Tips to Prevent Food Sticking on Stainless Steel Cookware

When making the change from non-stick pans to food safe cookware, stainless steel cookware is often a first choice. However, one thing that has families hesitating to switch, is the perceived challenge of food sticking and ruining the pans. To help ease this “fear,” we would like to share some useful tips on how to prevent sticking on stainless steel cookware. With these tips you can help keep your stainless steel cookware clean, keep harmful chemicals out of your food, and enjoy a much more flavorful meal.

Three tips to keep in mind before you being cooking:
1. Be patient. Cooking in stainless steel cookware does take extra time since you want to prevent food from sticking, but it is worth the extra few minutes. Your food will be much more flavorful and retain its natural juices.

2. Don’t cook above Medium heat. The exact temperature you cook at depends on the type of food, but a general rule to keep in mind is to never cook above Medium heat.

3. Flip once. Try to keep the flipping at a minimum when cooking. The less you flip the food, the less likely your food will stick.

Simple Steps to Help Prevent Sticking:

1. Preheat your pan on a low or medium heat for one to two minutes (or once it has reached the desired temperature). A good way to test if the pan is warm enough is to tap the side of the pan. If it feels hot, it’s ready.

2. Make sure your food is room temperature before attempting to place in the pan. 

3. Instantly add your food to the pan. When you place the food on the pan, you should hear a sizzling sound. If the sound is more of a crackle or popping, the temperature is probably too high. The “sizzling” sound is an indicator that your food is cooking on contact and creating a natural barrier to help prevent sticking—and this barrier helps hold in natural juices! (Here it can take some practice to figure out the best temperature to cook your food at. Different foods “sizzle” at different temperatures.)

4. Allow your food to cook on the one side until the correct or desired “doneness” is reached. The fewer number of times you flip your food, the less likely it will stick to the pan. When you lift the food to flip, tilt the pan with your free hand to help spread the olive oil around again.

5. Once the food is thoroughly cooked, enjoy!

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To read the article from Arthritis Today in full, click here

Could the way you prepare your foods be leading to inflammation?

Do you ever get that achy feeling out of the clear blue sky with no real reason in sight? It could be from the foods you eat. Well, not necessarily the actual foods but the way these foods are prepared. A recent study at Mount Sinai School of Medicine found that frying or grilling certain foods at high temperatures produces compounds that can increase inflammation in the body. Yikes!

The compounds, called advanced glycation end products (AGEs), are known to be scoundrels, showing up in the blood of people with chronic diseases associated with inflammation, including diabetes, heart disease, RA and OA. AGEs detected in blood were thought to come solely from our body’s natural supply of AGEs, but – here’s the bad news – now scientists have found that foods cooked at high temps create AGEs that can be absorbed by the body. Perhaps 10 percent of AGEs we get from eating seared burgers and fried chicken may be absorbed.

Inflammation in the body is what can often cause an arthritis flare up or that achy feeling you get all over. To prevent being exposed to these increased levels of AGEs, you can take the following steps to modifying your lifestyle:

- Limit the amount of grilled, broiled, fried and microwaved meats in your diet.
- Reduce the cooking temperature of meats and proteins. Steam fish and seafood, simmer chicken in a sauce and braise red meat in a cooking liquid.
- Cut down on processed foods. Many prepared foods have been exposed to a high cooking temperature to lengthen shelf life, so they may have high AGE contents.
- Get more fruits and veggies in your diet. Cooked or raw, they’re naturally low in AGEs, and many contain compounds such as antioxidants that can decrease some of the damage done by AGEs.

It's also important to remember by cooking foods at high temperatures, you're basically destroying all of the beneficial nutrients. Particularly with fruits and vegetables, make sure to cook at low to medium temperatures for just a short period of time to ensure nutrient preservation. They should be bright with color after the cooking process not dull and gray.

For more information on cooking at low to medium temperatures, click here



To read the article from Arthritis Today in full, click here

Spring Recipe: Red Snapper with Spinach, Pecans, & Tomatoes

Spring has finally arrived....

For those of us who are lucky enough to experience seasons, it's that time of year where we begin to shed those many layers and begin to enjoy the well deserved warmth and sunshine. Flowers begin to bloom and everything just seems brighter.

Spring is also a sign that summer and bathing suit season is just around the corner. EEK! What does this mean? It's time to not only shed the winter layers of clothes but also the winter layer of you know what!  That terrible word...FAT!

Many say that 70% of weight loss is done through what you eat and how you prepare it. With our busy schedules, it's always difficult to take the time to prepare fresh healthy meals. Well, at least we'd like to think so. Here's a tasty, healthy meal that you can prepare in under 30 minutes for your entire family.

Bon apetite!

For more information on Carico Ultra Tech II cookware click here