Understanding Differnt Types of Cooking Pans

A well cured and seasoned cooking pan ensures that cooking is easier, faster, and the end result will taste better. There is nothing more frustrating than an otherwise delicious meal sticking to the pan after you have cooked it. A good saying to remember is; Hot pan – Cold Oil.

This means that you should never put the oil into a cold pan before heating it up. Heating the cooking pan before adding the oil, then immediately putting in the food, will ensure youll have significantly less sticking. Seasoning the pan before it first use, will ensure you superior results.

Stainless Steel Cooking Pans – Since stainless steel is incapable of being seasoned, its metal is to hard, I would not recommend using them for any cooking other than simple food storage. Honestly I cannot think of a single restaurant that uses stainless steel for this reason. My advice would be to avoid stainless steel if you are looking to create true culinary masterpieces.

Aluminum – Before that you use aluminum pans for the first time, you need to wash them with soap and water, using a cloth. After rinsing and drying the pan off completely, you want to heat up your pan until it is hot to the touch. Now you should place two ounces of oil inside and swirl it around making sure that the entire pan is fully coated. Now you should remove the oil from inside of the pan and repeat these steps once again. From this point on you should never again use soap to wash out your pan. When you need to wash it, fill it with warm water and you dry paper towels. If some of the food happens to stick, that is fine.

Giving your new pans the extra effort of seasoning and curing, will insure maximum value out of your investment, while also extending its life. Spending a little extra to make sure you are purchasing quality pans, and taking good care of them, will grant you much more satisfaction in your investment.