under
> certain circumstances, that is good. The stuck stuff in call the
> "fond" and when you deglaze the pan it help make a flavorful sauce.
>
> I don't use SS for eggs because a Teflon coated pan work best for that.
> Cast iron is often used too, but some things
> just do better in a good SS pan.


By the way -- historical Usenet note -- some people in recent years acquired
a dislike for "top posting," where quoted text appears at the end. (This
article is not an example of that but of embedded quotation, one of several
venerable formats preceding that issue.) The preference appeared in late
1999 (if I recall) in reaction to a particular generation of news-reader
tools that formatted their replies that way automatically (as with email).
Prior to late 1999, most references to "top post" in the Google archive have
unrelated meaning, such as the top post of the week. A few people have even
turned to the venerable RFC1855 for support of their discouragement of top
posting. RFC1855 and its predecessors actually long predate that issue.
The main message in them related to quoting past postings is DO include some
summary of what you answer (for people who don't see the original) but DON'T
include the whole article -- lift a finger to edit it down. That advice
remains good and transcends any quirks of news readers, now or later.

texpat wrote:

> I bought my daughter and SIL some All-Clad stainless steel cookware a couple
> of years ago. I learned this weekend that they don't use it very often
> because it sticks, badly.
>
> Does anyone have a solution for this? You can't season SS, can you?
>
>
I had to change my cooking style when I went to all SS cookware. Try
cooking on lower heat. If it anything like my SS cookware that has a
thick tri-clad bottom, lower heat is a must. If sticking occurs,
sprinkle a generous layer of baking soda on the bottom, cover with a
little water, bring to a boil, then let sit. The burnt stuff will come
off easily.

Serendipity wrote:
> texpat wrote:
>
> > I bought my daughter and SIL some All-Clad stainless steel cookware
a couple
> > of years ago. I learned this weekend that they don't use it very
often
> > because it sticks, badly.
> >
> > Does anyone have a solution for this? You can't season SS, can you?

> >
> >
> I had to change my cooking style when I went to all SS cookware. Try

> cooking on lower heat. If it anything like my SS cookware that has a

> thick tri-clad bottom, lower heat is a must. If sticking occurs,
> sprinkle a generous layer of baking soda on the bottom, cover with a
> little water, bring to a boil, then let sit. The burnt stuff will
come
> off easily.

That's a dumb method for de-glazing a pan, your sauces must taste like
shit.

And if you burn one kind of pan then you are burning all kinds of
pans... lower the friggin' heat, idiot.

Vox Humana > wrote in message
...
>
> "sf" > wrote in message
> news
> > On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 14:15:02 -0600, "texpat"
> > > wrote:
> >
> > > Thanks, Ed. I'll forward your reply to them. I had also suggested
this
> to
> > > them, but I'm sure they'll take it more seriously if someone BESIDES
> their
> > > mother says it.
> >
> > I don't use SS, but I think that for meat not to stick you
> > need to move it around a bit when you first add it to the
> > pan. I've seen it done that way on TV cooking shows.
> >
>
> Actually, if you just put meat into a hot pan and leave it alone, it will
> release on its own, leaving a fond behind. You can then deglaze the pan
and
> made a sauce or just use water and clean the pan. I think putting meat
into
> a SS pan and then moving it just makes things worse.
>
>

Vox Humana wrote:
> Actually, if you just put meat into a hot pan and leave it alone, it will
> release on its own, leaving a fond behind. You can then deglaze the pan
and
> made a sauce or just use water and clean the pan. I think putting meat
into
> a SS pan and then moving it just makes things worse.

On one of the cooking demonstration shows, a guest asked the host why he
picked up the pan and jiggled it that way, and if jiggling the pan was part
of real cooking or just for show. The host replied that food will stick to a
pan until it's ready to let go, and that shaking the pan was a way of
determining if the food was ready to turn or not -- if it moves in the pan,
it's ready. The guest was abashed, but the host wasn't concerned and assured
the guest that was just another lesson learned.

"pennyaline" <nsmitchell@spamspamspamspamspamspamspameggandspam .com> wrote
in message ...
> Vox Humana wrote:
> > Actually, if you just put meat into a hot pan and leave it alone, it
will
> > release on its own, leaving a fond behind. You can then deglaze the pan
> and
> > made a sauce or just use water and clean the pan. I think putting meat
> into
> > a SS pan and then moving it just makes things worse.
>
> On one of the cooking demonstration shows, a guest asked the host why he
> picked up the pan and jiggled it that way, and if jiggling the pan was
part
> of real cooking or just for show. The host replied that food will stick to
a
> pan until it's ready to let go, and that shaking the pan was a way of
> determining if the food was ready to turn or not -- if it moves in the
pan,
> it's ready. The guest was abashed, but the host wasn't concerned and
assured
> the guest that was just another lesson learned.

I never thought of testing it by shaking the pan, but it makes sense. I
just give it a push with a utensil. If it is stuck, I give it more time.
Cooking is a series of small secrets, experience, luck, and experimentation.
Eventually you get it right.

"Serendipity" > wrote in message
...
> texpat wrote:
>
> > I bought my daughter and SIL some All-Clad stainless steel cookware a
couple
> > of years ago. I learned this weekend that they don't use it very often
> > because it sticks, badly.
> >
> > Does anyone have a solution for this? You can't season SS, can you?
> >
> >
> I had to change my cooking style when I went to all SS cookware. Try
> cooking on lower heat. If it anything like my SS cookware that has a
> thick tri-clad bottom, lower heat is a must. If sticking occurs,
> sprinkle a generous layer of baking soda on the bottom, cover with a
> little water, bring to a boil, then let sit. The burnt stuff will come
> off easily.

I don't find it necessary to reduce the heat with my SS cookware unless I
want to simmer something. I like to put a skillet on a high flame, heat it
hot, add oil, and let it rip.

Sheldon wrote:

> Serendipity wrote:
>
>>texpat wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I bought my daughter and SIL some All-Clad stainless steel cookware
>
> a couple
>
>>>of years ago. I learned this weekend that they don't use it very
>
> often
>
>>>because it sticks, badly.
>>>
>>>Does anyone have a solution for this? You can't season SS, can you?
>
>
>>>
>>I had to change my cooking style when I went to all SS cookware. Try
>
>
>>cooking on lower heat. If it anything like my SS cookware that has a
>
>
>>thick tri-clad bottom, lower heat is a must. If sticking occurs,
>>sprinkle a generous layer of baking soda on the bottom, cover with a
>>little water, bring to a boil, then let sit. The burnt stuff will
>
> come
>
>>off easily.
>
>
> That's a dumb method for de-glazing a pan, your sauces must taste like
> shit.

It's not a sauce or de-glazing method but thanks for your concern It
is an age old method of cleaning pans without having to resort to
scouring pads.
>
> And if you burn one kind of pan then you are burning all kinds of
> pans... lower the friggin' heat, idiot.
>

I very seldom burn my pans, but again thanks for your concern.
Accidents can and do happen though. I gave the tip for those who may
find they have and would like an environmentally friendly way to clean them.

BTW, it's so nice you have to resort to name calling.