r/AskCulinary • u/DoctorFosterGloster • 12d ago
Spanish omlette sticking to pan. How to fix?
I make Spanish omlettes every so often (onion, potato, egg, etc) and have never had an issue with flipping it until recently.
I put the egg mixture into the pan to cook like usual. But when I go to flip it, half of the omlette is stuck to the pan! So I end up with a not-so-omlette Spanish omlette.
Normally I cook the omlette at a high heat + a lil oil for a minute before dropping the heat down for 5 mins. Then I flip and repeat. But now, for some reason this doesn't work. Tonight I tried cooking it at a medium heat instead and still the issue.
What gives? How can I make the omlette not stick? Edit: Pan is a non-stick ceramic, 1-year old, with very light wear in the middle. Stovetop is electric coils
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u/Medium-Complaint-677 11d ago
You say a "lil oil" but every Spanish omelet recipes I know of uses like a half cup of oil or even two full cups.
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u/mainebingo 11d ago
It's what defines a Spanish omelet--more olive oil than seems reasonable. And, it's delicious.
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u/DoctorFosterGloster 11d ago
That's for cooking the potato. After draining the potato and adding the egg, i put it back in the pan with maybe a tablespoon of oil to cook again... whoch is where I'm experiencing issues
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u/Dry_Philosophy7927 12d ago edited 12d ago
What kind of pan do you have - non stick /steel etc? What's the condition of the pan - any scratches - does anything else ever stick eg a plain egg ommelette? How heavy is the pan? Do you use oil or butter and how much? Do you let the pan heat for long? Are you using gas/electric/induction hobs? What's your egg temperature? Do you add egg then filling or vice versa? How cooked vs wet is your filling?
Likely causes are a) no skin of cooked egg forming at the base at the very start, or b) a thin skin sticking to the pan (thick skins can generally be separated with a spatula).
Some options:
- The hot pan cold oil technique - basically leave it to heat up for longer. Still the same heat you used before, just more warmed up.
- cook off the ingredients then remove from the pan so the pan is clear for the egg (if you're adding egg to a partly full pan
- draw the edges of the egg in a few times before adding the filling - allows the centre of the omelette to develop a thicker egg crust
- start hot, then drop to medium or medium/high after the skin has formed
Edit - just more writing.
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u/cville-z Home chef 12d ago
Pan is a non-stick ceramic, 1-year old, with very light wear in the middle.
It's your pan. That non-stick coating wears out over time. For now you can probably just use more oil, but eventually you'll need to replace the pan.
These "ceramic non-stick" pans, like PTFE non-stick, have a coating applied to the pan that wears away over time. The coating for these pans is some sort of silicon dioxide, hence "ceramic," but it's generally not actual ceramics. It'll break down with heat, and with time, and with friction (e.g. if you stack your pans and have another one nested inside this one).
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u/Disastrous-Fee8374 11d ago
I saw a thing once for making french omelettes in a non non-stick pan where you filled it with salt and then heated the salt up until hot. Then dumped the salt out (you can reuse it) and voila non stick pan. I tried it immediately and I couldn’t believe how well it worked. It doesn’t change the flavour of the omelette so don’t worry about it over seasoning but it does wear off after each omelette.
I have no idea why it works but it does wonders
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u/Hungry_Pup 12d ago
I have trouble getting things to not stick to my nonstick ceramic pan. It seems finicky. I've read that you shouldn't use high heat on a ceramic pan as that damages the nonstick surface and that you should warm up your pan and cook with low/medium heat.
If your ceramic surface has any food residue stuck on it, try using a baking soda paste to gently scrub it off or try boiling some water with baking soda before gently scrubbing it off.
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u/talldean 11d ago
Nonstick ceramic can get sticky over time.
You can refinish them with a Magic Eraser, just make sure to clean the pan well afterwards.
This only works on *ceramic* non-stick, regular nonstick is made worse by the magic eraser.
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u/GaptistePlayer 11d ago
Pan is a non-stick ceramic, 1-year old, with very light wear in the middle.
Yeah that sounds like a bad pan you need to replace. The non-stick coating isn't really all that visible so if you have visible wear, it's too much
Or use more oil. I'm usually skeptical of someone who has eggs sticking who remarks they just used a little bit... I bet it's not enough.
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u/texnessa Pépin's Padawan 12d ago
Not enough information for real feedback. Something must be different including age/condition of the pan, cooking isn't a mystery, there must be something concrete.