Anonymous wrote:I cannot figure out how to use my all clad stainless steel pans. Preheating, using oil, etc. is still resulting in smoke and things (eggs) sticking. I spent hundreds of dollars on these damn pans and am now throwing them in the trash. What am I doing wrong?

First, do not throw them in the trash. Give them to a church sale or Goodwill.
Second, if you hate them, go out and get Le Creuset cast iron pans and Dutch ovens. They are the very best. There is a learning curve, but once you get it, you'll never go back to those crappy SS pans.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you preheat the oil, does the egg drop in sizzling or no? You dont want to preheat it to smoking or seeing a change in the oil texture. How much oil are you using and what kind?

I added the oil and it started flaming. I’ve tried the ‘water’ test and it seems sufficient but the egg never works. Sigh. I wanted to avoid those toxic nonstick pans but guess I’m back to that.

flaming?? like oil drops flying out of the pan and catching fire on a gas range? Or catching fire IN the pan? If a pan has moisture in it I could see the former happening, the latter should not happen at all.

Lower your flame/temp. I only use stainless steel and don’t have these problems.