How do I make sure I don't overheat my teflon pan?
I cook in my teflon wok pans all the time. I recently saw an answer here suggesting to preheat a pan to a high temperature and cook in small batches when preparing stir-fry food. I would like to try that, and several other things like roasting peanuts or spices. However, I know that teflon pans do not handle high heat well.
I do not want to ruin my pans and I prefer to err on the side of caution, but I think that maybe some of my dishes could taste better if I preheated the pan to a higher temperature than I do now. I'm afraid that I will overdo it though.
How do I preheat a teflon pan without having to worry about overheating it? Is there a technique that would help me find the sweet spot?
Best Answer
To best check temperature, you need a thermometer, and if you can, use a non-contact thermometer (infrared thermometer).
Teflon start degrading at around 260 °C (500 °F).
So check the pan temperature, adjust the heat of your range (electric, gas...) so that the temperature stay below that.
If you want to use high temperature for some applications, then invest in a carbon steel pan or cast iron pan or a stainless steel pan
Pictures about "How do I make sure I don't overheat my teflon pan?"
Quick Answer about "How do I make sure I don't overheat my teflon pan?"
Show activity on this post. To best check temperature, you need a thermometer, and if you can, use a non-contact thermometer (infrared thermometer). Teflon start degrading at around 260 °C (500 °F). So check the pan temperature, adjust the heat of your range (electric, gas...) so that the temperature stay below that.How do you keep Teflon from overheating?
Avoid preheating nonstick pans on high heat without food in them\u2014always start at a lower temperature using a fat like oil or butter or with the food already included. Empty pots and pans reach high temperatures very quickly, and when heated accidentally over 348 \xb0C (660 \xb0F) the coating can begin to deteriorate.Can you overheat a nonstick pan?
Overheating nonstick pans causes their coating to break down, which can result in the release of surface particles and/or toxic gases. Generally, the maximum temperature you want to heat a nonstick pan is 500 degrees Fahrenheit.How do you know if your pan is overheated?
How do you know you've gotten a pan too hot? If the pan starts to liquify...it's too hot. Did you know that eggs will explode if you forget you're boiling them and the water runs out? If it's nonstick, you'll KNOW when you overheat it, because anything with lungs will be running outside for fresh air.Can you heat Teflon pan without oil?
Their coating lets you stir fry, sear, or saut\xe9 without worry that you'll be unable to dislodge a scallop or scrambled egg from the surface if you didn't use enough oil. The best nonstick pans can actually cook foods without using any butter or oil at all.How Do I Make Sure I Don’t Have Malware?
More answers regarding how do I make sure I don't overheat my teflon pan?
Answer 2
The real solution to your problem is to switch to a carbon steel wok. You will never stop struggling as long as you're using a teflon-coated wok. You will always have to worry about overheating it.
Teflon starts to degrade, giving off toxic gasses at 392F, and degrading irretrievably at around 500F. Whereas the minimum temperature you want for a wok surface is the smoke point of peanut oil, 410F-450F, and if heating a dry wok you may want to heat it up to 600F. I think you can see the problem?
If you can't find a carbon steel wok for some reason, I suggest switching to cast iron or stainless steel pan, which you can heat to more than 400F easily. You'll get better results than you'll get from a teflon-coated wok.
If you still want to use your teflon wok, then I suggest always adding some oil with a slightly lower smoke point to it, such as Canola oil. Then just make sure you don't ever heat that oil to smoking, and you should be below the danger level for teflon.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.