How do I cook burgers in an uncoated stainless steel frying pan (electric cooker)

Mistral001

cj2011 said:

Mistral001 said:

I have some stainless steel saucepans and use them on a traditional electric ring cooker.  They look great but I would not recommend them for boiling let alone frying.  They seem to be inefficient at transferring the heat to the contents.  I am not sure why this should happen.  My best guess is that steel is just not as good heat conductor as aluminium or copper.  Also the shininess of stainless steel might reflect heat back rather than absorb it. 

My Russell Hobbs stainless steel saucepans are great for boiling and have been using them for more than 5 years. No problems with boiling (apart from limescale buildup which I regularly remove with some pineapple juice). They do have an encapsulated base that has some aluminium sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel. But the new frying pan (different brand) has a smaller base and the base is rounded off around the edges so maybe the problem is that the frying pan cools down faster around the edges than in the middle. It is a small one, which is what I wanted. I suspect that the shape of the base may be part of the problem.

Those Russel Hobbs SS saucepans with encapsulated bases seem to be what are needed.  My SS steel aucepans were from a budget shop and have very thin bases.  Peeny wise and pound foolish!  In true moneysaving way, I have not replaced them, but put a 6mm steel plate between them and the electric ring.  This helps with heat transfer and means that I can use them for soups and caseroles as it stops sticking.  

I am not sure that a steel plate would help you in your situtation.  I was lucky in that I had one which I bought for another purpose and never used it for that purpose.

Topher

The old fashioned method, when we got a new frying pan (uncharted, but admittedly not Stainless steel either) was to "season" your pan. After doing that a few times your pan started to build up its own coating. I've found I can do this to a whole range of frying pans with about the same result whether expensive or not. In 28 years in my current kitchen I've owned three frying pans (I say that to indicate how long they've lasted). My sister fries in her frying pan wih a circle of one of those none stick sheets cut to size, and placed in the pan, she still adds oil for foods that need it to make a "seal" or to "crust" or "brown" through the frying process. The none stick sheets she uses are the thicker more expensive ones, not the thin black ones that can be bought in cheapo shops such as B&Thingy. (P.S. given that the thick none stick sheets are no longer available in The Bless-ed Lakeland, does anyone know where I can buy them?)

Topher

Uncoated, not uncharted. Can't edit on my laptop on this new format.

cj2011

Topher said:

The old fashioned method, when we got a new frying pan (uncharted, but admittedly not Stainless steel either) was to "season" your pan. After doing that a few times your pan started to build up its own coating. I've found I can do this to a whole range of frying pans with about the same result whether expensive or not. In 28 years in my current kitchen I've owned three frying pans (I say that to indicate how long they've lasted). My sister fries in her frying pan wih a circle of one of those none stick sheets cut to size, and placed in the pan, she still adds oil for foods that need it to make a "seal" or to "crust" or "brown" through the frying process. The none stick sheets she uses are the thicker more expensive ones, not the thin black ones that can be bought in cheapo shops such as B&Thingy. (P.S. given that the thick none stick sheets are no longer available in The Bless-ed Lakeland, does anyone know where I can buy them?)

I did follow the instructions that came with the pan, which told me to lightly coat the pan in oil and then heat it up before adding more oil, and it seemed to work in the sense that the food didn't stick (but it did have some residue that had to be scrubbed off - I guess that's inevitable, but I could live with that, as long as it does its job). So the food hasn't been sticking. The problem I have is that even when the burger looks nice and brown when I cut it in half, the texture is still way too soft and I think this suggests it might be undercooked (and when I try to cook it for a bit longer, it ends up getting very dry and hard instead, as though it got burnt and all the moisture had escaped from it). I don't think re-seasoning the pan would affect the texture or the moisture content of the burger. I guess I need to get a pan with a thicker, squarer base.

Topher

cj2011 said:

I did follow the instructions that came with the pan, which told me to lightly coat the pan in oil and then heat it up before adding more oil, and it seemed to work in the sense that the food didn't stick (but it did have some residue that had to be scrubbed off - I guess that's inevitable, but I could live with that, as long as it does its job). So the food hasn't been sticking. The problem I have is that even when the burger looks nice and brown when I cut it in half, the texture is still way too soft and I think this suggests it might be undercooked (and when I try to cook it for a bit longer, it ends up getting very dry and hard instead, as though it got burnt and all the moisture had escaped from it). I don't think re-seasoning the pan would affect the texture or the moisture content of the burger. I guess I need to get a pan with a thicker, squarer base.

Depends what kind of burger it was. Pure meat as you say when soft inside hasn't cooked for long enough, Meat with a cereal bulker, if falling apart means too much bulking agent (typically bread) (although you have to do a fairly slow fry on both the above, so speed could be the issue). My home made vegetarian ones fall apart when I put too much of the dryer protein ingredient in without anough fat/egg or other binder in. (Dryer proteins = kidney beans blended, chick peas blended etc). Binders (water, egg, less typically fats) can cause sticking if not properly absorbed into the bulking agent. 

McKneff

Put them under the grill...

cj2011

Topher said:

cj2011 said:

I did follow the instructions that came with the pan, which told me to lightly coat the pan in oil and then heat it up before adding more oil, and it seemed to work in the sense that the food didn't stick (but it did have some residue that had to be scrubbed off - I guess that's inevitable, but I could live with that, as long as it does its job). So the food hasn't been sticking. The problem I have is that even when the burger looks nice and brown when I cut it in half, the texture is still way too soft and I think this suggests it might be undercooked (and when I try to cook it for a bit longer, it ends up getting very dry and hard instead, as though it got burnt and all the moisture had escaped from it). I don't think re-seasoning the pan would affect the texture or the moisture content of the burger. I guess I need to get a pan with a thicker, squarer base.

Depends what kind of burger it was. Pure meat as you say when soft inside hasn't cooked for long enough, Meat with a cereal bulker, if falling apart means too much bulking agent (typically bread) (although you have to do a fairly slow fry on both the above, so speed could be the issue). My home made vegetarian ones fall apart when I put too much of the dryer protein ingredient in without anough fat/egg or other binder in. (Dryer proteins = kidney beans blended, chick peas blended etc). Binders (water, egg, less typically fats) can cause sticking if not properly absorbed into the bulking agent. 

Pure meat. The strange thing was that they looked nice and brown when I cut through the middle of them. It wasn't until I took a bite that I noticed something isn't quite right with the texture, slightly too little chewing resistance.

TomokoAdhami

In my opinion, cast iron pans are the best to cook burgers. Though their cleaning is a big problem but still they are good to cook buns and burgers. However, I don't consider stainless steel a bad option if you are using good quality stainless steel cookware like this. Even you can cook a burger with stainless steel pans without having electric cooker. Yes, you can cook your burger on induction stove with stainless steel pan or can make it on the grill.

Mayhap, you are having some heating issues in the electric cooker. Or you are doing any of these following mistakes:

If you are using round-shaped burgers then it means they are not flat. According to cooking experts, it is better to flat your burgers because cooking to get the best results.

Your complaint about rough and dry burgers could be because you seasoned the beef too early and cook it for a long time.

Similarly, your mistake of flipping burgers too early or not giving much attention to internal temperature could also be another reason for your not enough good burgers.

Hopefully, it would assist you in making the right burgers. Best of luck for the next time.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Use lard, put on full heat. Sear both sides, turn down to a medium heat. Turn every minute for twelve minutes. Sorted.

Don't use emulsions such as oils.