Frying Question

[lea_hazel]

I am a decent semi-cook. I can make a few things reliably, including a few steady mistakes. Recently I realized that my kitchen always gets slightly smoky when I fry pancakes or French toast. Not like billowing smoke, but enough for me to notice once I've gone into the other room and back.

I get the feeling that I am doing something basic wrong. That is, my basic frying-things-in-a-teflon-pan technique is flawed. Part of it is that I tend to have lousy timing, and flip the pancakes either too soon or too late. I think. Anyway, it strikes me as a beginner's question, so I'm posting here for tips or advice. Please save my tearing eyes from breakfast-for-supper. ;_;

Comments

[miome]

Do your pancakes or french toast taste burnt? If not, you might want to check the bottom of your pan, the burner and the tray below your burner. There may be some crumbs or something stuck to it and smoking.

[lea_hazel]

They don't taste burnt usually, I think it might be my frying pan. I always scrub it for ages, but somehow it never seems clean.

[miome]

Does it seem like the coating is damaged & flaking off? You don't want to be eating that stuff ...

[lea_hazel]

No, it doesn't flake, but it feels a little sticky even when there's no oil on it, and I scrub it carefully and soak it. I'm wondering if the oil somehow just won't come off and it's burning and giving off the smoke.

[flamewarrior]

Yes, this. It's the old, sticky oil that is likely making the smoke. I would suggest something acidic to clean with, but do check with the manufacturer to make sure it's not going to take off the non-stick coating.

For pancakes, always start with a clean pan, and use fresh oil - ideally rapeseed (= canola in American?), or something else with a high smoke-point (i.e. definitely not butter, margarine or olive oil). And soak and scrub pan as soon as it's cool enough to handle after use.

[cleverthylacine]

Hah, so basically no oil that I have in my house.

[yarnofariadne]

I had the same problem until I really, really scrubbed the burner and under the burner. It's not a fun job but it solved the problem.

[jumpuphigh]

My best guess is that you are trying to cook on too high heat for the oil that you are using. That could also be why you are having problems timing the flipping.

[lea_hazel]

That's a good idea, maybe I should try a different kind of oil. Or just use the smaller stove ring instead of the middle one.

[metawidget]

Peanut oil is quite forgiving and doesn't make things taste funny (at least to me). Sometimes it's not available in regular grocery stores, but it is often easy to find in Chinese ones (and likely other ethnic groceries as well).

[eleanorjane]

I have a similar problem, and mine's a halogen cooktop and I know it's clean (as are my pans).

I know any time I panfry things, especially if it's in butter rather than oil, I get heaps of smoke. (I get a lot less if it's something where I can afford to cook it on a lower heat; butter on a high heat is terrible for smoke, I find.)

Could it be ventilation? Thing is, I recently had my kitchen renovated and it has less air flow than it used to, and I'm really noticing the difference. A simple lack of ventilation might be the problem?

[flamewarrior]

Butter has a low smoke-point - i.e. it smokes at a relatively low temperature. Olive oil also has a low smoke point. Rapeseed (= canola?) and refined sunflower oil are best for frying from that point of view. Even refined rapeseed oil is healthy for you (omega 3) so I tend to go for that.

[yarngeek]

Either your oil has too low a smoke point, or your heat's too high. If any cooking makes the kitchen smoky, your burner's probably dirty.

My problem with pancakes is usually that I start them at too high a temperature, though.

[amadi]

Your pan is waaaay too hot. Turn down the heat. Heat the pan, then add the oil/butter and heat the oil. (Hot pan + cold oil = food won't stick.) You also really don't need that much oil/butter for pancakes if you're cooking in a non-stick pan, if you need any at all. Pancakes aren't really a fried food as much as cooktop-baked. Too much fat in the pan will cause the smoky situation as well as making sure that the pancakes cook too quickly and end up either dense and chewy or overly browned while still kind of raw in the middle.