r/StainlessSteelCooking

Trader Joe’s potstickers. 3rd time trying on the new stainless. Using avocado oil. Trying to crisp the bottoms before steaming. Failing

I promise this is not another dumb cleaning question without searching. I know about BKF, but I won't use it on the shiny side. And I've tried plain vinegar, and good old soap and water. Of course, it's purely cosmetic and in no way affects the performance, but if there's a way to get rid of it I'd use it. [Please ignore the bad edit in the title where I deleted the "what."]

I've seen some conversations recently about the cold start method. It's a great way to do skin-on chicken thighs, because the slow ramp up of heat allows the fat to render and gradually crisp up the skin so you get a nice color and texture without scorching. In case you've been struggling or just not really sure about trying this, I thought it might be helpful to share what works for me!

This time, we also tried a little hack that made for the most awesome crispy skin I've ever achieved. We mixed 1 tsp of baking powder in with the seasoning (paprika, garlic, onion powder, black pepper and salt).

We started off by drying the thighs well with a paper towel and then hit them with the baking powder/seasoning mix.

Next we added the thighs to the pan cold, then turned the heat to medium (5/10 on my electric coil stove) and left the chicken alone. It pretty quickly started to sizzle and pop and that's good! 20 minutes in though and the skin was still sticking to the frying pan, so left it another two minutes and nudged again, that time it released!

So from there, we cooked the other side for about 2 minutes, then pulled them and put them into the oven at 425F to finish. We did this on a baking sheet so I could make a pan sauce in the skillet. I believe the chicken spent about 5 minutes in the oven. We used an instant read thermometer to check them and pulled them when they temped at 175!

Served these with a creamy parm & pepperoncini pan sauce over mashed potatoes.

TLDR TIPS:

-Make sure the chicken is dry (no need to dry brine, but make sure you dry it well with paper towels)
- Add a little baking powder to your seasoning (I'll be doing this every time now. lol)
- Be patient! You can start nudging the chicken with your tongs somewhere between 15-20 minutes in, if it is still stuck don't panic. Just give it another minute or two before you nudge again. Sometimes it just takes some time!

Updated to add the sauce recipe:

1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
⅓–½ cup sliced pepperoncini
½ cup chicken stock
¼ cup pepperoncini brine
1 tsp Dijon mustard
⅓ cup heavy cream
¼ cup finely grated Parmesan
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

Sauté the Pepperoncini and Garlic:
In the same skillet you made the chicken, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the sliced pepperoncini and sauté for 1–2 minutes, allowing them to soften slightly and release their flavor into the butter. Add the minced garlic and cook for another 30–45 seconds, stirring frequently, until fragrant.

After Cooking the Arromatics, Deglaze the Pan:
Reduce the heat to medium. Pour the chicken stock and pepperoncini brine into the skillet, scraping the bottom to release the browned bits.

Build the Dijon Sauce:
Add the Dijon mustard to the skillet and stir until fully incorporated. Bring to a lively simmer and allow the liquid to reduce slightly for 2–3 minutes.

Make It Creamy:
Reduce the heat to low. Pour in the heavy cream and stir until fully incorporated. Allow the sauce to simmer gently for 1–2 minutes, until it begins to thicken. Stir in the grated Parmesan until melted and the sauce is smooth. Taste and adjust with additional black pepper or pepperoncini brine, if desired.

I've used my cuisinart stainless set since 2009, and I love it, but it's so exciting to have a little upgrade :)

First time ever using a stainless steel pan and I thought I'd pan fry some skin-on sea bass fillets and baste them in some thyme and butter. Worked perfectly with zero stickage!

I'd been using non-stick and cast iron for years and recently I decided to ditch the non-stick and I needed something else cause using cast iron daily was just impractical for me. Bought a 10-inch Tramontina stainless steel pan the other day and I'm super happy with how my first time using it went!

Pre-heated the pan for a few minutes, set the electric burner to about 4-5 (mine goes up to 12), added a bit of oil, waited for the oil to heat up for a second, and threw in the fish. Didn't touch them while the skin seared and they just naturally released on their own. Threw in a sprig of thyme and a small knob of butter and basted them for like 20 seconds then turned off the heat and voilà. Don't know why I was so intimidated before buying one of these to be honest

No less than 24 hours later I have destroyed this pan. See previous post bragging what a bargain my 2 KR were. Was (attempting) to fry eggs. Heated pan, tested with water drops, then added olive oil.

Salvageable with bicarb and elbow grease or is it ruined?

Yikes.

Hi, here’s a hard one from me… 😅

We recently replaced all our pans with stainless steel ones. In my husband’s defence, we’re both still getting used to them! The thing with stainless steel is that you have to let the pan preheat for a little while before adding the oil. Well… my husband let it heat for \*way\* too long, and when he added the oil, it started smoking/burning to the point where it became genuinely dangerous and looked like it wasn’t going to stop.

He put the pan on the floor and, luckily, considering how bad it was looking, the “only” damage was that the floor got burned.

I’ve tried cleaning it with vinegar and oil, Fairy and hot water, and The Pink Stuff. The most I’ve managed to do is lift some of the burnt surface, but there’s still a pretty obvious burn mark.

I’m starting to accept that we might have to replace the flooring, but we’re renting and I’m getting a bit anxious about how our landlord will react. 😭

Any ideas? Is there anything else I could try before admitting defeat?

Dropped a plastic oil cap on my hot pan for a couple seconds right before I was about to cook and I am unfortunately left with a plastic film on my pan.

I tried soap and water, bar keepers friend, soaked it in soap and hot water, tried scraping it off with a wooden spatula. Next to nothing has come off. The pan is currently in my freezer in the hopes that the plastic becomes brittle.

Anyone have any suggestions? Or is my pan cooked?

Update: after 3 hours in the freezer I got my wooden spatula out and scrubbed the hell out of my pan. I got about 90% of the plastic off and decided one more freezer session should hopefully do the trick. 18 more hours in the freezer and we look to be plastic free. I then boiled some soapy water in it for 5-10 minutes, scrubbed it with bar keepers for 5 minutes, and then one last wash with soap and water. Unfortunately we’re a little scraped up and not mirroresque as one might want, but that’s Dallas. Pic in the comments.

Tramontina Tri Ply Clad (12 piece set) - this is the Dutch oven pan. No, I didn’t use high heat. I saw stuff floating at the top of the plain water I had in the pot at the time on lowest heat setting. Then noticed pictured on the side of the pot.

was a bit worried it being my first time and seeing people struggle to make them, I think i did pretty well

Accidentally left the stove on when i was letting it cool down and the oil is burnt in. How can i clean it? Its olive oil (for cooking not virgin olive oil)

Somehow managed to burn the pan and this is really tough to get rid off. I’ve tried dishwasher soap (to boil it up and clean), baking soda, vinegar.

Any other tips would be highly appreciated.
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EDIT:
Thank you all for the help, looks beautiful now 😍

Picked up these 2 Kuhn Rikon frying pans today in TK Maxx for £45 total. Bargain or not? Or a fair price for them?

Have been looking for decent all around stainless steel frying pans and believe KR is a reputable brand?

Water spots in the pan are from washing. Put the packaging back on when I thought to post in here lol.

Thanks!

My pan looks like this after cooking, scrubbed it pretty well but can’t get the rest to come off. Along with that, how do I prevent this from happening?