Learn How Properly Preheat Your Pan With These Simple Methods

[@Miss.kittty]

After watching this i bought a thermal gun. It takes the guess work out of my deep frying. Thanks.

[@stanleysheppard8464]

Good video! Like and a subscription! But with a thermal gun things are substantially easier in my view, you don't need to play with reflectivity or the gun, all you need to know is what temperature does your particular gun show for your particular skillet when you have a "mercury effect" with water on the skillet, and not only for the time when you heat up your skillet up to a point of a proper water droplet effect, but also how to maintain that temp. In my case the most pronounced water effect was at the temperature of 250F-255F and I could easily maintain that temp by setting temperature dial to 4 out of 10 on an electric ceramic stove top, perhaps 5 when I dropped there a larger piece of meat or fish. After this test was able to use thermal gun all the time without having to play with water. If you plan to repeat the same method, keep in mind that your gun is going to give you much different temperature (much higher) after you apply oil to your skillet, so do your measurement on a dry skillet. Your temperature reading probably won't be true to the actual temp, but indicative of the level you like to reach for a non-stick effect. Hope this helps the aspiring home chefs!

[@tomwadek]

thanks for the Sub

[@pjwroblewski]

Outstanding video. The longer I cook, the more important preheating pans becomes.

[@tomwadek]

Yes! Thank you!

[@Orion9856]

Binge watched a bunch of your videos before my first use of a stainless steel pan. The food came out perfectly with very little cleanup needed! Thanks for the great content. To any other first time users, Leidenfrost method is the most fool proof. Use that to dial in a thermal gun and you can just use the thermal gun in the future.

[@tomwadek]

Thats wonderful, and why I make these videos! You made my week. Great advise to first time user. Happy cooking

[@jamesleegte]

Buying an infrared laser temperature gun was one of the best purchases I ever made. I use it for stainless steel and cast iron and it’s essential for each pan and for different types of proteins that you cook. On cast iron I have the pan at 525F for smash burgers and a steak, but for chicken breast and thighs I get it to 425F. On stainless steel I get it to 325F for eggs. There’s no one size fits all and using eye ball or five second hand over pan technique don’t cover all scenarios. Buy an infrared temp gun for complete accuracy and consistency!

[@carlosangelofauragonzales7435]

The Quality and Precision of information and Production are just on another level, Thanks and Good Job 👍🤜💪

[@tomwadek]

Much appreciated!

[@bernadettefisher6481]

I just purchased the heat gun I have 2 sets of cast iron sets never used did not know how to heat ..thank you Soo much

[@tomwadek]

no problem, happy cooking

[@cjbottaro]

I was going nuts about why my thermal/heat gun didn't work properly... then I watched this and learned about "emissivity". I have a Matfer carbon steel pan, and leaving it on the burner at full blast for 10 minutes only showed 215F. But as soon as I put oil in, the heat gun instantly showed 450F. Thanks for clearing that up!

[@tomwadek]

I’m glad I could help! Thanks for watching.

[@domg7359]

Just found this channel. Great video, really well produced as well as great information. You deserve more subscribers; you got one more here!

[@tomwadek]

Thank you! I appreciate the kind words and sub

[@DA_Fishman]

Great video, Tom. Your comments on the water drops and carbon steel pans match my experience (and the question I asked on one of your other videos). This gives me a couple more tools to use. Thanks!

[@tomwadek]

Glad I could help

[@GioFar]

That's strange, I alway use the water drop method on my carbon steel and it works, if you are at the proper temperature.

[@MikeOBrien1945]

Leidenfrost works on my carbon steel pan. Just used it this morning.

[@tomwadek]

Oh really? It wouldn’t work on mine. Good to know. Thanks

[@MikeOBrien1945]

@@tomwadek i suspect it has more to do with the smoothness of the surface rather than the type of “metal.”

