Burned a steak so bad it fused to the pan last Tuesday

I preheated my 12-inch Lodge on high like I always do, tossed on a ribeye, and within 30 seconds the smoke alarm was screaming. The entire kitchen at my place in Austin filled with smoke so thick I couldn't see the stove. By the time I got it off the heat, the steak was stuck solid like it was welded on. Had to boil water in the pan for 10 minutes just to scrape it off with a wooden spoon. Anyone else ever have a pan get so hot it practically bonded with the food?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_piper4d ago

Oh man, I gotta step in here real quick. You said you preheated on high "like you always do" and that's kind of the problem. That's way too hot for a cast iron pan, especially for something like a steak. High heat on a Lodge gets the pan screaming hot way faster than you think, and then you get exactly what happened - a bonded, welded mess. You want to start on medium or medium-high at the most, let it heat up slow for like 5 minutes, then drop the steak. Also, you gotta wait for the steak to release on its own, not try to flip it early. If it's stuck like that, it's not ready to move yet. Hope this helps for next time, because that sounds like a nightmare to clean up.

finley_lopez984d ago

Tbh I actually disagree a bit here. Starting high heat for a quick sear on a thick steak works fine if you're using enough oil and the pan is seasoned right. Ngl, sounds like the bigger issue was trying to flip too early rather than the temp itself.