As many readers of this blog will already know, Lotus Rock cookware is excellent for high-heat cooking. Sautéing is one such commonly used high heat cooking method, popular in both domestic and professional kitchens. To sauté is to cook food quickly in a minimal amount of fat over relatively high heat. The word comes from the French verb sauter, which means “to jump,” and describes not only how food reacts when placed in a hot pan but also the method of tossing the food in the pan.

There are 3 things to keep in mind when sautéing:

i)       The food should be cut into smaller, bite-sized pieces.

ii)      A high heat and a good sizzle should generally be maintained at all times.

iii)     The food should be tossed from time-to-time to ensure that it cooks evenly.

As has been explained here and here, a Lotus Rock pan has excellent thermal properties for high heat cooking, such as for sautéing. For a brief summary there are a few reasons for this.  First, a Lotus Rock pan heats up very quickly because of the material properties of the carbon steel substrate within it. Secondly, its steel material gauge along with the ceramic layer coated around it is very thick. This high thickness ensures that heat is spread evenly around a Lotus Rock pan. Lastly, the high density of the steel along with the excellent insulation capability of the ceramic layer around it means that even when food is added for sautéing the temperature of the pan will not drop significantly. Thus, with a Lotus Rock pan a good sizzle can start immediately and be maintained without the food steaming in its own juices, for excellent browning and a succulent flavour.

However, even before the sautéing process can begin, it is important that the pan is pre-heated to a high temperature before adding oil or butter to it. If ingredients are added to a cold pan, with cold oil on it, and then slowly heated up this will result in food which is bone dry. The reason for this is related to moisture retention: if a piece of food is heated up slowly, the ingredients of the dish will gradually release moisture, gently simmering in their own fat. Instead for a better sautéing cooking result small cuts of meat and vegetables should be browned quickly at a high heat, which will at the same retain their moist and rich flavours.

A Lotus Rock pan is particularly suitable for being pre-heated to a high temperature for Sautéing. This is because the coating of Lotus Rock has a specially configured design which has very high heat resistance. The Lotus Rock silicon-oxide crystal coating is made up of inorganic substances: it is in the form of a thin crystal, which has no traces of carbon within it. Conversely, the type of ceramic material that the silicon-oxide crystal coating rests on can resist temperatures of up to 350 degrees centigrade. This is particularly advantageous for a high-heat cooking method such as sautéing which requires the pan to be preheated to a high enough temperature so browning can start immediately once the food is added to the pan.

In contrast to Lotus Rock, most general non-stick cookware is organic-bonded and so can easily break under a high temperature. If a non-stick coating is continually over-heated then it will either quickly start to degrade (such as peeling off or blistering), or if it contains PTFE for its non-stick release, a hazardous chemical smoke may appear which has been proven to be fatal to birds. So in general, non-stick pans are not suitable to be pre-heated to a high temperature for a cooking method such as sautéing. Instead they are more appropriate for cooking more delicate produce, such as tofu or fried eggs, which do not require a very high heat at the start of cooking.

In addition to Lotus Rock, another material for cookware which does have very high heat resistance is cast iron. Pans made of this material have an excellent intense and even heating effect and can maintain a good sizzle at all times during sautéing. However, as was noted in point 3, generally a good saute requires some tossing and because of the heavy weight of cast iron pans, for most people this would be quite troublesome. Also, with sautéing it is important not to overcook the food in order to avoid excess moisture loss. Cast iron cookware is very slow to cool down, so unless the food is taken out of the pan very quickly, many of the bite-sized pieces may well continue to sizzle too long and be browned too much.

Conclusion

Sauteing is a dry heat cooking method, and it is an ideal means for searing or browning food, a process that imparts significant flavor.  To accomplish this, high heat is needed and food must not be introduced until the pan and the fat have been pre-heated first.

