Heat pot first or is it okay to heat with food?
There are a few posts regarding when to add oil to a pan, but I was wondering if the same applied to making soups with a pot.
When making a fresh pot of soup, would I heat the pot first (using the water-drop test), then add, say vegetable oil, then the ingredients? Or does it not matter?
On the other hand, if I'm reheating a soup that I've stored in the fridge, is it okay to heat it with the pot or should I heat it and then add the soup?
Best Answer
First off, when reheating soup, it won't matter much. If you get the pan too hot before you add the soup, you could get some spattering, but that's about it.
As for making a fresh batch, there are those who believe that browning the ingredients before adding the liquids will develop more flavor. This will be a lot easier to do with a hot pan, than trying to get a cold pan full of stuff up to a heat sufficient to cause browning.
Overall, it's a tradeoff. If you're in a hurry, it might be worth saving the few minutes to just throw everything in the pan and heat it up. If you really want to develop every last bit of flavor, you'll probably be better off heating your pan, browning ingredients, then adding liquid.
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Do you heat the pan first?
Always heat the oil with the pan. Heating pans dry damages the pans (especially non-stick ones). Also, there are no warning signs that the pan is hot when you set something else on it or bump into it. Adding cold ingredients to hot pans also damages the pan, and can scald the ingredients.Should the pan be hot before cooking?
Preheating your pan prevents food from sticking and ensures a crisp, brown crust.Is it okay to heat up a cold pot?
Pans at room temperature typically pose no risk. For best results, place the pan on the stove top before you turn on the burner and let it gradually heat up by adjusting the temperature during the process until the desired level of hotness is reached.Do you let cast iron heat up before putting the oil in it?
First, it's important to always heat up the pan prior to adding any oil, butter, or fat. When cooking on cast iron, when it comes to fat, less is not always more. It's better to err on the side of too much fat, and then simply drain any excess after cooking.When to add oil to the pan?
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Answer 2
There is no difference for sweating, frying, or sauteeing application. In some sense, the words pots and pans are interchangable.
As far as reheating soup, you have to consider the properties of heat transfer. The burner or flame transfers heat to the metal pot; the pot conducts heat into the soup. The liquid in the soup then convects and spreads the heat throughout the body of the liquid.
If you start reheating with a cold pot, then everything happens at a reasonable pace, and the convection will prevent the soup from overheating locally at the bottom surface and burning.
If you preheat the pot—at least with a very strong heat so that it is very, very hot—when you add the soup, it could flash into evaporation and burn locally. This does no good for your product, although it isn't terribly likely.
In general, however, in reheating, you don't preheat the pot or pan.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Pixabay, Clem Onojeghuo, Harry Cunningham @harry.digital, Teona Swift