How to Season Stainless Steel to make it Non-Stick

Sorry folks, this has been a long time coming.  It's been a busy week!  One of my boys was sick, I was busy building up to our Christmas BBQ lunch with family and friends and the garden is taking up a lot of time (I will post some results of my gardening efforts soon).

Well here it is; how to season your stainless steel cookware to make it non-stick - you don't have to rely on the stuff with nasty coatings and chemicals.

It's very easy, here are two methods (I use sunflower oil and they come up beautiful - but peanut and coconut are supposed to be even better).

Top of the Oven - Frypans or Pots
Clean pan/pot very well in hot soapy water, rinse well and dry.  Put onto a medium heat - when it is good and hot add a couple of tablespoons of oil.  Swirl the pan so the whole base and a good portion of the sides are covered.  Keep heating the pan till the oil smokes (you may need to turn up your heat a bit), let it smoke for a 10 seconds or so, you'll notice the oil starts to shimmer.  Remove the pan form the heat and let it cool completely.  Wipe out excess oil.

Inside the Oven - Baking Trays or Tins
Preheat oven to 180C.  Wash cookware with soapy water, rinse well and dry.  Once they are perfectly dry wipe a very generous coating of oil over the inside surfaces of the pan/trays, making sure you get into all the corners.  Put into the oven for 20 minutes or so, till the pans are smoking and heated through.  CAREFULLY bring out to cool and wipe off excess oil.

You're cookware is now ready to go.  Just remember, for the top of the oven don't cook things too high.  When I cook things like pancakes and pikelets on my stainless steel pan the element is only on quarter, for sauteing it's just under half.  Start low and work your way up to what works for you.
For inside the oven I roll my bread in oats or flour to be sure they'll turn out without any fuss - especially for a very wet sourdough.

Washing up depends on how much of a mess you've made.  For something like pancakes or eggs just wipe the pan out and for a bigger mess clean with hot water only - not soap.

Sounds too good to be true?  I thought I was too, but it works.  When you heat the stainless steel the structure opens up and the hot oil seeps in.  When it cools the oil is locked in giving you a nice smooth, non-stick coating.  If you wash your cookware with soap you'll wash the oil away - that's why you should only use hot water.

I have to admit the pan won't stay non-stick forever, it depends on how often you use it, if you use your stove top too high or burn things.  No problem though, you will just need to re-season your cookware every now and then, just scrub it out and repeat as above - you can't do that with Teflon fancy smansy Circulon can you!!