Why I Season A Stainless Steel Pan Part 2
I love cooking on stainless steel pans, but it took some practice and some tips and tricks to get the hang of using these wonderful pans.
A few months ago, I posted a video and post about Buying and Cooking Tips For Stainless Steel Pans.
In this video I showed you how to preheat your pan and then I added some coconut oil followed by adding my egg mixture and demonstrated how to cook your eggs in a stainless steel pan without having them stick all over the pan.
When A Video Becomes Popular
This video became quite popular and I started to get quite a few tips (good and bad ones), but one stood out to me!
One person commented that you can season a stainless steel pan to create a naturally occurring non stick skillet in less then 5 minutes. This individual also stated that I wouldn’t need to use oils/butters to cook my eggs in, and that the pan would no longer stick.
What? For real? So you know me, I got one of my stainless steel pans out and proceeded with the instructions. I was amazed!
Such little effort and he was right, my pan no longer sticks!! I promise you, after watching this video, you too will be seasoning your stainless steel pans!
A Step By Step Approach To Season A Stainless Steel Pan
Here are the simple steps to create a naturally occurring non stick stainless steel pan!
- On medium to medium high heat, heat your pan for 2-3 minutes.
- Melt a little coconut oil or other high heat oil in your pan and swirl the oil around to evenly coat the pan. Allow the oil to smoke (don’t worry, we will be tossing this oil out)! Once the oil has smoked, turn off your burner and remove pan from heat source and allow to cool completely. You know your pan is seasoned and ready if you can see your mirror reflection of yourself in the pan (more details are in the video about this).
- Once the pan has cooled, pour out the oil and wipe the pan out with a paper towel. You now have a seasoned nonstick stainless steel pan.
- I am going to give you an example on how to cook an omelette in your seasoned pan. Simply preheat your pan on medium low heat for 2 minutes. Pour your egg mixture into your pan with no oil at all! Add desired ingredients (cheese, meat, veggies). Allow the eggs to cook for several minutes without disturbing. After a few minutes, flip you eggs and allow to cook another minute or two. Your eggs will slip right out of the pan, no sticking! (You can view this in the video as well). There is no need to ever wash the pan with soap, just wipe out with a paper towel as nothing will stick in the pan, cleanup takes about 10 seconds. This method is very similar to seasoning your cast iron skillet or wok. As long as you don’t use soap on your pan, your pan will remain nonstick. If you are using higher heat, you might need to add a little bit of oil.
That is it! So easy and no mess! Give it a try, you will be amazed!
Stainless Steel Pans That I Recommend
One last thing, not all stainless steel pans are created equal! Quality is really important when buying stainless steel pans.
I personally have this entire collection of stainless steel pans from All-Clad and absolutely love them! Think of it as an investment. These pans will last you a lifetime!
- If you are looking to try out a piece of all-clad, I highly recommend starting with this one! All-Clad Stainless 10-Inch Fry Pan
- If you are looking to buy a whole set, this is a great option: All-Clad Stainless Steel 3-Ply Bonded 10-Piece Cookware Set
✰ One last thing…there is an incredible sale going on over at Amazon right now! Get 43% OFF an entire set of 10-piece cookware set! Get the details here! (please note sale can end at any time…I do not have control of Amazons sales). ✰
How To Season A Stainless Steel Pan Video
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Seasoned my “egg pan” tonight…will give it a try in the morning. : )
Please let me know how it turns out! I knew you would be the first to give it a whirl 🙂
just make sure to use oil with high boiling smoking point, even if you toss it away, some oils have low points and can incease cancer risk
Hi, I seasoned my new all clad frying pan as per your video. I made an omelette but it stuck to the pan. Please help
The omelette was excellent
Try preheating your pan a little longer Lucie.
I followed the instructions to a T, made the omelette and it stuck on the bottom and if i hadn’t turned it when i did it would have burned pan is a mess. Just got them yesterday and seasoned them exactly like the video and no it didn’t work. Very frustrated.
You can also try baking it in the oven. Bake for 1 hour upside down @ 450 deg. Use either grapeseed oil, Soybean oil or animal fat. Your pan will turn dark and many might find it ugly but I think food tastes better and less hassles.
^Please delete this comment above ^. Do not follow. Here is the proper way – https://youtu.be/xoIO8YOpyN4
You know it!
Well…i did something wrong….pan was shiny last night…milky this morning so prob didnt let it smoke long enough or didnt wipe it out well enough. I will try again. : )
Ok,so you should completely wipe the oil out. It will still be shiny and oily but there should be no oil swirling around at all. Round 2 and let me know how it goes 🙂
I wonder if you could use this same principle to make stainless steel baking pans nonstick. Have you tried it? If so, what temperature would you have to bake them at to get them hot enough to absorb the oil?
@TrishFiggers I have not tried this yet, but have several pans that I could experiment with 🙂 I will come back and post my results. Thanks for the great idea!
every oil has a burning temp that this will work just short of. you can season the baking pan as shown(if steady slow and patient) or bake the seasoning of the pan about 350. ~400 is a standard burning point.
hope this helps
I seen a post to put them in an oven so research it . ?
I didn’t see Johns post lol
What a great idea – much better than using non-stick pans! Thank you for sharing this post with us at Hearth and Soul.
