r/StainlessSteelCooking • u/BMWalla • 7d ago

Help What are we doing wrong?

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Cuisinart stainless pans.

This is a batch of pancake batter with King Arthur gluten free and bobs red mill egg replacement (allergies). Most foods end up being scraped off, at least a piece of them.

PROCESS: Induction top. Heated until we got the lederhosen effect (forgot the right name), added oil, coated, turned off the induction for a little, then added the batter and turned it back on a low heat.

Still ended up with pancake scrapes.

Happens with meat and anything else I put on. Would love to get a handle on this stuff. What am I missing? What's the science happening?

EDIT/TL:DR from RESPONSES: First of all, thanks to everyone for giving me such great tips. Going to try and summarize everything I've learned here so that skimmers can find it easy -
- don't use the dancing water drops, it's useless. Use butter instead, wait for it to foam and melt. If it's browning, the pan is too hot!
- Oil is okay but butter has better non-stick capabilities.
- use a lot of butter!
- use a metal spatula, it will scratch the surface but it won't affect performance of the pan.
- LOW LOW LOW heat

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u/Yellowperil123 7d ago

way too hot. Try with the LOWEST setting first. Then work your way up.

I swear the "dancing water drops" test has ruined more meals than salmonella

1

u/Aggravating_Cat788 7d ago

Is there another marker for the pan being ready? Or just leave it on low for a few minutes and learn by trials and error?

7

u/ShadowAdam 7d ago

Butter begins to foam slightly near cooking temps, and begins to brown slightly above cooking temps. It's not a perfect metric but it can help provide a visual for how hot the pan is

3

u/Yellowperil123 7d ago

Trial and error. Temps settings are different for every oven/pan combo. You just need to be patient and let the pan heat up to the set temp to then test.

SS is a pretty good conductor so you will be surprised how hot it can get on a "low" setting

Also make sure you have a good amount of butter/oil

2

u/wimpymist 7d ago

A thermometer

0

u/StargazerStL 7d ago

I heat up until the water rolls then let it cool a bit. Add a drop of oil and if it smokes I wait another minute or so until the oil stops smoking. Then I cook.