[@tomwadek]

@@MikeOBrien1945 I think your right! Thank you

[@roospike]

Cast iron / carbon steel to be quite honest I've never even tried it 🤔 (Leidedfrost) I suppose the reasoning would be cast iron and carbon steel is already seasoned and stainless you basically start from scratch every time.

[@GioFar]

Same here, I use it all the time

[@SubaruWRXStiYamahaR6-AllGone]

I started using a surface temp thermometer with my stainless steel, bc the gun is a pain with stainless. But that's only good for initial preheat, since you can't use it with oil. They are only like $10-14.

[@tomwadek]

You can use it to test the oil but you need to change the emissivity. It’s tricky at first.

[@RobFishbein-ju2yk]

Great informative video. Thanks, Tom. Cheers.

[@tomwadek]

Glad you enjoyed it, cheers!

[@PhilipLemoine]

Great video, Tom.

[@tomwadek]

I’m glad you enjoyed the video!

[@KevinDurbin]

Thanks again @TomWade! So much useful info on your channel here - my mind=blown. Learning more every day........ might have to buy a loaf or 2 of white bread, for testing of course

[@tomwadek]

🤯 is the best comment so far. Thank you!

[@theshamanshadow]

Well done good Sir very good job boss

[@tomwadek]

Thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed the video!

[@roospike]

Knowledge, experience, repetition.. representing a good stepping stone in the right direction. Nonstick coating on aluminum pans took away much knowledge to what apparently we're going back to with stainless steel, carbon steel and cast iron. There's definitely a learning curve too natural nonstick and how to achieve it and I see many getting frustrated going to / back to stainless steel.

[@tomwadek]

Completely agree. Thanks you for watching.

[@jarnoutovic]

Thanks for this great video! What are the Emissivity rates that you use for the stainless steel pan without oil, and what rate for stainless steel including oil?

[@tomwadek]

I don’t recall exactly but I think for this video it was .11 for no oil and .60 with oil.

[@jarnoutovic]

@@tomwadek Thanks!

[@richardharker2775]

I use a thermal gun and temperature probe for various measurements. I too have used the gun around the house and garden just to appease my curiosity of things. Getting the right temperature for the pan your using can be hit and miss but experienced cooks just know without gadgets. I'm a technical person so I have to know more than "feel".

[@tomwadek]

Thanks for sharing! Happy cooking

[@royestrada777]

Thanks for a great video! I have a 10.5" cast iron pan and gas stove. I also have a heat gun. How hot should I preheat my pan to cook a rib eye & get a good sear before adding oil - 400 or 450 or 500? Thanks

[@tomwadek]

It will depend on the smoking point of your oil. You should have to set off Smoke detectors to get a good sear. For example, if the smoke point of your oil is 400, preheat to 350, add oil, let the oil just start to smoke, add the steak and drop the temp to maintain at around the smoke point (400) degrees. I recently made a video to help with that. check it out. kzbin.info/www/bejne/i3KplaeejNWhnpI

[@royestrada777]

@@tomwadek Thx 4 ur quick responses. I have liked & subscribed. Getting ready to cook my rib eye w/ ur method of flipping every 30 secs using my cast iron. I'm using avocado oil - smoke pt is 500. Just to be clear, I preheat to 450 & add oil. Let oil start to smoke & add steak and maintain heat at 500?

[@ILoveTheAllCreator]

It would be cool if you told us what temperature to preheat the pan before pour oil into it ✌️

[@tomwadek]

The temperature of your oil smoking point. It depends on what you are using.

[@ILoveTheAllCreator]

@@tomwadek thanks

[@patrickbuick5459]

My bigger issue is that my induction cook top overshoots because the pan gets way hotter before the glass and therefore sensor underneath catches up. I don't think that is good for my pan or seasoning (depending on which pan I'm using).

[@tomwadek]

Yeah, induction is a different animal and requires some adjustments. I also lower the temp from my target temp to prevent overshooting.

[@KajunMan1971]

They need to embedd a small copper plate into the center of the glass top and attach the temperature sensor to that so that the heat from the bottom of the pan will reach the temperature sensor more quickly.

