The Salt Hack That Could Save Your Nonstick Pan

To survive in the kitchen, it's beneficial to deploy as many kitchen tricks and hacks as possible. Such tricks include a scientific hack to make stainless steel pans non-stick by using just a drop of water, an easy hack for crispier fried eggs, or using an egg slicer on fruits and veggies. In 2017, Harvard Business Review reported that only 10% of Americans like playing chef at home. Chances are, the 90% of people who don't like to cook at home hadn't gotten wind of some of the truly great kitchen hacks that exist yet. 

One essential kitchen tool that makes everyone's life easier is a basic non-stick pan. These are invaluable in the kitchen for a simple reason — they prevent food from sticking. Non-stick coating on pans also aids in saving money on butter or oil. However, not everything is built to last. As age catches up with these pans, the coating can start to chip and flake off. Non-stick pans also can get scratched, which can result in the coating flaking off into food. So, what do you do when your non-stick pans start flaking? 

Sophie Louise (@s_lou92), a social media buff who shares cleaning tips and hacks, left their followers speechless after sharing an ingenious hack for restoring non-stick pans to their original form. In a viral TikTok video that has now garnered more than five million views, they asked their followers about non-stick pans that don't work the way they did before. "All you need to do is get some Fairy liquid and a soft sponge — never use a scourer — give it a wash and dry it up," Louise explained, adding that you should turn your stove top to high and wait for it to be "very very hot" before continuing with the hack. Once the pan is dry and your stove is hot, put table salt on the pan base, shake it so the salt is evenly distributed, then put the pan on the stove to cook. After a few minutes — when the salt is lightly browned — pour the salt down the sink and wipe away the excess from the pan with a damp kitchen towel.

In addition to solving the non-stick pan problem, draining the salt down the sink cleans it as well. But does the trick work? "This frying pan used to stick before this and you will see that now it won't," Louise promised before cooking an egg that didn't stick to the pan. Try it for yourself and see what happens.