Tips on tossing a frying pan

Question

I see it done by TV chefs, or just people who are more experienced at me with cooking; as they're cooking they rarely use a spatula to turn or mix the contents of their frying pan, but rather toss the contents of the pan instead.

Are there any techniques to tossing food in a frying pan well? I'm talking about food in general – be that vegetables, bits of meat, rice (not necessarily something obvious like pancakes).

I guess the main outcomes you want from tossing a frying pan include:

• Turning the food and doing so that it is cooked on both sides.
• If there is a lot of contents in the pan, moving it about so different parts of it are in contact with the surface of the pan.
• Moving different parts of the food from hotter bits to cooler bits within the pan so they are all fairly evenly cooked.

Is there a technique to it, or am I over-analysing the process?

Asked by Alex Rozanski

Answer

I don't know how to explain this well in words, but there's at least two different methods for flipping stuff in a pan, because you have either curved or straight sides on the pan. I personally find it easier to do in a curved sided pan:

I extend my arm forward, then quickly flip the back of the pan up while pulling back at the same time. The curved side basically acts as a ramp to propel the food up and over.

For a saute pan (straight sides), follow the technique that ElendilTheTall explained, where you tip it first.

A few things to remember when trying to flip your food : if the food's stuck to the bottom, it's not going to flip. Give the pan a quick shake first, to see if you need to stir to loosen any stuck bits.

And for the practicing -- besides just practicing with dry things first ... I'd suggest you start with just a little bit, get used to it, then add more ... and add more of something else, as with more than one color in the pan, you can see how well you're distributing things when you flip. (eg, lentils, other beans, rice, dry pasta, etc.)

Start with a mid-sized pan, as larger pans are actually more forgiving when catching, but too large makes it heavy and difficult to get a good flip. (ie, don't start with your cast iron).

If you have a grill, or a table outside to practice on, the cleanup's even easier. (although, use a cold grill, just for practice). You can also practice with just water, if you're outside, without as much worry.

As for when to do it -- lots of small things; stirring risks keeping the bottom bits on the bottom, and the top things up top, so things cook unevenly. Even if you use a spatula to flip, like you might for a larger item, the middle stuff stays in the middle.

The other advantage is that it only takes one hand -- I generally keep my right hand clean when cooking, and stirring sometimes takes two hands -- one to keep the pan still, while the other one stirs. It's also quicker to get a more thorough mix than stirring.

Answered by Joe

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What oils are suitable for Indian cooking (i.e. extended frying duration)?

Question

Indian cooking basically uses oil from the beginning of the process, typically starting with sautéing ginger and garlic, then adding shallots, chillies and onions. So the oil is on the fire for quite some time.

I would like to know whether any type of olive oil will be suitable for this type of cooking. Extra virgin olive oil seems to be out of the question from what I have read.

Asked by jogabonito

Answer

With Olive oils, the more refined they are, the higher their burning point. So you are correct, an Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil would be a terrible choice for Indian cooking (would cause effect on taste, smell, and nutrition) which has prolonged periods of sauteing on high heat.

Lower quality olive oils, or a light olive oil, interestingly, would be a better choice. They are much more refined like vegetable oils, so have a higher burning point. But at that point, you'd consider why are you using Olive oil?

Consider using refined butter (ghee) or coconut oil for Indian cooking. Ghee and Coconut oil will rarely smoke or burn and can stand high heat pretty well. I believe traditional Indian cooking uses ghee.

Answered by Swati

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What limitations are there to sauteeing with water?

Question

I was recently helping with some recipes and was instructed to use water for "sauteeing" onions, celery, garlic, etc in place of oil (scare quotes on "saute" since it involves frying in oil or other fat by definition).

The technique is meant to parallel sauteing in oil, water is measured by the tablespoon in a large pan, and although you replace waster as it evaporates the vegetables are never submerged in water. Only enough water is ever used to inhibit sticking of the vegetables to the own.

The results were good and light but I haven't had much of a chance to push it further and experiment with the upsides and downsides (the three dishes meant to just soften the onions, garlic, celery and I had to follow the directions). Obviously, using oils imparts that flavors that you otherwise won't have present if using water. More importantly though, I would like to know which reactions would be inhibited in some way; for instance, would browning and carmelizing happen at a different rate, or at all? Are there any other preparations that would be impossible without a fat to saute in? What are the limitations when using water to saute?

Asked by mfg

Answer

The big difference is that oil can get to a higher temperature than water can. Water turns to steam at 212F, while most oils won't start smoking until 300-400F. Caramelization doesn't happen until 320F (for sucrose and glucose, 230F for fructose), while browning (the Maillard reaction, to be specific) doesn't happen until 375F. Now when you "saute" like that in water, you'll also be using the steam to cook, and the steam will be somewhat hotter than 212F, but probably not enough hotter (or in enough quantity) to get to those reaction temperatures. You might get high enough temperatures via direct contact with the bottom of the pan, but that's a recipe for uneven cooking, as the part of the food actually in direct contact are likely to be quite small.

Answered by Dave Griffith

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Stir-frying: how much of the oil evaporates?

Question

When you're stir-frying or sauteeing, I'm sure some of the oil get evaporated due to high temperature. How much of the original oil evaporates? Since I suppose it depends on the kind of oil, temperature and duration, can you give example for several typical cases? (for example, vegetable oil, medium heat, 15 minutes, etc)

How does this affect the nutrition and energy calculation? For example if 50 grams of vegetable oil contains ~400 kcal, how much calories does some food cooked with that much oil has?

