Does Food Brown in a Stainless Steel Pan?

Why Brown?

• Browning food produces a flavorful crust on the outside. When pan-cooking meats, small charred bits break off the larger piece of meat and stick to the bottom of a stainless steel pan. These meat bits are called the fond and form the basis for the rich flavor of homemade pan gravies. After cooking the meat, leave the pan on the heat and deglaze it by pouring broth or water into the pan. When the liquid hits the pan, it boils and breaks the stuck on bits of food from the bottom of the pan and continue to make the gravy. This can also be done with the drippings from the bottom of a roasting pan to make a flavor-packed gravy.

Maillard Reaction

• Browning of foods containing only simple carbohydrates occurs when the sugars caramelize, but meats or more complex foods brown through the Maillard reaction. This happens when heat triggers a chain reaction between the proteins and carbohydrates in the food. The Maillard reaction will not happen until the food reaches 310 degrees Fahrenheit. If the food is heated to 356 degrees Fahrenheit, the simple sugars in the food will caramelize, browning the food even more and creating a new flavor profile for the dish.

Conductivity

• Stainless steel, compared to aluminum or copper, is a poor conductor of heat. It holds the heat from the oven or stove and slowly transfers it to the food in the pan. Compare this to good conductor materials like aluminum or copper that allow heat to quickly pass through them directly to the food in direct response to the heat source. The interior of stainless steel pans is designed to withstand high temperatures. This results in the heat moving into the food and exposing the foods to high heat. This triggers the Maillard reaction and browns the food.

Browning Blockers

• To create a flavorful sear on the outside of food, you will want the greatest surface area possible to come in contact with Maillard-triggering heat. Skip the non-stick coated pans. This coating inhibits both sticking and browning. Cook with dry heat, room temperature ingredients and well-spaced foods. Adding water to the pan will boil the water and produce steam, which inhibits browning. Cold foods will become wet from condensation when you put them into the hot pan and overcrowding foods generates steam in the pan. Water won't reach the high temperature needed to produce the Maillard reaction because its boiling point is so much lower.

Best Browning Practices

• The best browning for a stainless steel pan is to use a dry and hot technique. Use a small amount of fat to just coat the interior of the pan with 1/16 inch of oil. This translates to 1 to 3 tbsp. oil for skillets or frying pans. Too much oil acts as a barrier between the pan and the food. Turn the food as each side browns during cooking. Dust meats with flour instead of adding excessive amounts of oil to the pan or meat. The flour inhibits the food from sticking to the pan and it contains both proteins and carbohydrates for browning. Flour dries the surface of the meat and encourages an even browning in the pan.