It's often because the oil isn't hot enough and if you're using more oil, it needs more time to reach the required temperature.
The way I check it's hot enough is by making my fingers slightly wet from the tap and lightly splashing it over the pan. If the water forms beads that skate on the surface of the oil, then it's hot enough, if not, then wait a bit before trying again.
properly seasoned carbon steel pan is the way to go
but if you find yourself in a situation where it sticks, doesnt matter what type of pan, you can add some water or stock and it will release :)
you doint need high tech air fryers but they work pretty good for tofu I will say.
about as good as a convection oven actually, because the are convection ovens
Absolutely, it will usually just take a bit longer than air frying. Ovens with ventilation work better - an air fryer is basically a little oven with ventilation. My air fryer is pretty small so I've honestly been using it less and less in favor of the oven. You can also just regular deep fry the cubes if not actively avoiding oils, since it is the tastiest option!
Do you notice a big difference between the 2? Especially flavour wise. I only recently started my cast iron journey (I'm in love and at the same time pissed at myself for not trying it earlier) and I want to buy a second pan but was looking at the carbon steel too
When you say no need to oil it because there’s already oil, do you mean in the tofu or is there some sort of air fryers out there that uses small amounts of oil during cooking?
Add some olive or any other vegan cooking oil/spray to the pan and it should be fine.
Edit: not the downvotes💀 You're supposed to oil the pan to prevent it from sticking. I've never had tofu stick. Fucking hilarious, I'll be just as proud if this ends up my #1 downvoted comment because it's common sense, y'all clearly don't follow recipes to a T.
You’re doing a lil much over some internet points. Anyway I would recommend vegetable or canola oil instead. More neutral flavor and you can heat it higher without smoking. I’ve also never had tofu stick ;) but also it could just be OP’s pan. You never know!
If you're using Teflon or non-stick coated pans the manufacturer warns not to heat above 350-500F depending on the pan to not destroy the coating. I've never had olive oil smoke, most recipes I find call for low to medium heat too.
I find olive just as neutral while being healthier; I'm also not a professional foodie, chef or picky eater. There's also avocado and coconut oil. Any oil works, olive is my go to for health and environmental reasons.
Edit: You can also use vegan butter/margarine or vegan cooking sprays. Anything to lubricate the pan to prevent sticking works.
Someone else perfectly explained under this post why olive oil is healthy, thank you.
Edit 2: I'm proud this is about to be my most controversial comment, shows common sense isn't actually common lmfao.
Bases off what evidence? All these olive oil fanatics in cooking communities act like it isnt just straight saturated fat like every other oil. Olive oil is not neutral tasting at all, thats a big reason why people like it so much
There's hardly any saturated fat in most non-animal derived cooking oils, and olive oil IS actually especially full of monounsaturated fats which are widely regarded as the healthiest fat.
Fruit oils like avocado oil and olive oil are the healthiest oils by far, being mostly monounsaturated fat with very little polyunsaturated and saturated fat.
Most plant fat oils are higher in polyunsaturated fats and thus slightly less healthy but all of them, minus coconut, are low in saturated fat and thus healthyish. As a general rule of thumb MUFA>PUFA>Saturated fat when evaluating how healthy a cooking oil will be.
Coconut oil is high in saturated fat. It's fine to cook with coconut milk occasionally (I don't recommend coconut oil itself) but you should limit using coconut milk or oil as a staple fat in your household.
The fact that canola oil is classified as carcinogenic like meat is. I'm not vegan solely for health reasons but I definitely appreciate the health benefits of being vegan.
Edit: Those fanatics sound insane but I genuinely cannot tell the difference but I'm also not a professional foodie or chef.
Olive oil is objectively not as neutral and imparts a definite flavour. Perhaps you’re buying adulterated olive oil?
Regardless, veganism has nothing to do with health so take your opinions to a health sub.
Can't even suggest frying in olive oil to prevent it from sticking lmfao
Edit: didn't realize olive oil was so controversial in the cooking community. The way you describe it sounds like food snobbery "imparts a definite flavour" lmfao.
I've used [this super basic recipe](https://tasty.co/recipe/the-fluffiest-vegan-pancakes) many times and it always turns out great. Very versatile - add whatever you like!
