How to Keep Food from Sticking to Pans

From stovetop pots to baking pans, follow these tips to keep food from sticking.

Tips for Keeping Foods from Sticking to Pans:

Don't use metal scrubbers to clean pots, as these can leave tiny scratches in the finish where food can build up and stick.
If you use nonstick pans, don't use metal utensils, as these can scratch the coating.
Nonstick cooking sprays can leave a gummy buildup on pans, causing food to stick later. If you do use a nonstick spray, though, apply it to a cold pan, then put the pan on the heat. If your pan feels sticky or gummy after you've washed it, remove the buildup with a nonabrasive cleanser.
Season cast-iron pans and carbon-steel woks before you use them. Little will stick to these pans if you season them properly.
If you overcook food, it is more likely to stick to the pan.

How to Keep Foods from Sticking to Pans:

Again, buy good pans and make sure your pans are free of food buildup.
Buy good-quality, heavy pots and pans. Thin pots and pans can develop “hot spots,” which cause food to burn and stick. Heavy nonstick pans are great for cutting down on sticking, but some cooks believe food doesn't brown as well in them, and even the highest quality nonstick coating degrades over time.
Follow your recipe carefully. Most recipes will indicate if a pan should be greased, greased and floured, or left ungreased.
Make sure your pots and pans are completely clean before you use them. Old food buildup can burn and make food stick. Black spots on your cookware indicate food buildup. Scrub it off with a nonabrasive cleanser such as Bon Ami or Soft Scrub.
If in doubt, grease.
Try to have your food at room temperature before adding it to the pan.
Heat the pan before adding the food, then add a small amount of cooking oil or other fat. When the oil is also hot, add the food. (The exception is with nonstick pans: don't heat them too long without putting something in them, or you could damage the coating.)
Use nonstick cooking spray to quickly and easily coat baking pans.
If food does burn, wait for the pan to cool, then soak it in hot water.
To coat a baking pan with butter or shortening, use a paper towel to apply the fat. Coat thinly and evenly.
To grease and flour a pan (usually for cakes), coat the pan with cooking spray, then add a tablespoon of flour to the pan. Knock the pan from side to side to coat it with flour. Don't forget the sides.

Source: http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/cooking-tips-techniques/kitchen-tips-techniques-00000000043045/page3.html

How do I prevent food from sticking to a standard (non-coated) pan?

It depends some on technique, and some on what you're cooking. And it depends on your definition of "sticking."

Foods that are high in protein (especially those low in fat) are more prone to sticking. So a really lean white fish, which is almost all protein, will want to stick. Likewise, egg whites can stick. To some extent, almost any food that doesn't have a generous amount of easy-rendering fat will want to stick, but higher protein is more sticky.

To counteract this tendency, you need to compensate by putting some kind of fat (usually butter or oil) into the pan in advance of the food. Most people seem to get the best result by preheating the dry pan some, then adding the oil, letting it get up to temperature, then adding the food.

That's the simple summary, but it can get you pretty far.

There's another thing you might run into as well--high-protein items that stick at first will release on their own if you let them cook long enough at reasonably high temperature. So if you throw a steak dry into a hot pan, it's going to stick at first, but as the Malliard reaction occurs (that nice brown crust we love), the steak will actually release from the pan (or mostly release) of its own accord--usually after 3 minutes or so at high heat. The same is true of most meats, but with delicate ones like fish you're probably better off providing more fat/oil than counting on an easy release as the proteins denature.

Finally, what's your definition of "sticking?" If your food literally sticks to the pan, then the technique I gave in paragraph 3 above should help you out. If you are able to move your food around, but find that little bits stick to the pan and turn brown, that's to be expected. That's called "fond" and most people try to retrieve those delicious browned bits by deglazing (putting in a liquid and stirring/scraping as it boils down) and making a pan sauce. And even if you don't want to make a pan sauce, you can clean those stuck brown bits off by putting just a little water in the pan and bringing it to a boil. Scrape the pan with a wooden spatula (or even a regular spatula if you're gentle) while the water's boiling and stuff should come right up.

Source: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/11467/how-do-i-prevent-food-from-sticking-to-a-standard-non-coated-pan