cooking technique

Order of operations

When should you add oil when preparing to sauté? Generally the answer is "after preheating the pan, unless it's nonstick, then at the beginning."

• Stainless steel pan: let the pan heat up first, at least until water sizzles, then add oil. This apparently prevents the oil from sinking into pores in the pan's surface (which are closed off when the metal heats and expands), which can cause sticking. Also you don't need as much oil to cover the pan.
• Cast iron pan: let the pan heat up fully, then add oil, quickly followed by food. Since cast iron takes a while to heat up, this allows the whole pan to heat properly without the risk of burning the oil.
• Nonstick pan: add oil to the pan before heating. Nonstick pans are damaged by high heat (unlike metal pans) and are usually thin, so you never want to leave an pan empty on the burner.