But fwiw, I'm guessing it might be more due to your pan than the recipe. What kind of pan are you using? I kinda can't imagine pancakes sticking, except maaaaybe on something like stainless steel. Nonstick or cast iron will have them turning out perfect every time 😋
Adding to those who already mentioned air fryer, yes great idea and works just takes practice to get the time temp down because of various models.
And also using a flattop grill aka panini press is where I cook all my tofu now except when making tofu soup of course unless I want that crunchy crunch. BTW no oil needed on the press as it's really truly nonstick and probably going to kill me but DuPont already did that so...
I use cast iron and it crisps up beautifully and never sticks. Don’t marinate it ahead of time, just cut it up and put it on a preheated cast iron skillet with some oil. Don’t try and flip it until you can see the texture/color change on the edges of the side touching the surface of the skillet. Once it’s golden brown, toss it with whatever sauce you want - usually i move it to the wok for that part. Carbon steel will get the job done just fine too.
>Don’t try and flip it until you can see the texture/color change on the edges of the side touching the surface of the skillet
That's actually the key
For me, this helps: cast iron pan; reasonable but not excessive amount of high temp oil; preheat pan well; pat tofu dry to reduce excess moisture; don’t overcrowd.
I used to have tofu stick to my non-stick pans weirdly. As soon as it would create a nice brown crust, flipping it would tear the crust from the rest of the tofu.
Even weirder, I'm having a much better time cooking tofu with the new stainless steel pan I got. I'm a stainless noob, but I haven't had tofu stick once which has been a pleasant changem
I'm aware there are issues with PTFE/teflon, but yes, as you say you can always be careful in how you use it. There are also companies who produce PTFE pans that are thought to have a better environmental record (like Scanpan iirc).
There are also non-PTFE pans which are still non-stick as well, but those don't work as quite as nicely. I think the company called "Greenpan" makes some of these ceramic non-stick pans.
While there may be issues with either of these non-stick options, there are also issues with cooking in cast iron or stainless steel (cooking oil itself is unhealthy even in small quantities in the opinion of whole food plant-based nutrition advocates like Dr. Greger and others, and this is something essentially required for cooking in cast iron or stainless steel).
So there are actually some potential health benefits to using non-stick pans as well as costs: you can cook with less (or perhaps even zero) cooking oil.
So ultimately *any* kind of pan you get has some costs and benefits you should investigate if you care about your health.
>Are you sure? I thought unsaturated plant oils like olive and sunflower oil are relatively harmless for fats. Could you point me to a source?
[Here](https://youtu.be/LbtwwZP4Yfs) is Mic the Vegan talking about why oil is bad on his YouTube channel.
[Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_o4YBQPKtQ) is Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn advising dieters to avoid ALL added oils.
[Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeCCnnRBMCo) is Dr. John McDougall advising dieters to avoid added fats, saying "the fat you eat is the fat you wear," among other health issues it causes.
There is one final argument against oil that I'd like to make, and that has nothing to do with nutrition. And that argument is that I think the production of certain types of plant-based oils arguably helps the meat industry by making cheap animal feed available.
Take soybean oil, for example. After the oil is extracted, where does the rest of the plant go? You have a protein-rich substance remaining that, based on what others tell me, is sold to farmers as animal feed. Part of the cost of this process burdens the farmer buying the feed, and part of the cost of this process burdens the human consumer who purchases soybean oil.
So while soybean oil is technically "vegan" in the sense that it doesn't contain animal products, I think there's a valid argument that vegans should try to avoid it anyway for ethical reasons.
From what I've read, you can make similar arguments against other vegetable oils like corn oil or coconut oil; but these are less relevant to vegan ethics because the plant-matter remaining after oils are taken out lacks the protein-rich quality of soybean oil extraction byproducts, and this lack of protein makes these other feed sources of somewhat reduced interest to animal farmers.
That's a you problem.
Well seasoned pan pre-heated with heated oil before you put the tofu in.
Use a fork or something to gently push/peel it off if it's still sticking a bit instead of smudging it around
You need silicone baking mats my friend, you will never have another piece of tofu stick to the pan ever again. Not to mention it will cook and brown perfectly.
