So, I make one of my kids scrambled eggs a lot. I got rid of our Teflon pans a while ago because of health concerns. And I pretty much hate doing dishes at all, but the daily layer of impossible-to-remove-scrambled-egg gunk was pretty much making my head split right down the middle. Does *everything* healthier have to be a PIA, I wondered?
Actually, it turns out I am just a lousy cook! What I needed to be doing was to heat up my pan super hot and then add the olive oil (if I used butter, it would stick even less). Who knew there was a different way to cook to keep the horrid scrambled-egg crust from bonding like SuperGlue to the bottom of my pan?
Apparently, Ask Metafilter (thanks to not martha) and Harold McGee knew. I love the way the interwebs make me a better person cook.
*Photo courtesy of sxc.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Moving Away From Teflon: Sticky?
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10 comments:
Just had to say I lurve your new layout. So pretty! Darn it, now I need to redecorate!
When I do manage to leave an inch of cooked-on egg, this is a surefire way to clean it off with a minimum of effort: while the pan is still hot, throw some baking soda on the gunk, add a few drops os dish soap, and some hot water. Return to warm burner (turned off). By the time you're done eating, the gunk will have totally softened and wipe right off. I hate doing dishes, and this made me life sooo much nicer.
I absolutely can't know what is wrong with Teflon. Do not tell me.
Thanks for the tip! Annabelle has been on an egg kick herself lately. I usually heat the pan, add canola or olive oil, and then add the eggs. It's actually pretty easy to clean up.
At the same time, I remember my college days when teflon accompanied the egg dishes i made. Yuck! I don't even want to think about how I have permanently damaged myself.
I LURV your new layout too!
And BTW, I identify with the egg issues. I started to feel better about it when I made my own moisturizing creme and the liquid lecithin sources (read: thing that makes oil and water bind up as one) mentioned that EGGS and SOY were the best sources.
Ah, the eggs were BINDING the oil and water in the dishwasher. No change in the sticky, but I felt better about the chemistry of it all.
OK, but then don't you get splattered with hot oil? I need to find the balance. I tried to get rid of my non-stick but kept a few for the eggs. And veggies too get sticky. Next time you have a giveaway for pans that aren't Teflon I'm all over it!
I love the new layout, too, and wow! you're leaving this blog for The Green Phone Booth one. Cool. I will check you out over there.
And I wanted to put in a plug for cast iron pans... non-stick with no chemicals. :)
Does this work with pancakes? I don't do teflon and am fine with eggs on my stainless steel, but have problems with pancakes... and I KNOW it's my cooking. Cast iron seems to work better than the steel for pancakes, but I'm still getting a lot of mess right from the beginning (which is hard since I need to make a batch). Suggestions?
For everyone who likes the new template - tx! It was done by Melanie of BeanPaste - so if you need design work, check her out.
Robin - I totally love the baking soda clean!
re: pancakes -- I use a cast iron griddle that fits across 2 of my burners, if that makes sense. I heat it up pretty hot and use lots of butter and don't have much trouble sticking. But if you are using cast iron and have sticking, why not scrub with steel wool and re-season just to be sure? ie put oil on it and heat up to 'cure' it. Hope that helps.
Wanted to thank you for this. I've been cooking egg a good bit lately and you've made my life so much easier :)
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