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My parents went out of town for a bit and so I had to fend for myself with cooking! I made some chicken and some quesadillas on a particular pan. However, my parents got back and my mom is astounded to find the pan all dirty with oil still sticking to the pan. I washed it with soap, so why is it still sticking??? It is like it is embedded into the pan. Not sure what happened! Anybody knows? I am also unsure about the type of pan it is. At this rate, I'll be buying new pans every so and so months if I lived alone. :( I wonder if it has anything to do with cooking food in a not so high temperature?

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probably the same thing: cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/8927/… – Jefromi♦ Jun 9 '11 at 22:10
Not quite the same - the gummy residue in that question is compounded by lecithin from the baking spray emulsion. – klypos Jun 9 '11 at 22:19
@klypos: As mentioned in that question, it happens with normal oil too, and the question itself isn't specifically about sprays. – Jefromi♦ Jun 9 '11 at 22:57
There was no gummy residue, more like a thin layer of oil in a portion of the pan which glistened in the light. – O_O Jun 9 '11 at 22:59
Whatever, nobody made the point that the best way to shift the gunge is to use fresh oil to dilute the residue, then remove what is left. My answer is genuinely useful. – klypos Jun 9 '11 at 23:07
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3 Answers

up vote 8 down vote accepted

As I understand it, when you combine high heat and vegetable oil you get a fairly stable polymer (much like a plastic or resin). The polymer bonds with the surface (which is porous), and results in robust surface. This is what we use to season cast iron cookware, but it's less desirable on stainless and other lighter colour hardware.

You can prevent the coating from forming by never allowing he oil to maintain a high temperature for long periods by itself. Keeping food in contact with the pan will both help keep the temperature down, and reduce the chance of the oil bonding with the steel.

Cleaning the oil off once it's formed is usually pretty simple: add water (or soda water) and heat for 10-15 minutes. Often the oil will wipe out (or need mild scrubbing with an appropriate scrubbing pad). You should not have to use steel wool (or a caustic cleaner), both of which can damage the smooth surface of many pans.

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"Never allowing the water to evaporate from the oil in a pan" --> what? Something is wrong with that sentence. – Aaronut♦ Jun 10 '11 at 0:32
Sorry about that, fixed it up. – Bruce Alderson Jun 10 '11 at 5:11
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It still doesn't make sense. There's no water in oil. – Aaronut♦ Jun 10 '11 at 14:23
Corrected: my source suggested there was a small % of water in vegetable oils. My mistake, I should have confirmed. – Bruce Alderson Jun 10 '11 at 15:12
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If you get oil too hot, it can form a really sticky layer of the heavier oil residues.

To remove it, use a little fresh oil, warm the pan, and spread the fresh oil all over the surface. Let it rest for a while, then spread the oil on the surface again. Tip the oil out, rubbing away as much residual oil as possible with paper.

Now you can rub neat dishwashing liquid onto the surface and all the residual oil will emulsify, and can be washed away with water.

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If you cook with non-stick pans, you should also be careful to read the instructions on the pan. Mine says to never heat above medium. My last pan was ruined after heating above medium with a black substance much like yours.

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