@The21stCenturyHousewife Your welcome! 🙂 Thanks so much for hosting such a wonderful blog hop and giving me the opportunity to share with your viewers!
Just brilliant- I had no idea and all my pans are stainless!
Thank you so much for sharing this with us on Natural Mothers Network’s Seasonal Celebration and best wishes for a very Happy Easter!
Warmly, Rebecca x
@naturalmothers Hi Rebecca,
Thank you and I hope you have a great Easter too! I really appreciate the having the opportunity to share this post with your viewers, so thank you for that! 🙂
That is a GREAT tip. Thanks so much!
@Real_Food_Freak Your welcome! Do you have Stainless Steel Pans? This has saved me a ton of headaches in the kitchen 🙂 Thanks again fro hosting at http://www.realfoodfreaks.com/ ! I LOVE your site!!
@hallecottis I have a few. I recently just bought a cast iron which get used all the time now, but for the times when I will use the s.s. this is great. I didn’t know you could do this with s.s..
Awesome! I don’t have any stainless steel frying pans, but I will definitely keep this in mind for when I do. I’m slowly switching to all stainless steel, cast iron, and stone. Thanks for sharing at Healthy 2Day Wednesday and come back tomorrow to see if you were featured!
it sounds easy enough will try today with chicken. I do have a concern: I have electric glass stove top, and I am kinda of afraid to cook with cast iron or steel on my glass top. does any one have any tips?
@nanagiron53 I don’t see why it would be any different on glass top…does it say not to use cast iron or SS pans in your instructions for the stove?
I think the only restriction for a glass stop stove is that your pan not be warped….if it sits evenly there is no problem using it on a glass top. I use a very large canner/pressure cooker and have never had any issues.
We use cast iron and stainless steel on our glass top everyday. And we use our pressure canner, too!
I have always used cast iron and stainless steel on my glass cooktop. Your pan bottom just needs to be flat.
I have a glass top-induction, and wont use my cast iron on it for now… The concern is that one false move (for example, turning or pushing the pan) by my children will result in scratching the glass top. Also, putting it down too heavily may crack the glass top. Other than that, no worries. 🙂
i have a glass top also….i use cast iron all the time…and have no problems or issues 🙂
I’ve tried this about 10 times now and still can’t get it right. Some times are better than others, but never even come close to how she cooks eggs in the video. I’m using a Calphlon stainless steel and coconut oil
@Steve725 Can you see your reflection in the pan Steve? My pan is a 5 ply pan, which allows the heat to evenly be distributed. I recommend at least a 3ply. Do you know what ply your pan is. Just trying to figure out why it isn’t working for you…
@hallecottis I can see my reflection when it’s being seasoned, just kinda my head though not a ton of details. But now that it’s dry, no I can’t see it.
@Steve725 It sounds like you might not be preheating your pan after it has been seasoned long enough. Allow your pan to preheat (nothing in it) on medium low heat for 2 minutes. Then add your eggs. See if that helps.
@hallecottis I just tried that again, I preheated on level 4 until the pan started to smoke, then put in egg whites only without additional fat. Didn’t work 🙁 Maybe season with a different oil?
@Steve725 No coconut oil is one of the best oils to use. If your pan was smoking when you preheated it then you overheated it. You should still be able to touch the rim of the pan for 2 seconds without burning your hand. My only other thought is the quality of your pan. It might not be distributing the heat evenly and that would also alter the final product.
I bought an All Clad pan. Not sure how many ply it is, but it does have a copper looking ring in the middle of the bottom. I have tried to season it 4 times now and it hasn’t worked like your video. I have timed it 2 minutes, and one time 3 minutes before putting the egg in. I even read about a water ball test and tried that too. Mine still sticks with eggs. Not as bad if I add oil and fry the eggs in coconut oil. I paid a lot for the pan thinking that would be the one to work well.
Barb, make sure that you preheat the pan before you put the eggs in the pan and you should be fine.
@Steve725
Steve, a few suggestions that may help…
First, since you’ve already had food stick in the pan, clean it thoroughly. You can use soap and water, however, you might want to try bringing water to a boil in the pan. Since the metal expands when heated, the boiling water can loosen microscopic particles that are stuck in the microscopic pits in the steel. Wipe the pan dry with a towel when it is just cool enough to do so.
Second, you may NOT see your CLEAR reflection in the pan. It depends on the TYPE of stainless steel the manufacturer used to make the pan. If they used 18/10 or 18/8 steel, the surface can be shiny. If they used 18/0 steel it will be satiny. This is because of the metals used. The 18 is the percentage of Chromium in the steel. The 10, 8 or 0 is the percentage of Nickel in the steel. Nickel creates the shininess. 18/10 or 18/8 steel is also called 304 steel. 18/0 is called 400 steel. Calphalon uses 18/10 in SOME of their products.
Third, even well seasoned pans will need extra oil for higher temperature cooking. The non-stick characteristic works at low temperatures, so cook your eggs on LOW, and WAIT for the pan to properly heat.
Last, pans can be re-seasoned whenever you feel the need. Halle’s how-to video describes it perfectly. But remember to allow your pan to heat properly before adding the oil.