13

I was improvising with some scrambled eggs, and decided to put a spoonful of white sugar in while cooking them. The recipe was good, but the subsequent coating of egg on the teflon pan was very difficult to scrub off. I suspect that the sugar made it "stickier," perhaps, or maybe was more inclined to burn onto the pan.

The food was good, is there a way I can avoid making the pan so difficult to clean?

Phoenix
  • 241
  • 2
  • 6
  • 3
    Did you try soaking first? – moscafj Nov 23 '19 at 22:01
  • @moscafj i didn't – Phoenix Nov 23 '19 at 22:05
  • 1
    Strange that you have this problem with a non-stick pan. I regularly make Kaiserschmarrn which requires camarelized sugar and if the drops of sugar stick I can just scrape them off with my fingernails (or soak, as others have recommended). – Michael Nov 24 '19 at 08:55
  • @Michael but Kaiserschmarrn usually does not feature any caramel ... –  Nov 25 '19 at 05:50
  • Wow, thanks for the responses everyone! This received way more reception than I was expecting. I'll accept an answer once discussion stabilizes. – Phoenix Nov 25 '19 at 05:53
  • @MartinZeitler: To quote Wikipedia: “Kaiserschmarren is a light, caramelized pancake”. You pour sugar over the pancake pieces while they are still in the hot pan and let it melt and caramelize. It gives the pieces a nice, crispy exterior (only works when served fresh). I should know, I’m Austrian. – Michael Nov 25 '19 at 07:36
  • Is it safe to assume that your pan is in perfect condition and has never been scratched by a metal utensil (spatula, knife, fork, etc...) nor cleaning tool (steel wool pad)? – MonkeyZeus Nov 25 '19 at 19:04
  • Somewhat related I think: https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/89208/how-to-address-this-burnt-sugar-conundrum – mustaccio Nov 25 '19 at 19:35
  • @Michael I know that you guys call it "Staubzucker", but it might be subject to variation *when* to dust it. Of course it would caramelize, when adding it before shoving it into the oven. –  Nov 25 '19 at 20:51
  • @MartinZeitler: I think there are two variations: First one is where you make it in a pan only and roll it in sugar while it’s still hot. The sugar will caramelize and it’s best served fresh so that it’s still crispy. Powder sugar is optional. The second variation is more fluffy, *without* caramelized sugar, can be made in an oven and requires powder sugar on top before serving. I think the second one could be more common in restaurants because you can re-heat it. – Michael Nov 26 '19 at 09:10

3 Answers3

38

Melted and re-hardened sugar (including caramel) is very difficult to remove through mechanical action, but trivial to remove by soaking. Just pour in enough hot water to cover the sugar and wait an hour or so. (If oil was used, add some dish soap.) For a quicker turnaround, you can simmer the pot with the water on the stove; 10 minutes should be enough to remove even a thick coating.

Sneftel
  • 25,774
  • 3
  • 70
  • 91
  • 1
    This trick also works for quite extreme cases. I once thought I ruined a pot by forgetting it on the stove until a sugary liquid inside had evaporated completely. The brown, sugary mess inside was hard as rock and centimeters thick. It was possible to clean it by reheating it with water inside. – Nobody Nov 25 '19 at 14:33
  • to my knowledge one of our "TV cooks" showed a method where you reheat the contents including hardened sugar / caramel . then add some jar to it - the acid in the jar helps to clear the pan's surface and keeps the sugar from sticking on it again. – eagle275 Nov 25 '19 at 15:36
  • 1
    @eagle275 What is 'jar'? – J... Nov 25 '19 at 17:01
  • 1
    did I misspell ? .. vinegar sorry mate, smelly sour stuff .. in concentrated form even used for cleaning purposes – eagle275 Nov 25 '19 at 17:39
  • 1
    @eagle275 Yeah, that's a completely different word. I understand vinegar, lol. I guess we can blame autocorrect. – J... Nov 25 '19 at 20:46
3

Add the sugar at the very end.

When heated the sugar turns into sticky caramel that then cooks onto the bottom of the pot. If you wait until the very end to add the sugar there is no time for this to happen. One the food is ready add the sugar, give it a quick stir to incorporate, and serve.

Note: Usually the residual steam coming off the food will dissolve the sugar so there is no gritty texture. For food like eggs where there is little steam you should dissolve the sugar in a little hot water before adding.

Daron
  • 960
  • 1
  • 8
  • 16
1

If sugar starts caramelizing, it'll get stickier and harder to clean. (especially once it cools down.)

Have you tried deglazing the pan before you're done cooking? You just need a little bit of booze to throw in there to dissolve the sugar into some semblance of a sauce.

Honestly, throwing a bit of wine on the bottom of a pan that's stained all different shades of brown hiding behind some frying onions to clear it up is like magic the first time you see it.

Find something that works for you if wine doesn't go with the flavor you're looking for.

bobsburner
  • 133
  • 3
  • 2
    The reason booze (of moderate alcohol) - or wine, or juice, or simply water - works is largely due to the water content in it, not the alcohol, as the wording of this answer implies. It's the water used in deglazing that the solids dissolve or loosen into, moreso than the alcohol. Water by itself works fine but booze is reduced in volume more quickly and adds flavor. – Suncat2000 Nov 25 '19 at 17:33
  • 1
    It's my understanding that the ability of ethanol to dissolve non-polar things is also a big part of the reason it works so well at deglazing. – eps Nov 25 '19 at 18:48
  • @Suncat2000 You got a source for that? I did limited testing when trying to clean a pan a while ago and came to a different conclusion. (I assume you imply water would work just as well, and %ABV doesn't matter) – bobsburner Nov 26 '19 at 09:24