How do I keep eggs from sticking to a pan while cooking?

Question

I like to cook eggs in my toaster oven, but the one thing that I don't like about it is how the eggs will stick to my pan after cooling and its just so difficult to clean off afterwards. I end up having to take a very stiff brush to the pan and even then it takes a full 5 minutes of scrubbing to clean it off.

How do I keep the eggs from sticking to the pan in the first place? A few things:

• It's usually around 3 eggs, whisked in a bowl, and salted before being poured into the pan (I think its called a fritata?)
• The pan is definitely NOT non-stick. I think it's an aluminum cake pan, but I don't really remember.
• I butter the pan before pouring the eggs in.
• Oven is set to 150 C, cooks for about 10 minutes. I realize I might be overcooking things, but would NOT overcooking solve my problem?

I need some advice here. Is there a way to solve my problem with this pan or should I just go out and buy a new one?

Answer 1

This combination is never going to work - it will stick no matter what.

If you want to keep this method of baking, you will have to switch the pan. A nonstick pan will work, and while it is new, you might even be able to slide off the eggs without any crust sticking to the pan (while later it will be just easier to clean from the stuck stuff). You might also decide to switch to a glass pan - it will also stick, but you will have an easier time cleaning it, especially with a bit of a soak. Using glass in a toaster oven will make the eggs stick a bit more though, because it creates a stronger crust.

In both cases, there will be some time involved in cleaning that's more than just cleaning, say, a bowl in which you reheated some soup - there is no way around that with your chosen method of preparation.

Answer 2

You use a non-stick pan if at all possible. They are inexpensive and make egg cookery much easier.

However, one tip that helps even with any pan is to preheat the pan before adding the butter and eggs. If you care about the science, this is usually attributed to a steam effect: some of the water in the egg, when it hits the hot pan, begins to vaporize, and the layer of steam separates the cooked egg from metal. So, if you leave the pan in the oven for a few minutes to preheat, you might be able to reduce sticking.

Overcooking would certainly not be improving anything. If anything, the long cook time is giving the bottom layer of egg more time to stick onto the pan and burn. But again, the bigger issues are cooking surface and lack of preheating.

Answer 3

Line pan with foil.

With your system the egg is going to stick. Let them stick to aluminum foil. Line your baking pan with aluminum foil and use as you normally do. Then you can throw out the foil when you are done.