This has probably happened to you at some point. You are ready to prepare one of your favorite dishes when you realize that the pan you are about to cook with has lost all its non-stick coating. If you continue to cook with it, the slightest negligence will cause the food to stick and therefore burn much more easily.
This is especially true of Teflon pans, which are coated with a kind of dark film that prevents hot food from sticking to the surface when frying or cooking. This is mainly due to poor maintenance when cleaning, by scratching with a scouring pad or kitchen utensil that damages the non-stick coating or by running the pan under cold water right after cooking.
If this happens to you, the first logical thought might be to throw out the pan and buy a new one. However, there are simple homemade tricks that can restore its functionality and appearance. One of these tips is offered by Sophie Louise, a tiktokeuse who shares helpful cleaning tips on her TikTok account, where she has over 90,000 followers.
Recovering the non-stick coating, step by step
The first step, as you can see in the video, is to thoroughly clean the pan. It is advisable to use a good degreasing soap until it is free of any residue. Once it is dry, put the pan on the fire until a slight trail of smoke begins to emerge, then add salt, fine or coarse, until it covers the entire surface of the pan.
@s_lou92 Frying pan hack if it sticks. #LiftLockPop #moneysavingtips #cleaninghacks #deepclean #cleaningaccount #fryingpan #fyp #foryou #tablesalt ♬ original sound – Sophie Louise
After leaving it on the fire for some time, a kind of yellowish salty crust will form, which should be removed with a piece of damp paper towel, so as not to damage the non-stick layer that has just formed and not to burn your fingers. When it is perfectly clean and cooled, it is ready to be cooked again.
The trick is to salt the hot pan and let it sit until it turns a yellowish color.
Finally, we can see Sophie Louise Pour oil and fry an egg, which never sticks to the pan. The video, which has gone viral, has been viewed more than 5.3 million times. Among the comments is one user who says that the salt “removes impurities from the surface of the pan” and that this is why “many chefs use this technique in their cooking.“
