[ndr]

Thank you for these tests!

I've recently tossed all my coated pans (my favourite were the Anolon, but those too shed) and moved to stainless steel, save for a cast iron and carbon steel pan.

In the journey here the best I could find was a Hestan nanobond pan, which unfortunately laminated and has shown some pits after few months of use. They refunded me but titaniums isn't yet where stainless steel is.

Now I'm using a mix of Demeyere, De Buyer, and Made In.

It takes a bit of time to get used cooking in them without a ton of fat.

Look up Leidenfrost effect on youtube and you'll learn pretty quickly how to use stainless steel and do not let anything stick even fish.

[stephenbez]

If you cook with extra virgin olive oil, having the pan temperature reach the Leidenfrost effect will lead to the oil smoking.

[ndr]

Yes, EVO smokes at ~190C, and you need 200C-230C for Leidenfrost. Heating up good EVO is a waste anyways.

I do mostly cook in ghee, beef tallow and coconut oil.

If you're ok with refined/seed oils there's plenty more you can use.

[SoftTalker]

Avocado oil is good, it has a high smoke point.

[dfxm12]

Simple fix: don't cook with extra virgin olive oil on high heat. The smoke point is one reason. Flavor is another. Cost is a third (less expensive fats are better suited for this task)

[ortusdux]

Rare (but not outlandish) warning - A friend's entire family had ongoing symptoms of fatigue and upset stomach. They ran blood panels and found that everyone had off the charts iron levels. They had switched to cast iron only in the kitchen a few years back, and switching to stainless pans solved the problem.

[SoftTalker]

I wonder if they were scouring the cast iron every time they cleaned it? Normally a layer of carbon "seasoning" develops and I would think that would limit the direct contact of food and iron.

I clean my cast iron pans with hot water and a brush or scraper only. No detergent (or maybe a small amount to break up oil if I cooked something really greasy). No scouring.

[ortusdux]

It really doesn't take much exposure to make a difference:

https://www.joghr.org/article/11950-testing-the-efficacy-of-...

https://luckyironlife.com/products/lucky-iron-fish

[elevation]

> Leidenfrost effect

Okay for a steak, not great for eggs!

[ndr]

Maybe not for creamy scrambled eggs, but for most eggs that's entirely doable.

Frying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYpYK1DV_SU

Scrambled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFtkmInrlWw

[Izkata]

I want to call something out here so people don't have to click / don't just gloss over it, because his videos are what made me go "hey, wait a minute..."

Most tutorials on stainless steel completely fail to mention turning the heat down or adding oil/butter. If you've been using stainless steel for a while these are probably "well duh" things, but coming from nonstick these were both surprising.

With nonstick, you can just leave the heat at medium the whole time, and usually need to to maintain the heat. The pan heats up a lot slower and doesn't get as hot. And because of the nonstick surface, oil/butter is unnecessary - I never used it the whole time I was on nonstick. But stainless steel heats up a lot better, so leaving it at medium it'll just keep heating up and burn your food (mentioned in the video), and the leidenfrost effect doesn't really work on some substances without oil/butter to act as an intermediary (I couldn't explain the physics of it, just that my pancake batter was burned to the skillet on one side and liquid on the other - it was so extreme I was concerned I just couldn't make pancakes with it, while adding butter the next attempt was like magic).

Scrolling around the comments here on HN, a lot of people are mentioning how good stainless steel can be at not sticking, in a thread about nonstick surfaces, without mentioning any of the additional steps.

[Noaidi]

If you cannot cook eggs that do not stick in stainless steel you are doing it wrong. I never have an issue. Over easy, non-stick, every time.

The trick I found is to take the pan off the heat after the droplets start jumping and add a bunch of butter and then add the eggs and put it back on low heat.

[sodapopcan]

Yep! And I don't even bother taking it off or lowering the heat! As soon as the water drops bounce, I throw everything in the pan and it works every time. I make sunny side up and scrambled (and poached, but obviously that doesn't apply here).

[chao-]

I switched primarily to stainless steel seven or eight years ago, and it only took me a week to get used to frying my morning eggs without sticking.

[ramgine]

Thanks! I’m getting into cooking and have basic teflon pans (Rachel ray pans given to us by my MIL) and I’m looking to get nice ones and be done with it