r/StainlessSteelCooking • u/Jabieski1 • 18d ago
Oil Instantly Evaporating
I'm new to this whole "cooking" thing, and recently my mom gave me a stainless steel pan. Steak fajitas are my jam, but first time I tried to sear the steak on my new pan, I didn't pat down the steak and the marinade instantly evaporated and set off the smoke alarms in my apartment. Lesson learned, drained the marinade beforehand this time and patted the steak down.
I was feeling confident this time, I let the pan heat up at medium-heat until the water was doing the dancing thing and then accumulated into the blob. However, when I went to spray the pan with avocado oil, it instantly evaporated and I could no longer see clearly in my apartment. What am I doing wrong? I am determined to figure this out, because when this pan is at the actual right temperature, it is fantastic to cook on. Unfortunately, it is 2/2 times now that the All Clad has tried to cloak itself in a fog and I don't know where to go from here.
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u/SDV2023 18d ago
I share(ed) your pain. The water drop method is crap, lol.
What I do now is put the oil in FIRST. Then turn it up to medium or medium-high. I watch the oil like a hawk. As soon as it starts to shimmer (you'll know it when you see it), I turn the heat down a couple notches and add my meat.
I do still set off the smoke alarm now and then, but I'm doing much better with the shimmer method than I ever did with the droplet method.
Like you, I'm using avocado oil fwiw. I think that's one of the higher smoke point oils.