Pan Searing Takes a Little Practice

I chose this video from a presentation by Tyler Forence to illustrate how sometimes a cooking technique can seem simple and easy when shown to you by professionals.  However, a lot of would be home cooks take a class or watch something on TV and say Wow!  "That looks easy. " Then they try to do it alone at home and it doesn't come out so well and they give up in discouragement and are reluctant to try it again.   Getting a good pan sear is something that takes a little skill and skill comes with practice.  Professional chefs practice this all day long, everyday and I'll be willing to bet that they still get it wrong sometimes.  So don't get discouraged if it sticks, or steams the first time or you got it right the first time, but the next few times you don't.  Keep at it.  Pan searing is important to taste, quality and presentation so it is definitely something you should master.   Here are some things Tyler didn't really mention in this video. 

Along with room temperture meat or fish you should always make sure you pat the meat dry with a paper towel before putting it in the pan.  If the food is too wet at best it will end up steaming instead of searing so you won't get that nice crust Tyler showed you or at worst  it will make the grease pop everywhere leaving a mess to clean up afterwards and may possibly burn you or even cause a grease fire.  Also, please be careful and never walk too far away from a frying pan.

Make sure there is enough oil in the pan, about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep in the bottom should do it.  (A lot less if you are using a non-stick pan)   Too little it will stick and steam and it will just soak up the oil, you will not save any calories this way.  Also do not put the oil in until your pan is hot enough.  To test, pop a little drop of water in, if it sizzles and skips it's ready for you to pour the oil in. Wait a couple of minutes for the oil to heat up and test again. When you see a sizzle and pop,  you can put the meat in.  Getting the temperature of the pan and oil just right, this is the hardest part.  It can take some time to figure out because every stove and pan is different.  (This is another reason why I like to teach people in their own kitchens so I can help them see what their dealing with)  Too hot it will smoke and burn, too cool and it won't sear and more oil  than less will get absorbed into the food and it will be greasy and mushy, yuck! 

If you start to see that your pan is smoking and the oil is burning remove the pan from the heat immediately and turn down your stove. Wait a few minutes then return the pan to the burner and continue cooking or add a little more fresh oil to help cool and delute the burning oil.  If the oil is already too burned you may need to remove the food from the pan and start over with new oil.  Be sure to wipe the pan clean of anything that is burnt first.

When your done searing depending on what protein or recipe your using you'll will probably want to finish it in the oven, so make sure your oven is pre-heated and ready to go and that the pan is oven safe.

Again, don't get discouraged when trying out a new technique.  Keep at it and one day you will realize, Hey, I'm getting really good at this.  :)