All Clad Copper Core - everything sticks, why?
I decided to splurge on a set of All Clad Copper Core. I have no problem with browning meats with this cookware, but I am having huge problems with many other kinds of cooking. For instance, this morning I made chilaquiles for breakfast, and although I heated the pan, heated the oil, added the tortillas and salsa, the delicious crust (my absolute fave part) was stuck like concrete to the pan and had to be boiled, scrubbed, and sent down the drain. Bacon? all the crusty brown parts adhere to the pan like glue and the bacon remains a flabby slab. Spending 4 figures just to saute a piece of meat is not what I expected, and I'm having serious buyers remorse. Is there something I should know? I am by no means a novice cook.
Best Answer
Pans made from different materials will heat your food at different speeds and to different temperatures.
Getting a perfect crust without sticking is a matter of very fine tuning. You have to set your stove just right, preheat the pan just right, and keep your food inside for just the right time.
If you spent 35 years cooking in a certain set of pans, you have unnoticeably fit your skills to them. You have a stove setting which you know works for you. You intuitively know just how long to preheat, when to start stirring, how much to stir... and this is all based on a certain heat transfer rate from the pan to the food, which has been constant for you over the years. Now, with a new pan, you are dealing with a completely different heat transfer rate. Also, you have chosen stainless steel, which is not a good surface for eggs (but should work well for bacon).
There is nothing wrong with the pan, but you'll have to go through a learning phase, experimenting a lot with temperature and timing, until you know the way to cook in your new pan until everything is just right. Observe your food carefully in the old and new pan and try to catch the moment at which the same change happens in both, this should help.
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Why does everything stick to my All-Clad pans?
Make sure the pan is fully heated before adding any butter or oil. And make sure the oil or butter is hot before adding the food. Also, a good skillet like this one won't ever be as perfectly nonstick as a true nonstick finish pan. You will get little bits of food and scraps left over in the pan after cooking.Why does my copper non stick pan stick?
Why do nonstick pans start sticking in the first place? For the most part, coated pots and pans are easy to keep clean, but they do get stains and scratches, and over time, grease and other tiny food particles may build up in these areas, making them sticky.Why do eggs stick in my copper pan?
Oil forms a barrier between the pan and the egg, and also conducts heat better, what actually keeps an egg from sticking is the steam produced by the egg cooking. If the pan is too cold, or the transfer of heat to the egg is not fast enough then steam will not be produced quickly enough to keep the egg from sticking.Is All-Clad discontinuing copper core?
Note: All-Clad discontinued the C4 Copper collection in 2020. However, you can still buy it on Amazon while inventory lasts.All-Clad Copper Core Features \u0026 Benefits
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Answer 2
It took me 10 years of frustration to learn to cook with a stainless steel pan. All you have to do is put in about 2 or 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil and heat the pan until you see slight with smoke coming off the pan. Turn off the heat and discard the oil. The cure that forms on the stainless steel for that particular cooking period is as non stick as teflon. All it takes is a couple minutes before each session. Once I learned this I immediately went from hating to loving stainless steel. Is it kind of a pain? Yeah, but nothing browns and makes sauces like stainless so an extra few minutes before each use is worth it.
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Images: Madison Inouye, Tiểu Bảo Trương, Karolina Grabowska, Magda Ehlers