[@patrickbuick5459]

@KajunMan1971 The commercial ones I have seen use the same setup as the Instant Pot. The sensor is in a spring-loaded piece that contacts the pan through a hole in the heating surface. The plate would work, but still introduce temperature lag for anyone trying to get finer control.

[@bmwfish]

On my induction burner, I’ve found that it works well to undershoot by 20-40° and let it dwell a few minutes to allow temps to stabilize. You can always bump it up a notch or two if it’s not hot enough.

[@patrickbuick5459]

@bmwfish That is what I try to do, but even two bumps goes from clicking on and off, thinking it is at temp to burning what is in the pan until it settles again. It takes longer to get up to temp because of this fudging around than to cook once it gets there. I have switched back to SS for now as a result. Same thing, but no seasoning to destroy.

[@S1L3NTG4M3R]

Thanks :)

[@tomwadek]

Thanks for watching!

[@GioFar]

What emissivity do you use for carbon steel?

[@tomwadek]

I dont recall. 0.85-0.90

[@electricant55]

I just got a De Buyer carbon steel pan and the instructions say to never heat up the pan without oil, can this be an issue? And how necessary is it to preheat other pans before adding oil?

[@tomwadek]

No, you should always preheat your pan. What they mean is cooking or overheating without oil. They are also addressing a seasoning tactic by some called blueing where you purposely overheat your pan. I personally don’t recommend blueing

[@electricant55]

@@tomwadek Thanks!

[@tomwadek]

@@electricant55 no problem!

[@robojim4000]

What emissivity levels do you switch to for stainless steel with and without oil. I think in another video I saw you put 0.60 but in this video it’s 0.10??

[@tomwadek]

I think the video your referencing I was matching the level of the thermal imaging camera which only had 3-4 settings to keep it consistent. This video is more accurate. I believe I followed the user guide and table listed

[@markaustin4370]

The gun rules! My gun can swap between oil temp and pan temp really easily Yea it was $100 But worth every Penny

[@tomwadek]

Post a link. Would love to buy one.

[@藍天白雲-姜]

The bread test method can be replaced by evenly spread sugar. What do you think ?

[@tomwadek]

Sugar is a pain to clean up and it left to cool, can stick heavily to any pan including teflon

[@藍天白雲-姜]

@@tomwadek can't be cleaned by boiling water easily before sugar is dried ?

[@joniangelsrreal6262]

Any information on those of us who use heavy vintage copper pots & pans tin lined …? Other than the obvious (no dry preheat)

[@tomwadek]

I can look into a future video

[@madmaxbdw]

@@tomwadek I too, need to figure out my limitations with vintage copper. Arrived yesterday. More on the way. (3.5mm with tin lining) Also, purchasing 3mm with stainless steel lining (Falk).

[@aamsergie]

Why didn't the oil smoke if you were so high above the smoke point

[@CreachterZ]

What level do you use for cast iron and carbon steel? I threw away the documentation that came with my gun because I didn’t bother reading it and understanding this function.

[@tomwadek]

If memory serves me right, 85-90

[@CreachterZ]

@@tomwadek Cool. And I’m assuming that oil or no oil doesn’t matter nearly as much as with a shiny skillet, correct?

[@tomwadek]

@@CreachterZ I believe no oil was closer to 90 and oil was 85

[@CreachterZ]

@@tomwadek So 87. Thanks.

[@PedroMiguel-xl4rv]

👍

[@tomammerman5949]

I wish I was a scientist.

[@Patrick_Gray]

How about a Pan Thermometer? ** A puck you put in the pan and track its temperature.

[@tomwadek]

Absolutely. Can be prices but worth it

[@doctork1708]

What about those of us that don’t use oil or butter?

[@tomwadek]

what do you use? research the smoking point and apply the same concept.

[@kevinfloyd6837]

A brand new thermal gun??? Come on!