A Lotus Rock pan is ideal for sautéing because it can be pre-heated to a high enough temperature* to start browning and caramelizing meat and vegetables immediately, without damaging the pan’s non-stick performance or construction. A Lotus Rock pan’s heavy gauge carbon steel and thick ceramic coating has the necessary thermal properties to generate intense heat for a good sizzle, all of which is essential for sautéing. Conversely, a Lotus Rock pan is not so heavy that it cannot be tossed from time-to-time to ensure that the sautéed food cooks evenly.

Conversely, the thick gauge and density of the steel substrate, along with the excellent insulation properties of the ceramic layer coated around it, mean that even when food is added to a Lotus Rock pan only a limited amount of heat is lost from it. This means that when a cook wants to add some diced potatoes or chicken to saute it doesn’t have to readjust the heat setting to get the pan hot enough again at the optimum temperature for excellent browning and caramelizing.

*Important! Although a Lotus Rock pan does have excellent high heat resistance, its fast heating effect does mean that the pan should always be heated at a low-medium temperature. This way a Lotus Rock pan will build up heat within its highly dense structure more gradually and evenly than if it is heated on a high flame immediately. As explained above, when a pan has a lot of heat stored in it, the pan will brown, sauté, grill and stir fry food much better than if the food is added when the pan is still cold. If a Lotus Rock pan is heated up too quickly this may damage it through warping its base into either in a convex or concave shape, which could make the pan obsolete for use on a flat top cooking surface.

A popular Saute pan in the Lotus Rock cookware collection has a 28cm diameter and is attached with the Zurich forged stainless steel handle.

Product Features

• Rugged hard carbon steel construction offers optimum strength and durability
• Highly innovative, reinforced ceramic coating is metal utensil safe
• Engineered of virtually pure, heavy-gauge 2.0mm carbon steel for fast, even heating
• Ultra-durable thick ceramic exterior will not chip, stain or crack
• Silicon-oxide crystal cooking surface does not react with acidic foods
• Tempered, domed glass lid with wide stainless steel band seals in moisture and nutrients
• Cast, brushed stainless steel, double-riveted handle for stay-cool cooking
• Easy-grip helper handle ensures safe transfer of food
• Straight sides accommodate liquids; a lid locks in moisture for slow braising.
• Rims are shaped to allow for dripless pouring.
• Classic matte finish delivers elegant cooktop to tabletop presentation
• Safe for gas, ceramic, glass, electric, halogen and induction stove tops
• Oven and broiler safe to 450 F
• PFOA/PTFE-free

When a consumer is searching for a cooking utensil to buy, one of the many questions they might well ask themselves is ‘What kind of cooking task do I want to do?’ Naturally their first consideration would be the pan shape, for example a sauté pan, with its high, straight sides has quite an advantageous shape for high heat searing and then for braising afterwards.  The consumer might then consider the thermal properties of the material in the pan (as discussed previously here). Once both of these have been fully evaluated, a fairly experienced chef might also look into the reactivity of the pan’s surface.

The terms “reactive” and “non-reactive” refer to the type of metal from which the cooking utensil is made. Generally speaking, aluminum, cast iron, and copper are all “reactive.” Stainless steel, ceramic, glass and metal cookware with enamel coating are all “non-reactive.” Those metals listed as “reactive” will all generally react with acidic and alkaline foods, but they are all a good choice for boiling water, sautéing vegetables, or searing meat. Acidic ingredients that metals such as aluminum will react with include tomatoes or lemon juice, which give your food a metallic flavor, especially if the cooking time is very long. In addition, with a reactive cooking surface cooking with acidic ingredients might also produce undesirable colours and/or flavours.

Reactive cookware

Aluminum

Tomato sauce and other tomato products react with aluminum because of their acidity, and acids don’t mix well with aluminum. Highly acidic foods cause oxidation, which can darken the aluminum pan and alter the taste of the food. A special case is anodized aluminum, which is aluminum that has been treated with an electrolytic process to create a harder surface that is still somewhat reactive, but significantly less so than untreated aluminum.

Cast Iron

If food is cooked with this type of cookware then it may pick up chemical elements from the surface. However, ingesting iron is not a health concern as the human body can process iron relatively easy. When properly seasoned a cast iron pan’s surface becomes less reactive and some acidic ingredients can be used for a short period of time. However, these pans must be continually re-seasoned otherwise the surface will become more reactive and begin to discolour and pit when used with acidic ingredients.

