heat up your pan first before you cook, then add adequate fat to it (oil/ butter etc) and give it a swirl so the fat gives the entire inside of the pan a coating. without this barrier, food will stick to pan easily.
By putting a sheet pan in a cold oven and preheating it to 425°F, not only does the pan become less sticky, but it also creates a better sear on the potatoes, so they have a thicker layer of browned goodness on them than conventional roasted potato recipes.
Place vegetables on a pan
First, we recommend lining a prepared baking pan with oil or parchment paper to avoid sticking and make cleaning up easier.
Do not try to use nonstick sprays like Pam to season your cast iron skillet, as they contain other ingredients that aren't good for your pan.
Common cooking oils like olive oil will gradually produce seasoning, but won't be as effective as grapeseed oil. Canola, other vegetable oils, and shortening are a little better.
A tip I highly recommend is to use a well-seasoned pan, so that the potatoes do not stick. I usually soak the potatoes in water to get rid of extra starch. But you can skip this step, if you have less time on hand. Serve it as a side dish with chapati, bread or dal-rice or sambar-rice.
Long accepted as a standard deep frying oil because of its neutrality, high smoke point, and ready availability (on the bottom oil shelf of most grocery stores), peanut oil is the choice of home fryers as well as chains such as Five Guys Burgers and Fries.
Why Olive Oil Is Good for Skillet Seasoning. Olive oil is a great option for seasoning your cast iron skillet because it is affordable and easy to find. It also has a high smoke point, which means it can withstand high temperatures without burning.
This may also be a seasoning issue. Wash the pan with hot, soapy water (yes — soap, it's fine, I promise) and dry it. If it's still sticky, the pan may be overseasoned. Just line the bottom of your oven, heat it to 450-500°F and let the excess oil drip off over the course of an hour.
Pour in enough oil to the pan to coat the entire surface of the pan. Some food, like eggs, may require more oil, or else they will stick to the pan. Fatty foods, like chicken thighs, need less oil. For butter, start with a thin layer of oil to prevent sticking or burning.
Oil, especially canola oil (bad, unhealthy oil), should not be used. If a quick oiling (not seasoning) in between is desired, it's best to use a high temperature oil like avocado. A quick rub can do the trick, if your pan looks a bit dry. I have one pan that is about 100 years old!
PAM was healthier and easier than using butter, margarine, or liquid oil and provided cooks with excellent results –no food stuck to or burnt on the pan, leaving little cleanup.
You can either place your oiled cast iron cookware upside down on a baking sheet in a preheated oven at 350°F (177°C) for an hour, or heat it over medium-high heat on the stove until it starts to smoke. This will cause the oil to polymerize and form a hard, black coating on the iron.
Once the pan is preheated, add oil or cold butter and allow the fat to heat up before adding food. “This 'hot pan, cold fat' method prevents food from sticking,” Staley says.
The parchment-lined pan performed slightly better than the foil-lined pan at preventing the vegetables from sticking, though not dramatically so, and both performed better than the unlined tray. But neither browned the vegetables as well as the unlined pan.