Prevent onions and potatoes from sticking to bottom of steel pot for stew
I make bulk lentil stew every week as a form of meal-prep. The first step in my ad-hoc recipe is to fry some onions in oil.
If I add spices to these onions after they have cooked a bit, the spices stick to the bottom of the pot, which in turn causes the lentils to stick to the bottom later. It's worse if I try to add potatoes at the same time, which is related to this question.
If I'm making a stew, does it matter at what point I add the spices? Are lentils sticking to the bottom unrelated to the spice stickiness?
Best Answer
If your spices are sticking to the bottom you may have the pan too hot, and/or not enough oil. Spices need definitely benefit from some frying to release their flavors, however too hot and you can burn them, and if there's not enough oil they tend to clump, stick and sometimes burn. I like to turn the heat down a bit below medium before frying off my spices, and keep my oil bottle close by in case they clump. If they clump and stick I will drizzle more oil in until they loosen up.
If your pan gets sticky carbs will tend to stick to the bottom, a technique to prevent this is to deglaze the pan with some water, this will loosen the stuff on the bottom and reduce additional sticking.
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Quick Answer about "Prevent onions and potatoes from sticking to bottom of steel pot for stew"
If your pan gets sticky carbs will tend to stick to the bottom, a technique to prevent this is to deglaze the pan with some water, this will loosen the stuff on the bottom and reduce additional sticking. I sometimes just pour into a second clean pot when I start to notice sticking problems.How do you keep a stew from sticking to the bottom of the pan?
Stir regularly and frequently to stop the build-up on the bottom of the pan. Use a heavy-based pan that evenly distributes the heat. Consider investing in a heat diffuser as almost all pans have hotter and cooler spots. Turn the heat under the pan to low.How do you keep food from sticking to stainless steel?
Stainless steel can be used to cook all kinds of food without exception, including meat, fish and even eggs! To prevent food from sticking to stainless steel, simply pour a few drops of water into a stainless-steel pan over high heat.How do you keep potatoes from sticking to stainless steel pans?
Can you cook stew in a stainless steel pot?
A stainless steel pan is ideal for making sauces, soups, and stews. One of the main selling points of a stainless steel pan over a nonstick or a cast iron pan is that some bits do in fact stick to the bottom of the pan even if you do everything correctly.A TRICK EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW | How to make any stainless steel pan non-stick | THE MERCURY BALL TEST
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Answer 2
Oven solution.
Toast spices in the bottom of your dry pot. Whole spices (e.g. peppercorn, cumin, coriander, cinnamon) toast better.
Pour spices out into ceramic bowl or saucepan (they are hot!).
Fry onions in hot pot.
Add wet stuff (wine? cognac? V8 juice?) to deglaze pot bottom + onions. Scrape it around with a spatula to loosen up good brown onion bits.
Grind toasted spices.
Add lentils, spices, potatoes.
Bake.
Stove top cooking can be problematic with a metal pot and long cook times because the bottom gets hot and stuff sticks and burns. A solution is the oven. Cook your lentil stew in the oven at low heat (250F). It turns out fine and you don't have to worry about sticking to the pot bottom. If you are worried about pot bubbling over you can put a cookie sheet under it to catch juice.
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