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The only reason to use ever plastic spatula is to avoid damaging a 'fragile' nonstick pan ... that you probably shouldn't be using anyway.

Just use carbon/stainless steel pans, wood turners, and metal spatulas. Your food will be better and the implements will last ~forever.

2 comments

I minimize my use of nonstick pans to as little as possible but some things are pretty much impossible to cook in stainless steel pans. Like how would you go about making over easy eggs? That’s something I have a lot of.

I do fried and over-easy in my stainless all the time. My procedure:

1. heat empty stainless over med-high flame until a drop of water scatters and glides over the whole surface (leidenfrost). It should look like beads of mercury.

2. drop to a med flame, add a bit of oil (avacodo, ghee, ....). If you're going to a lower temp oil (butter, olive, ...) drop the flame even lower and let the pan cool for a minute before adding.

3. crack eggs into the pan, and don't touch them until there's a bit of fried edge

4a. if you want over-easy, turn the flame off well before you flip, and let the residual heat cook the top.

4b. alternatively, cover the pan with a pot lid to steam the tops.

If they stick, a little bit of extra oil, or a few drops of water on the edge can help release.

Seconding steps 1-2. I don't do step 3 because I want to whisk the eggs. It takes some practice, but the end result is worth it. The eggs taste better when cooked on a stainless pan.

I cook over easy eggs a few times a week in my cast iron. Works great.

I've also done it in stainless steel and while it does work there's a bit more of a learning curve imo. Have to heat the pan first then add the oil at just the right heat (when a drop of water glides around but doesn't evaporate too fast).

All in all I'm glad I learned how to use and care for cast iron.

people generally don't use metal tools on enameled cast iron, which is plenty strong

you can use wood on enamelled cast iron. Why would you use a spatula with enamelled cast iron?

to flip an egg?