The Right Way To Grease Your Nonstick Pan

It might seem like the no-brainer answer to all of your cooking prayers, but a nonstick pan is a little more high maintenance than it appears. You can't use high heat with it, you have to be very careful when cleaning it to ensure the coating remains intact and you have to grease it properly.

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Greasing a pan isn't rocket science, but when you're dealing with nonstick, you have to make sure the fat adheres to the pan and not the food itself. We've all poured oil into a nonstick skillet and watched it swirl around on the surface instead of spreading out into a shimmering, protective coating. Guess what's going to suck up that excess oil? Your chicken breasts. Guess what might also end up sticking to the nonstick pan? Your chicken breasts.

To properly grease your nonstick pan, rub a small amount of butter or oil directly onto the pan before putting it on the heat.

You don't need a lot of fat here—you are using nonstick after all. Depending on the size of the pan, one tablespoon or so should do. But you do still want a little bit of grease, and you want that grease to be effective. So the next time you reach for the allegedly low-maintenance pan that's supposed to make everything in your life easier, show it some love. Wax on, wax off.