Why Food Sticks to Nonstick Frying Pans (Even When Oiled)
Ever cooked a pancake and it gets spoiled, because it sticks to the pan, even when using a non-stick frying pan? Scientists from the Czech Academy of Sciences have discovered that this phenomenon may be to do with a process known as “convection.”
Learning this information could save many pancakes in the future.
Convection is when heat is transferred from your cooker hob to the pan, and eventually your food, and the molecules inside your food (and oil) start moving around.
Both the pan and the oil heats up from their core.
The research was published in the journal Physics of Fluids, by AIP publishing.
A frying pan starts warming up from it’s centre.
Creating a sharp rise in temperature in the centre of the pan compared to the rest of the frying pan surface.
The oil has a certain tension around the surface, that’s ruptured when the temperature increases.
Creating a dry spot in the centre of the frying pan that your food sticks to. Consider the following three simple steps to mitigate this situation in the future:
- Heat the frying pan up gradually
- Use a frying pan with a thick base
- Stir food while it’s heating up (this won’t help with pancakes, but may save your rice)