Copper

An uncoated copper surface is actually beneficial for some cooking techniques, such as whipping egg whites (makes the whites more stable). However, unlike iron, the human body has a much harder time eliminating copper after ingesting it, so a cookware utensil with this type of surface should be used sparingly. Other problems with copper cookware include discoloring and scratching.

Non-reactive cookware

Non-Stick coating

One significant benefit of a non-stick coating on, for example, an aluminum pan, is that it provides a complete non-reactive surface for cooking. Whether the coating contains PTFE or silicone oil for its non-stick release, acidic or alkali ingredients will not react with either the inert coating or the surface metal below it. However, there is one major disadvantage with the non-reactive surface of a non-stick coating: it is not suitable for deglazing. First and foremost, non-stick coatings are not appropriate to use for high heat cooking, which is important for browning meat and vegetables. However, even if a non-stick coating was used for searing large cuts of meat with a brown crust on them, de-glazing can still not be done because these little brown bits formed after the meat is seared will not stick to the pan during cooking. It is these leftover bits on the pan (the fond) which are an essential ingredient for de-glazing, to create a delicious sauce which can then be poured over the just seared meat.

Lotus Rock

All Lotus Rock pans come with a non-reactive surface. This means that during cooking certain ingredients, usually acidic ones, will not chemically combine and alter the flavor and colour of the finished palette.  For example, tomato juice can be used for a Bolognese sauce and lemon juice can be added where necessary to give a dish extra flavor. These sauces can then be cleaned from the pan after cooking without any colour staining or visible scarring on the coating’s surface. Unlike cast iron, a Lotus Rock pan does not need to be continually re-seasoned to make it less reactive to acidic ingredients. Likewise, unlike a copper pan, Lotus Rock can be used on a regular basis without heavy metals being absorbed into the cooked food. Lastly, because of its non-reactive surface, a Lotus Rock pan is highly appropriate for de-glazing after meat has been seared at a high temperature. The residue of the Fond can be made to form part of a delicious sauce through the addition of some kind of acidic solution, such as a broth or cup of wine.

Previous posts on this blog have explained how a Lotus Rock wok can be used for a number of different basic cooking techniques, such as stir frying, steaming and deep fat frying.  However, its versatility doesn’t stop there; a Lotus Rock wok is also excellent for smoking various types of popular dishes, such as salmon and chicken wings.

Normally when people think of a cooking technigue such as smoking they would imagine a large backyard with a big outdoor grill, but in fact this is not necessary.  All you require is a wok, aluminum foil and a stove top.  However, a wok isn’t just more convenient to use for smoking, it has some other advantages over an outdoor grill.  One such benefit is that the heat under a wok is much more adjustable than the blast you get from hot coals on a grill or in a smoker, which expands the possibilities when it comes to choosing ingredients to smoke with.  A wok is also very suitable for smoking compared to other standard pans because its spacious interior provides more room for smoke to circulate around the food.

The method for smoking salmon, for example, with a wok is simple: scatter tea leaves, sugar, and rice in the bottom of a foil-lined wok—the tea contributes aromatic smoke, the sugar caramelizes to lightly color and sweeten the food, and the rice acts as the fuel source, keeping everything smoking.  Take another piece of foil and make it into a small circle that will cover the mixed ingredients below.  Then get a round cooling rack and place it on top of the aluminum foil.  After placing the salmon on the centre of the rack, cover the wok with another large piece of aluminum foil, and tent it so there is enough space for the smoke to circulate above and around the salmon.  Make sure to press on the edges of the aluminum foil so no smoke gets out.  Before you put the wok on the stove top place a dome shaped lid carefully on top of it.  Heat the wok on high until you see smoke coming out of it, at that point you will need to lower the heat to about medium and let it smoke for about roughly 10 minutes.  When the salmon is ready to be checked make sure you go outside before taking off the lid.