In Praise of Pre-Heating

Preheating your pan prevents food from sticking and ensures a crisp, brown crust. Here’s why.

By Amy Traverso

Nov 08 2021

Why It’s Important to Preheat Your Pan

Photo Credit : Pixabay

Bad habits. They happen to all of us. And even though I know better, I sometimes get lazy about properly preheating my pan before I begin cooking in it. I put the skillet on the heat, add the oil, and as soon as things seem vaguely hot, I add my food. The result? Never great. Meat, fish, and eggs cook unevenly and stick to the pan and I realize as I stand scrubbing at the sink that I didn’t save myself any time at all. If you’re cooking anything over higher heat, always let the pan heat up for a few minutes before adding the oil. Why? As the metal of your pan heats up, the surface expands. Imagine microscopic little lines in the surface—small imperfections. If they’re swelling closed, and a chicken cutlet is sitting there on top of them, they can actually “grab” the meat. If the pan is fully heated and expanded, there’s nothing to stick to. So if you’re going to pan-fry or sear or sauté something, always preheat your pan heat for two or three minutes.

Amy Traverso

Amy Traverso is the senior food editor at Yankee magazine and co-host of the public television series Weekends with Yankee, a coproduction with WGBH. Previously, she was food editor at Boston magazine and an associate food editor at Sunset magazine. Her work has also been published in The Boston Globe, Saveur, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on Hallmark Home & Family, The Martha Stewart Show, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Amy is the author of The Apple Lover’s Cookbook, which was a finalist for the Julia Child Award for best first-time author and won an IACP Cookbook Award in the “American” category.

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