[Sca-cooks] OOP: Frying pan opinions?

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Tara Sersen Boroson wrote:

> I've never found that griddles even out in temperature when suspended
> over two burners.  They always get a cool spot in the middle.  I do find
> them useful for keeping seperate temps for cooking two different
> breakfast items, or for keeping food warm after I take it off the hotter
> parts.  Maybe a higher quality pan than mine would work better, but the
> distance between burners on most stoves makes me doubt that.


You've just reminded me of something I heard at one point (maybe somebody like Jacques Pepin on TV or some such), wherein we were advised to let any pan heat up, preferably, for a full three minutes minimum before adding anything, even oil. I can see how this might cause problems with some of the thin stainless pans, but I try to make a habit of it with my cast iron ones, and I've found that the hot and cold spots are diminished by a fair amount using this technique. You don;t have to have the flame at full heat, either. Essentially a fairly low flame is all you need to heat the pan faster than it'll cool off around the edges, so eventually the edges will get hot no matter what you do, and if your flame is low to moderate, you don;t overheat the center of the pan, either.


Adamantius

--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

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