How To Cook Eggs in Stainless Steel Pan Without Sticking (Not Using the Leidenfrost Effect)

I have used stainless steel pans for almost 4 years. I stopped using non-stick pans after I found out the coating on the pan is toxic. The coating on the pan, is what prevents the food from sticking. But once the coating material, which is usually Teflon, is broken down and some toxic chemicals are relesed from the pan, that could cause some health issues.

 

You also need to regulary replace those non-stick pans like every year or 2 depending on how often you use it and what kind of food you cook. Once food starts sticking on the pan or the pan gets discolored, that's when you have to replace it. It would be better to replace it even before you see those changes, but it seems to be very costly.

 

For these reasons, I started using stainless steel pans. You don't have to replace them every couple of years and there are no chemicals coated on the pan.

But soon I realized how hard it is to cook with them, especially eggs and tofu as you already know.

There was more egg stuck to the pan than what I would actually eat. I thought that was such a waste. So I almost gave up using stainless steel pans until I discovered you needed to pre-heat or season the pan before cooking with it.

 

I thought the only pans you had to season were cast iron and carbon steel pans. 

The way to season cast iron or carbon steel pans is a little different than stainless steel pans, but they all need oil coating. 

 

There is one main method to pre-heat or season stainless steel pans that most people use : Water drop test (using the Leidenfrost effect)

You heat the pan without oil first and wait a little. You can check if the pan is ready for oil coating by pouring a little bit of water inside. If the water evaporates right away, the pan is not ready yet and you have to let it heat up more. If the water turns into droplets and glides all over the pan without evaporating, it's time to add some oil. 

 

This is the method I used to use and it worked well for me. Eggs never stuck to the pan. 

But I realized that by the time I poured the oil, it would burn and makes a lot of smoke - which is not healthy. 

 

So I wanted to find another way that didn't burn the oil and make the pan non-stick at the same time. 

I learned that some people pre-heat or season the stainless steel pan with oil right from the start.

It's a completely oppostie way than the water drop test method.

You simply add the oil and then heat the pan until the oil coats it enough. 

When the shape of the oil expands around the whole pan and looks like a bunch of tadpoles(like the picture below), the pan is ready for cooking.

 

 

When I tried this method, I could cook eggs without them sticking to the pan, but it didn't always work. Also, sometimes it caused smoking, especially when I waited until the oil expands to the very edge of the pan. It's becasue the tadpoles start to appear from the middle and it takes more time to appear at the edge.

 

So I just tried to remember when I had my pan seasoned enough before it started smoking, and tried until I found the right time to cook. 

At that point, it seemed that all this effort just to cook eggs or tofu without it sticking was kind of stupid. But I had to figure it out becasue I didn't want to go back to non-stick pans.

 

After so many seasoning tries, I ended up figuring out the best method. 

It was the same way that you need to heat the pan with oil in it, but I didn't have to wait until the little tadpoles appear around the edge. 

 

So, I'm going to show you how I cook eggs in a stainless steel pan without sticking. (using an electric stove)

 

1. Have your oil ready. 

 

I personally recommend using canola oil. I have also tried pure olive oil(not an extra virgin olive oil) and sunflower oil before. But with the same method, an olive oil couldn't season the pan enough (it wasn't a total failure but no better than when I used canola oil.). With sunflower oil, I couldn't find the right timing without buring it. I tried sunflower oil with different timelines but it ended up either not seasong the pan enough or burning everytime.

 

If you are worried about GMOs, you can get a NON-GMO canola oil. 

 

2. Drizzle the oil in the pan before heating.

 

You don't need as much oil like in the picture above, but that day I accidently poured more than I usually use. 

 

2. Turn the heat to medium.

 

My goal with pan seasoning is not to burn the oil. That's a very important part. So I always make sure I don't heat the pan on too high a degree. 

 

3. Let the oil cover the entire pan. 

 

Once the oil gets warm enough, it will move pretty easy when you swirl the pan. Then you can easily cover the whole surface of the pan.

 

4. Wait until the first tadpoles start to appear on the pan. 

 

You should see tadpole shapes not ripples. If you wait enough, the ripple will turn into tadpoles. They usuaully start to appear in the middle like the picture below. 

 

Once you see many tadpoles in the middle, swirl the pan again so the hotter oil in the middle covers the whole surface evenly.

 

 

5. Lower the heat right away.

 

After the first swirl, lower the heat quickly. I usually keep it between Low and Medium from this step.

 

 

6. Two more tadpoles, two more swirls. 

 

After you lower the heat, wait until the tadpoles appear in the middle a second time. Then swirl the pan again. 

Repeat this one more time, then turn off the heat completely.

If it doesn't have to be perfect, you could start to cook after the second swirl. A little egg might stick to the pan, but it still works way better than with an unseasoned pan, and the stuck parts comes off easily if you scrape it.

However if you are planning to cook tofu, I recommed to wait until the third tadpoles.

 

 

7. Cook the eggs.

 

Right after turning off the heat, I just add the eggs on the pan and cook them with the heat off. You will notice how the oil won't splash all over the stove and around the countertop.

If you prefer the eggs crispier, you can adjust the heat to your liking.

 

Once the pan is seasoned enough, the eggs will slide together on the pan like they are skating. 

 

This is how I cook eggs with a stainless steel pan without sticking. This might not work for you the first time lilke other methods I've tried didn't work for me. In that case, you just need to find the right timing for your stainless steel pans. Also, please remember I'm using an electric stove. It might work differently with a gas stove or induction stove. 

 

Hopefully, This post helps you get all the eggs without giving any to the stainless steel pans :D