[jmcclell]

Carbon steel pans are seasoned and generally will be stored with a light coat of oil. You'll add oil while cooking, as well. My carbon steel pans don't stick – an egg will happily glide on the surface.

Stainless steel pans are not seasoned, but can still be relatively non-stick as long as they are heated properly prior to use. Heating them closes the pores in the pan's surface, making the surface smoother. Add oil after the pan is properly heated. This youtube video explains the process: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB-SCA1reqE&t=1s

[cenamus]

Stainless steel doesn't have any pores, and they certainly don't "close" with a 200 degree difference (how even? It's steel).

The video just shows a nice hot pan with oil in it, no matter the pan's made of, under those conditions of course stuff isn't gonna stick.

[jmcclell]

There is no oil used in the video that I linked. Did you watch another video?

The water glides across the pan due to the Leidenfrost effect. That’s the point when you add the oil.

I suspect there are some truisms involved here, but the common wisdom is that there is a combination of contractions in microscopic imperfections of the surface of the pan from the heat (more accurately, expansion causing the gaps to close) and the laidenfrost effect keeping the food from sticking once the pan has reached sufficient temperature.

Regardless of the true mechanism, my own experience suggests that most complaints about sticking with stainless steel can be avoided by properly heating the pan before adding the oil and food.

For what it’s worth, here is one manufacturer referencing a porous surface:

https://www.heritagesteel.us/pages/cooking-techniques#:~:tex....

[radicality]

This reminded me of this funny skit video I saw recently about cast iron seasoning [0].

I also mostly use stainless steel, carbon steel and enameled cast iron pans, but do still occasionally reach for the non-stick for more sensitive things like an omelettes.

[0] https://youtube.com/watch?v=47Wv44OwAzw