Why You Still Need Oil in a Nonstick Pan

Question

Dear Milk Street,
What is the reason why we still need to use oil in a nonstick pan? I am thinking of heat transfer as a reason; however, what is the difference between cooking a piece of food with direct contact with the pan, as opposed to cooking it with a layer of oil, assuming that no sticking occurs in both cases?
Thank you so much for your response!

April Dodd · Accepted Answer

Great question, Linh. There are some nonstick pans (like Swiss Diamond brand) that are actually designed to be used without oil. If you have one of those, then you should heed the manufacturer instructions and seek out recipes designed for that cookware. For most nonstick pans, though, oil still serves multiple purposes. First, oil conducts heat more evenly, preventing hot spots that might be caused by the design of the cooktop or the pan itself. In addition, oils and butters are great vehicles for flavor in recipes, not just a protection against sticking. (Most spices, for example, are fat-soluble, so having some kind of fat in the pan allows the flavors of those spices to bloom and carry throughout the dish.) Finally, most recipes call for using some kind of oil even in nonstick pans because even excellent nonstick pans wouldn't truly succeed in, say, frying an egg with no oil at all, and getting stuck-on bits out of a nonstick pan is especially frustrating because you don't want to accidentally scratch the coating.
If you'd really like to be able to control the amount of oil you use in your nonstick pan without running the risk of sticking, then I have a final (and perhaps counterintuitive) tip for you, which is to season your nonstick pans in roughly the same manner you might for a cast iron. To do this, simply rinse and thoroughly dry the pan, then place it over low heat and use a paper towel to rub about a teaspoon of neutral oil into the pan. For extra non-stick power, you can do this before each time you use the pan. - April D.

Why You Still Need Oil in a Nonstick Pan

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