Asked by Fitri

Answer

The boiling point of most cooking oils is much higher than their smoke points. The boiling point of olive oil, for example, is around 300°C (572°F), which is hotter than the temperature of a pan on a typical residential range/cooktop. With that said, alcohols and esters which make up the flavor and fragrance of the oil will have lower boiling points and will therefore evaporate. That should not significantly alter the nutritional content of the oil. Furthermore, much of the perceived loss of oil is likely due to a combination of absorption of the oil into the items being fried, and also due to splatter. The latter cannot be easily quantified due to its connection with the cooking vessel and the technique of the cook.

Answered by ESultanik

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Why fry onions without oil and then add oil?

Question

In several recipes I have seen lately, the instructions are to sautee onions and garlic without oil for a few minutes, and then add oil and continue until golden. If it's of any help, these are Ethiopian traditional recipes.

I know that the two processes are different, due to heat transfer by the oil, and the Maillard reaction etc. What could be the reason to start without oil and then add it though?

Answer

According to Wikipedia,

the preparation of a wat begins with chopped onions slow cooked, without any fat or oil, in a dry skillet or pot until much of their moisture has been driven away. Fat (usually niter kibbeh) is then added, often in quantities that might seem excessive by modern Western standards, and the onions and other aromatics are sautéed before the addition of other ingredients. This method causes the onions to break down and thicken the stew.

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When making risotto, why fry the rice?

Question

When making risotto one of the first steps is to saute the rice in some oil for a few minutes (or until the rice is translucent).

What is happening when the rice is fried? What effect does this have, and what would happen if this step was omitted?

Answer

As I understand it, it's down to the flavour you get from frying the rice. However, it does also break down some of the starch which reduces the thickening it can do when the risotto cooks, which might cause a problem. I can attest to the flavour, but I've not done experiments about thickening.

Serious Eats had a good article on the topic though, in which such experiments were described. The solution in that was to wash the rice in the stock, then fry the rice, then add the stock containing all that undamaged free rice starch during cooking, thus giving you toasty flavour and creamy risotto with no questions asked. I haven't tried that, but it seems like a fairly sound idea to me.

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/10/the-food-lab-the-science-of-risotto.html

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Why is sauteing beneficial?

Question

I've seen multiple recipes which say to saute onions, peppers, green beans, etc. Why not microwave the food to the temperature you want and then mix it (along with the oil previously used to saute) straight into everything else -- skipping the saute step?

In other words, what does the sauteing accomplish?

Answer

The flip answer is that sauteed food will taste good, and the microwaved version you're describing will not.

A more useful answer, however, would consider physics and chemistry. Microwaving excites molecules, resulting in heat, presuming an adequate supply of water molecules to excite. Sauteeing conducts heat from the heat source to the food by way of the pan.

Microwaving falls somewhere between radiant heating (like an oven) and steaming, though the results from conventional methods are generally superior. Sauteeing can transfer enough heat quickly enough that desirable effects like caramelization and similar effects like browning are effected with the help of fats and sugars (often referred to as a Maillard reaction), which produces volatile compounds that are very aromatic and contribute a lot to our perception of flavor. It's exceptionally hard to create the same effects with a microwave.

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Minced meat malaise

Question

I've been cooking a Dutch pie lately, and the results are not very regular. Using the exact same ingredients (I'm trying to get the best minced meat, but that's hard), sometimes the minced meat becomes nice and juicy and sometimes it gets dry and chewy.

I've tried putting everything raw into the oven, but the result is a bit too compact for my taste.

I try to sauté the meat for a short period of time and add some brandy to flambé. The meat should get a little crust, but not be done entirely as it'll go into the oven.

With this description, do you think there's anything wrong with the technique? Should I use higher heat but leave the meat less time? Should I skip the flambé? Should I leave the meat on longer (like a bolognese)?

Answer

I think if you're going try to brown mince as mince, it's going to get dry and tough, especially if lean. You could try making it into a patty, browning the outside to get the flavour reactions started, then breaking up with wooden spoon (see Nicholas Klee, 'Don't Sweat the Aubergine' 2005). If you're also cooking onions and other veg like you would for a shepherd's pie, you could cook these separately until browned. Shepherd's pie is often made with left over (and browned) meat from a joint.The key to a good shepherd's pie is slow cooking for at least an hour.

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difference between pan-cooking with and without oil

Question

So lately I've been pan-cooking single chicken thigh fillets as a snack of sorts. Heat the non-stick pan, and toss a chicken fillet in there, turn around a few times while making cuts to make them even etc..

I haven't been using oil, and usually the chicken thigh fillet isn't very oily. I mean, the only seasoning I use is a mixed garlic salt with some herbs. However, the thigh fillet still puts out plenty of oil, as the pan is sizzling with them by the end of the cooking time usually.

Now, just yesterday, the thigh fillets I've bought were quite a bit larger than average, and a lot oilier with more fat. The pan was sizzling with oils. I didn't use any timer, but I'm wodering.. does more oil cause the cooking to get more even? That is, would the oil have helped seep the heat into the parts of the chicken that doesn't touch the pan?

Answer

Sure. Oil gets quite hot, and it'll cook areas that aren't in direct contact with the bottom of the pan, which will certainly speed cooking time. The technical term for cooking with a small amount of oil is Sautéing. Without oil, you might call it grilling or searing? With more oil, frying.

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