Chef shares brilliant way to make stainless steel pans non-stick and it’s super easy

A savvy chef has shared her go-to method for making stainless steel pans non-stick, and you don’t necessarily have to be a culinary genius to try it out for yourself

A clever chef has shared her go-to hack for making stainless steel pans non-stick, and you won’t need a load of pricey kitchen items or a tonne of training to try it out for yourself. Professional chef and culinary instructor Kelly Scott has advised home cooks they will only need one ingredient for a non-stick transformation – a splash of good old-fashioned water from the tap.

According to Kelly, who authored the book The Basics of Cooking, this simple yet effective hack is known as the ‘mercury ball test’, and can be used for any of your stainless steel pans.

Taking to TikTok, Kelly, who goes by the username @kellyscleankitchen, shared a video showing her demonstrating the top tip, captioned, ‘All stainless steel can be non-stick by using the mercury ball test to know when it is ready!’

In the vid, Kelly instructed: “Heat up your stainless steel pan and then add a few drops of water. If the water immediately evaporates and sizzles out, it’s not hot enough to be adding oil.”

She continued: “Test every 30 seconds, and once the water dances on top like a mercury ball like so, it is hot enough, and then you can add the oil once the water is gone. Because now it’s hot enough and will basically not stick.”

Kelly showed her avid followers how the hack worked when cooking scallops, demonstrating how they didn’t stick to the pan. Had she added them any sooner, Kelly cautioned, the scallops would have “definitely” stuck, making things much more tricky.

The clip has since been viewed more than 771,000 times and counting, with many impressed followers thanking Kelly for sharing the smart tip.

One person approved: “I’m glad I saw this! I want stainless steel pots and pans, but I always HATED scrubbing them growing up haha.”

Another commented: “This too is gonna stay with me for life! Thank you.”

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