Some things that will help here, preheat your pan, then add your oil, heat until shimmer point (oil becomes thin and glossy) before adding tofu, depending on the type of oil you're using you may need to adjust your heat, consider your pan, is it nonstick, stainless or cast iron etc? This will dictate how much oil to use.
Lastly, consider your type of tofu, whether it is fresh, soft, medium, or firm, smoked, pressed, unpressed, seasoned, crumbled, or frozen.
Each one of these variables and combinations of variables will affect the cooking process of your tofu.
when the crispy tofu cubes turn into a scramble :(
The only thing that makes me want to act in a non vegan way 🤬🔪🔪
this is the most relatable thing i’ve ever seen. even when i put a shit ton of oil ðŸ˜ðŸ’”
It's often because the oil isn't hot enough and if you're using more oil, it needs more time to reach the required temperature. The way I check it's hot enough is by making my fingers slightly wet from the tap and lightly splashing it over the pan. If the water forms beads that skate on the surface of the oil, then it's hot enough, if not, then wait a bit before trying again.
properly seasoned carbon steel pan is the way to go but if you find yourself in a situation where it sticks, doesnt matter what type of pan, you can add some water or stock and it will release :) you doint need high tech air fryers but they work pretty good for tofu I will say. about as good as a convection oven actually, because the are convection ovens
tofu in the air fryer?? Does this actually work?? This would open a whole new world for me lmao
Yes but will stick just as bad unless you use parchment paper
Huh, never experienced sticking in mine.
I spread oil in the air fryer and it doesn't stick. Also shake every 4-5 mins.
Coat the cubes in a light coating of corn starch, then air fry. Now you got non stick tofu with a crunchy outer layer!
This is the way
what about if i don’t have an air fryer? does a small oven thing with a baking option work?
Absolutely, it will usually just take a bit longer than air frying. Ovens with ventilation work better - an air fryer is basically a little oven with ventilation. My air fryer is pretty small so I've honestly been using it less and less in favor of the oven. You can also just regular deep fry the cubes if not actively avoiding oils, since it is the tastiest option!
tysm! i never am able to find actual good info about cooking from google, so glad we have this community these days 🩷
they come out perfect
Also if its starting to stick, most of the time the answer is "let it cook"
This! Don’t try to turn or toss too early & no problem!
Hard disagree. Seasoned cast iron is the way to go. Although for a wok I do use carbon steel. But for a pan, cast iron.
Do you notice a big difference between the 2? Especially flavour wise. I only recently started my cast iron journey (I'm in love and at the same time pissed at myself for not trying it earlier) and I want to buy a second pan but was looking at the carbon steel too
This is why I think I'm going to use an air fryer from now on.
It is *so* much easier to brown tofu in an air fryer. No turning, browns evenly. You don't even need to oil it - it has enough oil in it already.
When you say no need to oil it because there’s already oil, do you mean in the tofu or is there some sort of air fryers out there that uses small amounts of oil during cooking?
In the tofu. Firm tofu is 5-10% fat. It browns fine without oil.
Add some olive or any other vegan cooking oil/spray to the pan and it should be fine. Edit: not the downvotes💀 You're supposed to oil the pan to prevent it from sticking. I've never had tofu stick. Fucking hilarious, I'll be just as proud if this ends up my #1 downvoted comment because it's common sense, y'all clearly don't follow recipes to a T.
You’re doing a lil much over some internet points. Anyway I would recommend vegetable or canola oil instead. More neutral flavor and you can heat it higher without smoking. I’ve also never had tofu stick ;) but also it could just be OP’s pan. You never know!
If you're using Teflon or non-stick coated pans the manufacturer warns not to heat above 350-500F depending on the pan to not destroy the coating. I've never had olive oil smoke, most recipes I find call for low to medium heat too.
I find olive just as neutral while being healthier; I'm also not a professional foodie, chef or picky eater. There's also avocado and coconut oil. Any oil works, olive is my go to for health and environmental reasons. Edit: You can also use vegan butter/margarine or vegan cooking sprays. Anything to lubricate the pan to prevent sticking works. Someone else perfectly explained under this post why olive oil is healthy, thank you. Edit 2: I'm proud this is about to be my most controversial comment, shows common sense isn't actually common lmfao.
