My wife always gives me a hard time when I make a mess of the range top. Now she'll have another reason!
Great technique that not only makes you look like a pro, its quite the time saver compared to manipulating the food by hand. I especially like this technique when sautéing mushrooms and shrimp.
Is the proper name for this pan a skillet? Opposed to a sauté pan which is a shallow pan with straight sides?

You are correct the pan used in the lesson is also called a skillet, or fry pan or even frying pan. The straight sided pans are indeed called sauté pans, at least by manufacturers. For me the name "sauté" pan doesn't match what I think of for sautéing, but what do I know :-)

Glad you liked the lesson Patrick. I wish I could watch everyone practice. It would be fun to see their faces. Next time you pan toss, pay attention to your expression and you will see what I mean.

that people make when concentrating. I unconsciously pull my head back as if I'm afraid whatever is in the pan will jump out and get me in the face.
I didn't realize this until you suggested I pay attention to it.
Funny!

I am a line cook at a busy Seattle area restaurant. This lesson is great for helping someone develop good consistent technique. Even though I cook everyday, I have seen a lot of improvement in my cooking by watching your videos. Rouxbe Rocks

This cooking technique is very useful, and also prepares the Lomo Saltado, let me know if there is a difference in result when cooked in wok.
Thank you

I was not able to watch this lesson, the system stops when I want to watc it

i use this technique all day at work, but i cook on cast iron at home which i think would break my wrist if i tried this!!!

Is there a difference between sauteing and stir-frying?

Sauteing and stir frying are very similar dry-heat cooking methods. Small, dried, bite-size pieces of food are agitated and quickly cooked over high heat. With sauteing, usually a pan/skillet is used; with a stir fry, traditionally a wok is used. Cheers!

It works with a cast iron skillet.

… if not a showoff. I'm practicing right now for the sole purpose of impressing my gal. They say practice makes perfect, but this is not true. Practice makes a rice and bean covered kitchen floor.

I use both cast iron and stainless in my kitchen, snd the biggest hindrance to tossing when using the cast iron skillet is that its sides are straight. Weight notwithstanding, food is hard to toss in a straignt-sided pan.

The video does not suggest using cast iron or straight sided skillets or pans. They sell saute pans and they are designed for that reason. You need to invest in the proper pan to use the technique.

i understand the concept of this but i think i have soooo much practice ahead of me. in the meantime, is there much difference in pan tossing and using a spatula to mix the stuff around?

Generally you can use a spatula to toss things around but there are times when perhaps gentle even tossing (rather than stirring with something harder) might be a better.

Once you learn how to pan toss with confidence you will never look back. Good luck with your practicing and happy tossing. Cheers!

Here's how I became the best pan tosser within a one mile radius of my modest abode:

1/2 cup of the finest Italian rice (uncooked)
1 medium sauté pan
2 glasses of the finest New Zealand Pinot Noir
1 kitchen sink
1 broom
1 patient girlfriend
3 hours of patience practice over the sink
3 hours of Tony Bourdain on the television to pass the time

First, do everything advised by Rouxbe.com. Then, rinse and repeat. Presto!!!!

This website is the greatest website of all the websites.

I have tried to do this and ended up with food all over the place. Let you know what happens when I try this

Should I start by putting the food into a cold or preheated pan? Also, oil or no oil?

This lesson is more about the technique of how to pan toss. For more in depth information on when and how to heat a pan for tossing food, refer to the lesson on How to Saute. Cheers!

LOVE PAN TOSSING. IT MADE ME FEEL LIKE I'M ON MY WAY TO BECOMING A CHEF. DO YOU SELL CHEF HATS?

Great to hear Carolyn. Unfortunately we do not sell chef hats :-)

This was inspiring to watch, but I don't think I have a pan like this. I have mostly cast iron. Even my omelet pan is cast iron. I linked to your webstore but still can't figure out what to buy so I can give this a shot. Thanks for your help.

Pan tossing can be done with any pan that has sloped sides and is light enough for you to handle. Cast iron is just too heavy. There are many quality, stainless-steel pans on the market. It just depends on what you like and what your budget is. To get an idea of what brands our students use, there are several discussions on this in our forum. We use all types of pans such as Viking, Le Creuset, All-Clad and Calphalon. Cheers!

I'm in a rural area and shopping is limited at best. I don't have the option of trying out different pans in a store. Can you identify the brand of pan used in the Practicing Pan Tossing segment? I don't anything like that. I've looked in a couple of stores, but haven't seen anything like it. Thanks for any help.

The pans we used in this video were Viking pans. We also have quite a few Le Creuset pans that we use in our videos as well. Both of these can be ordered online if that helps you at all. Cheers!