Toggle sidebar

Seasoning Stainless Steel Frying Pans

C

Crushgroove

New member
Oct 11, 2014
7,331
1,961
0
Wife got a full set of Calphalon(?) Tri-Ply SS cookware. I tried the to season the frying/sautee pans with peanut oil (high smoke threshold) over gas flame using tried and true technique of slowly bringing pan to temp, applying thin coat of oil and then increasing the heat until oil just begins to smoke, removing pan and allowing to cool to room temp. Applied 6 coats this way and had a good working surface. Tried to cook with the pans and the seasoning did not work. It came off the pan under heat.

Tried the same process but layered different types of oil (coconut, peanut, canola, Crisco)... same number of layers, same end result.

Moved on to using the oven technique of placing the pans into a 250* oven for 30 minutes, remove and apply oil, replace and crank oven to 550 for 2 hours. On the 4th layer, when I pulled the pans out, the beautiful seasoning had literally cracked and peeled off while in the oven.

Any tips? These are good pans, good design and good material. What am I doing wrong?
 
C

cat_in_the_hat

New member
Jan 28, 2004
5,909
324
0
FusterCluck said:
Wife got a full set of Calphalon(?) Tri-Ply SS cookware. I tried the to season the frying/sautee pans with peanut oil (high smoke threshold) over gas flame using tried and true technique of slowly bringing pan to temp, applying thin coat of oil and then increasing the heat until oil just begins to smoke, removing pan and allowing to cool to room temp. Applied 6 coats this way and had a good working surface. Tried to cook with the pans and the seasoning did not work. It came off the pan under heat.

Tried the same process but layered different types of oil (coconut, peanut, canola, Crisco)... same number of layers, same end result.

Moved on to using the oven technique of placing the pans into a 250* oven for 30 minutes, remove and apply oil, replace and crank oven to 550 for 2 hours. On the 4th layer, when I pulled the pans out, the beautiful seasoning had literally cracked and peeled off while in the oven.

Any tips? These are good pans, good design and good material. What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...
I've never heard of seasoning stainless steel. You do season cast iron, but I'm not sure you can season stainless steel.
 
C

Crushgroove

New member
Oct 11, 2014
7,331
1,961
0
cat_in_the_hat said:
I've never heard of seasoning stainless steel. You do season cast iron, but I'm not sure you can season stainless steel.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I worked in the kitchen at an 'upscale' bar&grill in college. The head cook there showed me. I'd never seen it, either, but it works. You have to re-season ever so often when it starts to break down, but you can make a SS pan slicker than Teflon. I've seen it done firsthand, I just, apparently, suck at it.
 
C

Crushgroove

New member
Oct 11, 2014
7,331
1,961
0
Here is the video I initially used.


Seems I have better luck pre-seasoning with a single, thin coat of oil at high heat just before use, reducing heat to cook and then washing it normally after... kinda like this nasty bastard.


I guess the SS used in the pans I have is just that much different? Hardness or tempering maybe? Gotta say that, to this point, I am not digging the SS and kinda want my carcinogenic Teflon back.
 
LineSkiCat14

LineSkiCat14

Well-known member
Aug 5, 2015
37,265
4,309
113
Even with Cast Iron, I was under the impression you just lightly coat the pan with oil, and wipe it down after every use, occasionally putting hot water and salt in it to get some of the stuck on food. Never heard of such an in depth "seasoning" process.
 
D

dgtatu01

New member
Sep 21, 2005
8,673
506
0
FusterCluck said:
Here is the video I initially used.


Seems I have better luck pre-seasoning with a single, thin coat of oil at high heat just before use, reducing heat to cook and then washing it normally after... kinda like this nasty bastard.


I guess the SS used in the pans I have is just that much different? Hardness or tempering maybe? Gotta say that, to this point, I am not digging the SS and kinda want my carcinogenic Teflon back.
Click to expand...

Teflon is only carcinogenic if you are a rube and use metal utensils on it instead of wood and plastic. No scrapings in your food no cancer.
 
K

Kooky Kats

New member
Aug 17, 2002
25,741
15,702
0
FusterCluck said:
Yeah, I worked in the kitchen at an 'upscale' bar&grill in college. The head cook there showed me. I'd never seen it, either, but it works. You have to re-season ever so often when it starts to break down, but you can make a SS pan slicker than Teflon. I've seen it done firsthand, I just, apparently, suck at it.
Click to expand...
Maybe head cook was gay and he wanted to season your pan, if you know what I mean.
 
R

RacerX.ksr

New member
Sep 17, 2004
132,592
26,415
0
I bet that dudes pan didn't have any more coating on it after six times than it did after one. The grain structure of stainless steel is much tighter than on cast iron. If a molecule of oil is larger than the pores of the SS, then it will not penetrate and adhere strongly. Cast iron has large pores, metallurgically speaking, and allows the oil to penetrate just enough to stick.

That should be good enough for someone to do the research and give us the answer. By the way, I seasoned all my cast iron with flaxseed oil to begin with.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Crushgroove and LineSkiCat14
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom