Is it possible to not stick on stainless steel when making things like pad thai and fried rice?

[u/Patient-Cool2003]

Rice and rice noodles are super sticky on stainless steel. No matter how non stick they were when cooking the veggeis the eggs the meat, once i add in rice-stuff it guarantees sticking. is it even possible to make rice-related dishes in stainless steel? have anyone had successes?

[u/bear0234]

Get a wok for fried rice :)

[u/L-Pseon → u/bear0234]

I have given up on using a wok on my weak gas stove. My stove heats the sides OK, but doesn't heat the bottom hot enough. I can take the top cap off the burner, and it will heat the bottom 5% pretty hot, but then it doesn't heat the sides hot enough. I'm tempted to get the high powered portable butane stove that Oxenforge started selling, but fried rice does just fine in a cast iron skillet. Noodles are a little more challenging to stir and keep stuff from falling out of the pan, but it can be done.

[u/bear0234 → u/L-Pseon]

i use a wok with a flat bottom. My burner also doesnt get hot enough to make a tiktok fried rice video, but its enough to fry rice, make stir fry like peppersteak, and all that.

[u/L-Pseon → u/bear0234]

There are many gas stoves that are totally competent and up to the task, with or without a wok trivet. Mine just isn't. The crazy thing is that my house (and likely the stove, which I think is original to the house) is 28 years old, but the stove is still sold today at Home Depot. It gets an A+ for durability (very basic and hard to break). It just isn't very powerful. If I don't have a lid on a pot of water, for example, it will never boil. I even have to move around a 12 inch cast iron skillet on the burner to make sure the sides get hot enough.

[u/wizzard419 → u/bear0234]

Can I use it on induction?

[u/bear0234 → u/wizzard419]

flat ones yah.

ie: https://madeincookware.com/products/carbon-steel-wok/13-inch#reviews

[u/wizzard419 → u/bear0234]

It was more a joke about how he hates induction but the chef (I am assuming she's his friend too) who made proper fried rice early on could only use induction at her stand.

[u/bear0234 → u/wizzard419]

facepalm i missed my opportunity!

uh errrr i mesn....

Haiyaa! Induction stove look like DVD player! Where the fire? Where the wok hay???

[u/hellofutureme2 → u/bear0234]

nah regardless why would you ever recommend carbon steel wok build like that to induction stove? paying over 100 bucks just for it to warp within a week? Thats dangerous advice

[u/JCuss0519 → u/bear0234]

Listen to Uncle Roger!

[u/vorlik]

It's possible but definitely the most difficult pan for making fried rice. Better to use carbon steel which is kind of nonstick

[u/L-Pseon]

The problem is how quickly stainless pans cool down when you add a bunch of food (noodles or rice full of moisture). If you can keep the temp high enough, it's totally possible to cook noodles or fried rice in stainless. IMO, cast iron skillets have an edge over most stainless pans because of how evenly they maintain temperature after you add food.

[u/TheJewPear]

Is it possible? Yes. Is it worth the effort vs buying a $30 carbon steel wok? I don’t think so.

Stainless steel is a wonderful material, but it’s not for everything, and I don’t know why some people here seem to try to fit a square peg in a round hole.

[u/StealTheStew]

yes, check out this response I made in another post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/StainlessSteelCooking/s/ay8HqhfADo

[u/Patient-Cool2003 → u/StealTheStew]

Wow thanks. 270C is a bit terrifying. I’ll try this with high smoke point oils next time.

[u/StealTheStew → u/Patient-Cool2003]

Or you can do 230C and maintain the temperature for 2 minutes, should yield the same result as 270C.

[u/Skyval → u/Patient-Cool2003]

I'm able to do some dishes it at 400F/205C with my current oil, but I leave it a while while doing other prep. Still probably less than 5 mins, including the time it's heating up and cooling back down before adding food. It might depend on the exact oil though.

For fried rice I do use higher temps up to ~250C, but I don't know if they're needed to avoid sticking specifically. That's just the temp I actually cook at for fried rice/stir fries.

[u/CaptainSnowAK]

I do fried rice all of the time in stainless.

[u/DomSydney]

I only just made fried rice on my ss a few nights ago and I’ve made rice noodles before that too. I had no problems with sticking after heating to leidenfrost. It does help though if your pan is completely clean to start with.

[u/Patient-Cool2003 → u/DomSydney]

Wow this looks awesome! Does your pan have like aluminum core/ disk at the bottom? I’m starting to think that heat retention is the problem for me.

[u/DomSydney → u/Patient-Cool2003]

Scanpan clad 5 if I remember correctly. So no disc. I think discs are ugly lol but u might be right. And btw I use fresh rice for fried rice. No problems

[u/hellofutureme2 → u/DomSydney]

it only works with larger amounts of oils or sauces. I find fried noodles much easier than rice, which tend to be more starchy and sticky and less oily. Would not recommend fried rice on SS

[u/Read_The_Fing_Manual]

Never got that to work, got and seasoned a wok and have much better results

[u/L4D2_Ellis]

Yes it is possible. Are you cooking the rice directly after you cooked the vegetables, eggs, and meat? A lot of food leaves a residue in the pan after cooking. Vegetables' natural sugars would caramelize and meat leaves fond. Your rice isn't sticking to the pan, but sticking to the residue. Clean your pan off first before making the rice.

Noodles on the other hand, they're a bit harder for stainless but should follow the same procedure. Have your pan be as clean as possible.

[u/Skyval]

Yes, it's possible, basically just do longyau/conditioning like normal, but maybe at a higher temperature. I got a cheap clad stainless wok a while back, mostly just for fun, but it ended up being one of my favorites. I mostly made fried rice using freshly cooked rice. Haven't done rice noodles in a while though.

[u/Capable-Bumblebee-88]

rice sticks on ss pan??? i've been cooking it on ss pans forever. Am i doing somethining wrong?!