novice at cooking here. know the basics and can make some decent tasting dishes without the need of a recipe, but not enough to know the full ins and outs of cooking.

since i moved out of my parents’, i’ve been cooking with cheap pans pots and pans from ikea, and while they do the trick for most of my cooking, i cannot for the life of me make decent eggs without them overcooking and sticking, butter/oil help a little bit but not consistently. the electric range is def a hurdle to learn coming from gas, but most of my other dishes seem to come out fine.

anyway, i’ve been looking into some decent pans that meet the following criteria:

  • nonstick without chemicals (teflon/PFAS/whatever)
  • induction burner compatible, as i plan on getting a burner at some point
  • (optional) comes in an 8in and 10in size
  • (optional) oven safe

from what i’ve seen so far the “Analon EverLast N₂ Carbon Steel” seems like what i’m looking for based on reviews but i also wanted to ask for people’s opinions before making a purchase

  • Sophocles@infosec.pub
    2·
    2 days ago

    Your problem might be not pre-heating the pan long enough (this goes for cast iron, stainless, and carbon steel). For eggs made in pans with these materials, you need to let it sit on the heat for a bit; not too hot to obliterate the egg, but hot enough to evenly heat the pan. The pan should have some oil/fat in it as well.

    In layman’s terms, the science behind this is that these metals have little microscopic “pores” that open wider when heated. When the pan is cold, they are smaller and latch onto the food. Heating up the metal opens up these “pores” and allows the oil to lubricate the metal much better.

    You might want to invest in a 3-ply stainless steel pan ( which basically means aluminum encased in steel). The steel protects the aluminum, and the aluminum distributes heat evenly to the whole pan to facilitate the above process. As long as you pre-heat the pan and add enough oil or butter, not even eggs will stick. I personally use a Viking stainless steel pan, but I’ve also heard that Made-In makes some good ones too. Cuisinart also is a cheaper option

    • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
      2·
      2 days ago

      Seconding this. Heat the pan first, I’ll wet my hands and throw some water droplets on the pan, once they sizzle, I know it’s hot enough.

      Then heat the oil. It doesn’t take very long, especially on an induction burner. I consider it hot enough when the oil becomes more fluid, almost like water. Then add your foods, not too quickly (or the heat might drop to a steam), but not too slowly either. Pay close attention, as you need to thread a needle between hot enough to fry/sautee but not hot enough to burn. You’ll probably burn some food in the process of learning this, and then again once you feel comfortable with it enough to try to multitask.

      On that note, unless you have to wait for a very long cooking time, prep all your ingredients before you start cooking anything. Ideally, you should be able to just drop the ingredients in when it’s time to do so. Put them in bowls that represent the stage they are in and then you can concentrate on the timings, temperature, and techniques.

      I say all of that because I barely ever burnt anything until I learned that I was actually only steaming things I thought I was sauteeing, and I learned that by learning how to use heat to reduce food sticking.

      Another thing to be aware of is when to deglaze stuff that sticks to the bottom anyways (it’ll still happen, just not catastrophically where the thing sticks more to the bottom than to itself and falls apart) and when to give up on a burnt mess. So far, I think it’s based on the colour (black is charcoal, which you want to limit, brown is caramelized, which is chemically modified but usually not a bad effect on the food, other colours are just that food sticking on the bottom, and will still tastr like that food but maybe with a crispy/crunchy texture from the bottom part), but I’m still learning this one myself.

      Edit: one advantage of stainless steel pots/pans is that you can use stainless steel wool on them. It will scratch the finish, but those scratches won’t ruin the pans or make them release dangerous chemicals into your food. They just reveal more stainless steel.