Why do the iron pans used by restaurant chefs never stick to the pan?

The woks used by restaurant chefs do not stick, but the woks we use at home often stick, which is incredible. They all use woks and stir-fry dishes. We are messy at home, but other people’s chefs are clean and tidy. Here are three main reasons why you can make your own food non-stick.

The first reason is that there are skills in cooking.

I bought a new wok at home. I won’t talk about non-stick pans and stainless steel pans, but just iron pans. Restaurants generally use wrought iron woks, which have thin walls and are less likely to fall. They are relatively light overall, have large capacities, and are easy to operate. Before they can use a new pot, they must open it, unlike us in the kitchen at home, who just remove the rust and use it.

There are many ways to open a pot, the simpler one is the three-step method: 1. Remove rust. First use water sandpaper to remove obvious rust, and then wipe it clean with a hard brush; 2. Bake the film. Wipe the wok clean, put it on the fire and grill it. The whole body of the wok will be evenly heated and turn red, then let it cool. The pot body will have a layer of blue, which is baked blue, an anti-oxidation film; 3. Degree film. First rub the inner wall of the pot with oil, then put it on the fire, add a spoonful of oil, and heat it evenly to make smoke. Pour it out and add another spoonful of oil. Heat it up until it smokes and pour it out. Then wipe clean with a dry rag.

Second, there are skills in cooking.

The biggest difference between cooking in restaurants and cooking in our home kitchens lies in three main points:

1. Heat. When we look at restaurants cooking food, whether it is oiled first or stir-fried, the temperature of the pot is very high and the sound of the pot is popping. It was a diesel stove used in restaurants, with great firepower. The firepower of gas stoves at home is far inferior, and it is easy for the ingredients to be insufficiently heated and cause water to stick to the pan during frying. This phenomenon will not occur with the explosive power of the hotel. 2. The amount of food. The heat is closely related to the amount of food. If the fire is low, the amount of food in the pot will be less. However, cooking at home usually involves a lot of side dishes, which often turn into boiled vegetables. This is the second main reason why cooking at home sticks to the pan.

3. Use oil. In order to make the surface of the ingredients solidify by heat and achieve a non-stick effect, there are generally two methods for frying oil before cooking. One is to heat the pan with cold oil. First, heat the oil until it starts to smoke, then pour it out and put in the cold oil, and then start cooking; second, heat the oil in a hot pot, heat the oil until it starts to smoke, and start frying. Hot pot with cold oil is suitable for meat dishes, hot pot with hot oil is suitable for vegetarian dishes. Third, there are skills in maintaining the wok. Wok requires regular maintenance. It cannot be understood that as long as it does not rust, it can be used in any way.

The important reason why restaurant woks are non-stick is that their woks are used for cooking and nothing else. It’s not easy to do it with a wok in the kitchen at home. We often have to stir-fry, boil, simmer, or even steam. In the skill of opening a wok shared earlier, we know that the wok is less likely to stick to the pan due to a layer of oil film. Later, when I kept cooking, the oil film was still there. However, as long as it is used for cooking, boiling water and other operations once, the oil film will be destroyed, and the cooking will stick to the pan again. Not only iron pots, but stainless steel pots as well. Therefore, after each use of this type, maintenance is required, mainly to maintain the oil film. Heat the oil until it smokes, then let it cool and wipe it clean.