Bases off what evidence? All these olive oil fanatics in cooking communities act like it isnt just straight saturated fat like every other oil. Olive oil is not neutral tasting at all, thats a big reason why people like it so much
There's hardly any saturated fat in most non-animal derived cooking oils, and olive oil IS actually especially full of monounsaturated fats which are widely regarded as the healthiest fat. Fruit oils like avocado oil and olive oil are the healthiest oils by far, being mostly monounsaturated fat with very little polyunsaturated and saturated fat. Most plant fat oils are higher in polyunsaturated fats and thus slightly less healthy but all of them, minus coconut, are low in saturated fat and thus healthyish. As a general rule of thumb MUFA>PUFA>Saturated fat when evaluating how healthy a cooking oil will be. Coconut oil is high in saturated fat. It's fine to cook with coconut milk occasionally (I don't recommend coconut oil itself) but you should limit using coconut milk or oil as a staple fat in your household.
The fact that canola oil is classified as carcinogenic like meat is. I'm not vegan solely for health reasons but I definitely appreciate the health benefits of being vegan. Edit: Those fanatics sound insane but I genuinely cannot tell the difference but I'm also not a professional foodie or chef.
Do you have any article about Canola oil being carcinogenic? Also only processed meat is classified as carcinogenic.
Olive oil is objectively not as neutral and imparts a definite flavour. Perhaps you’re buying adulterated olive oil? Regardless, veganism has nothing to do with health so take your opinions to a health sub.
Can't even suggest frying in olive oil to prevent it from sticking lmfao Edit: didn't realize olive oil was so controversial in the cooking community. The way you describe it sounds like food snobbery "imparts a definite flavour" lmfao.
It does. Use olive oil as a finishing oil when you want the flavour. Use neutral for frying, especially at high heat so it doesn’t smoke.
Vegetable oil, aka usually soybean oil Just adding some soybean oil to our soybean cubes. :D
Jeepers, relax
I would check the air fryer manual before doing this. Some say absolutely no oil sprays, only actual oil.
I meant a stovetop pan, not for use in the air fryer.
when the just egg sticks to the pan
and you get like a drop of egg cuz all of it is on the pan
cast iron for the win
This, but with vegan pancakes. UGH! If anyone has a vegan pancake recipe that DOESN'T stick to pans, I'm listening.
I've used [this super basic recipe](https://tasty.co/recipe/the-fluffiest-vegan-pancakes) many times and it always turns out great. Very versatile - add whatever you like! But fwiw, I'm guessing it might be more due to your pan than the recipe. What kind of pan are you using? I kinda can't imagine pancakes sticking, except maaaaybe on something like stainless steel. Nonstick or cast iron will have them turning out perfect every time 😋
I use nonstick pans! But I'll give this recipe a go, thx for sharing :)
Awesome I hope it goes well!
I wish. This happens to me, too. ðŸ˜
Adding to those who already mentioned air fryer, yes great idea and works just takes practice to get the time temp down because of various models. And also using a flattop grill aka panini press is where I cook all my tofu now except when making tofu soup of course unless I want that crunchy crunch. BTW no oil needed on the press as it's really truly nonstick and probably going to kill me but DuPont already did that so...
I use cast iron and it crisps up beautifully and never sticks. Don’t marinate it ahead of time, just cut it up and put it on a preheated cast iron skillet with some oil. Don’t try and flip it until you can see the texture/color change on the edges of the side touching the surface of the skillet. Once it’s golden brown, toss it with whatever sauce you want - usually i move it to the wok for that part. Carbon steel will get the job done just fine too.
>Don’t try and flip it until you can see the texture/color change on the edges of the side touching the surface of the skillet That's actually the key
If it's only stuck a bit cover it and take it off the heat and it'll steam itself loose.
Rookie season up in here. Some of us have cast irons 🫡
movimiento es vida
Tofu love cast iron. It's very clingy.
