How do I keep from buring food in the skillet on the stove?

Question

I seem to always burn things such as chicken steak eggs pancakes. I start with the pan greased but that cooks off pretty quickly. Or after I've turned the chicken a couple times it starts to burn. I can get a few good pancakes out and then they start to burn. If I try putting more pam or whatever on it that burns and makes it worse. Am I turning the stove up too hot? It seems if I turn it down things cook really slowly and sometimes still burn bc they have to stay on so long. What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

You got it! Too hot's the issue. And the problem is that cooling the pan down takes longer than you think.

Try this with pancakes: electric: set 8; gas, low-medium. After a few minutes, put a drop of water in. If it blows off on contact, the pan's too hot. It should dance and run around in the pan, or sit and sizzle. Begin cooking pancakes. Plan to wait until bubbles come to the top and break, leaving cooked cake. Flip the pancake and check the color, then wait about the same time for the rest to cook. If you cook more than a few pancakes, don't wait a long time with the stove on between batches; the pan can overheat. If you see a pancake that's too brown, turn the setting down a whole unit and take the pan off the stove. Wait 5 minutes and start again. After you've done it a few times, you'll have a good setting you can use over and over.

Same goes for the other items, though with chicken you can give yourself a break if it starts to darken too soon: add a couple of tablespoons of water, and turn down the heat. The water will take heat out of the pan very rapidly, and meanwhile keep or restore some of the moisture to the chicken.

Hope this helps. It's worked for me for many years.

Answer 2

Ok first off at least you are trying to cook. Congrats on that. It sounds like you may just want to turn down the heat a bit. It is a bit easier to control the cooking temperature on a gas stove, but lots of us have electric stoves so this is what I do.
When cooking eggs I use a non-stick pan and I add a little veg oil and a pat of butter. A sprinkle of salt on the bottom of the pan helps the egg not stick also. Flip when it's your desired doneness. For pancakes I use pam spray. I heat it to a medium heat and add the batter. One all the bubbles come up to the surface then you can flip it.. Spray the pan in between cakes and it should go well. As for chicken... that's a little tougher. I usually put a little olive oil in a pan or skillet and brown the chicken on the outside. Once they are browned then stick them into a 350 degree oven and cook until it is cooked through. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Sounds like your cooking at too high of a heat and then turning it down too low. Try starting on medium heat instead of high and when a drop of water dances in the pan or sizzles in the oil then its ready to cook in. the longer a pan is on the heat the hotter it becomes so cooking requires temperature changes. If you hear the eggs sizzle then turn them down a little. As for pancakes as soon as you see holes develop throughout the pancake then flip it immediately and from there it just takes another minute or so. Try looking at recipes to find out what heat to begin with and remember practice makes perfect. Good Luck!

Answer 4

Cook on medium heat. Keep just enough oil in pan so that food doesn't get dry and burn.

Gas stoves heat up faster than electric stoves. Maybe you have crummy pans.

Don't use aluminum pans. Use heavy cast iron or stainless steel with copper bottom.

Don't walk away from the food when you are cooking. Pay attention to what you are doing and adjust the heat up or down as needed. Use a timer. I use the timer on the microwave oven because it will beep loud enough.

Answer 5

Okay ... when things burn what does that mean? This is very common sense ... too HOT! You are rushing the cooking process by cooking things to death as fast as possible.

Take your time .... medium heat. If thats too much turn it down a little less. Let your pan get heated before you throw anything in the "skillet" ... Good luck!

Answer 6

turn the heat down, allow things to cook a little bit slower. Try turning chicken only once by allowing it to cook 5-7 minutes per side, it should be done inside by then. try using a lid, this will keep the air inside the pan hot without having to have the heat up as high.

Answer 7

I found that having really good heavy pans makes all the difference in the world. One good indicator of pans that are too thin is that foods like pancakes or grilled cheese will be brown on one edge and still be white on the opposite edge and you have to keep rearranging things to brown them evenly.
Buy some of the best pans you can afford, you only need 1 or 2 in whatever sizes you use most. The thicker the bottom of the pan, the less likely the food is to burn easily.

Answer 8

1) bring the heat down. There is a level where the heat is too low to start the cooking process. There is a level where the food is starting to burn. You want to be between these two levels.

2) stay by the food. Especially when frying, you should avoid doing anything else. A quick phone conversation is plenty long enough for the meal to burn.

Answer 9

Start with high then simmer. sometimes it could be a stove because the electric is more senstive than gas for the pots. And also, if you use the pan that is not a good quality, it tends get burned easily.. better to get a very good qaulity pans, pots etc..

watch it closely, don't roam around in the house while its cooking!

Answer 10

It seems that the heat is too high. Try turning the heat down a little after the pan heats up. You may have to turn it down several times during your cooking as it will continue to get hotter the longer your heat is on.