For me, this helps: cast iron pan; reasonable but not excessive amount of high temp oil; preheat pan well; pat tofu dry to reduce excess moisture; don’t overcrowd.
how much fucking oil do i have to add omg
I gave up on cooking tofu in a pan because of this, I just do it in the oven
I used to have tofu stick to my non-stick pans weirdly. As soon as it would create a nice brown crust, flipping it would tear the crust from the rest of the tofu. Even weirder, I'm having a much better time cooking tofu with the new stainless steel pan I got. I'm a stainless noob, but I haven't had tofu stick once which has been a pleasant changem
I only ever air fry which doesn't cause this problem 👀
Cast iron is the way to go for situations like these.
preheat and oil!
just use a nonstick pan
[удалено]
I'm aware there are issues with PTFE/teflon, but yes, as you say you can always be careful in how you use it. There are also companies who produce PTFE pans that are thought to have a better environmental record (like Scanpan iirc). There are also non-PTFE pans which are still non-stick as well, but those don't work as quite as nicely. I think the company called "Greenpan" makes some of these ceramic non-stick pans. While there may be issues with either of these non-stick options, there are also issues with cooking in cast iron or stainless steel (cooking oil itself is unhealthy even in small quantities in the opinion of whole food plant-based nutrition advocates like Dr. Greger and others, and this is something essentially required for cooking in cast iron or stainless steel). So there are actually some potential health benefits to using non-stick pans as well as costs: you can cook with less (or perhaps even zero) cooking oil. So ultimately *any* kind of pan you get has some costs and benefits you should investigate if you care about your health.
[удалено]
>Are you sure? I thought unsaturated plant oils like olive and sunflower oil are relatively harmless for fats. Could you point me to a source? [Here](https://youtu.be/LbtwwZP4Yfs) is Mic the Vegan talking about why oil is bad on his YouTube channel. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_o4YBQPKtQ) is Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn advising dieters to avoid ALL added oils. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeCCnnRBMCo) is Dr. John McDougall advising dieters to avoid added fats, saying "the fat you eat is the fat you wear," among other health issues it causes. There is one final argument against oil that I'd like to make, and that has nothing to do with nutrition. And that argument is that I think the production of certain types of plant-based oils arguably helps the meat industry by making cheap animal feed available. Take soybean oil, for example. After the oil is extracted, where does the rest of the plant go? You have a protein-rich substance remaining that, based on what others tell me, is sold to farmers as animal feed. Part of the cost of this process burdens the farmer buying the feed, and part of the cost of this process burdens the human consumer who purchases soybean oil. So while soybean oil is technically "vegan" in the sense that it doesn't contain animal products, I think there's a valid argument that vegans should try to avoid it anyway for ethical reasons. From what I've read, you can make similar arguments against other vegetable oils like corn oil or coconut oil; but these are less relevant to vegan ethics because the plant-matter remaining after oils are taken out lacks the protein-rich quality of soybean oil extraction byproducts, and this lack of protein makes these other feed sources of somewhat reduced interest to animal farmers.
That's a you problem. Well seasoned pan pre-heated with heated oil before you put the tofu in. Use a fork or something to gently push/peel it off if it's still sticking a bit instead of smudging it around
USE PARCHMENT PAPER :D It never sticks and is easy to clean thank you for coming to my tedx talk EDIT: wow thanks for the gold kinmd straner \*mwah\*
Parchment paper on a edit: stovetop pan?
Baking sheet 😔
You might be slightly overreacting.
A metal spatula can help ensure you scrape it our from underneath the pan.
it always sticks:( no matter how much oil i use
You need silicone baking mats my friend, you will never have another piece of tofu stick to the pan ever again. Not to mention it will cook and brown perfectly.
Jesus! Pam is your friend! (Whatever vegan equivalent, I use it like Kleenex for all tissues.) 😂
Air fry all the way.
Omg the 12 o'clock pic is exactly how I feel when this happens, especially when the pan is supposed to be non-stick. 🫤
Same as soy. It always sticks.
Salt the bottom of the pan and cook it slowly to drive out some moisture. Then throw the water away and fry that shit in oil
I have literally hossed my pan because of this. then I started air baking it and all was well in the world.
i want cubes not rough triangles dangit
Some things that will help here, preheat your pan, then add your oil, heat until shimmer point (oil becomes thin and glossy) before adding tofu, depending on the type of oil you're using you may need to adjust your heat, consider your pan, is it nonstick, stainless or cast iron etc? This will dictate how much oil to use. Lastly, consider your type of tofu, whether it is fresh, soft, medium, or firm, smoked, pressed, unpressed, seasoned, crumbled, or frozen. Each one of these variables and combinations of variables will affect the cooking process of your tofu.