After frying a fried egg, you are going to fry sausage.
The problem is should you just reuse the same pan to fry sausage without washing?
Reusing the same pan without washing may save you a lot of time and effort in preparing your breakfast.
But there are some concerns like food safety that we need to take into consideration.
Let’s discuss those concerns and see what we could do to minimize the risk.
Table of Contents
Can You Use The Same Pan After Cooking Eggs?
There are three concerns of using the same pan after cooking eggs without washing. The first concern is the food particles, odors and flavors of the egg may pass to the next cooking dish. The second one is the bacteria contamination from the egg, especially Salmonella which can cause food poisoning. The third concern is you are going to use the used cooking oil to cook the next food, used cooking oil contains free radicals which are harmful to the human body.
Transfer of food particles, odors and flavors to the next cooking food.
After frying an egg, there might be some oil and food particles left on the pan.
The odor, flavor, and particles of the fried egg will be brought along to the next cooking food.
If you don’t care about the next cooking food’s taste affected by the egg odor and flavor, and also the leftover particles that stick to the food, then go ahead to use the same pan to cook without washing.
But if you care about the next cooking food’s taste affected by the egg, then you may wash the pan before the next cooking.
Bacteria and viruses contamination.
So the other concern would be the bacteria and viruses contamination of the egg, which may cause illness to users.
The most common bacteria in the egg is Salmonella.
Salmonella normally found in human and animal feces, especially from birds.
The symptoms of Salmonella infection are diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever, and vomiting.
Normally Salmonella spreads through undercooked meat and egg.
Other bacteria that are found in eggs could be Campylobacter, Escherichia coli (E. coli), Bacillus cereus, and Listeria monocytogenes.
Eggs also have the potential to be contaminated with Avian influenza virus.
Avian influenza, also known as bird flu, is transmitted among birds, and may infect other animals.
Avian influenza usually doesn’t infect humans, but there are some rare cases where humans are infected with this virus, this means humans are potentially infected by bird flu.
The symptoms of bird flu infections range from no symptom, to mild illness, and could be fatal illness.
Avian influenza can transfer through not properly cooked eggs and chicken.
Reused oil contains free radicals which cause health problems.
Reusing the same pan after cooking without washing means you are going to reuse the cooking oil as well.
The oil degrades after each use and continues to degrade for each use.
Reusing cooking oil increases free radicals into the human body which cause inflammation and chronic diseases like obesity, heart disease and diabetes.
Each time the oil is reused, the oil molecules break down to smaller size, make it easily reach smoking point and release toxic substances with bad odor.
How to handle the pan for the next food cooking after cooking the egg.
If you want the next cooking dish to be free from egg odor & flavor, food particles, bacteria, viruses, and free radicals, then you should wash the pan right before proceeding to the next cooking.
Do not directly pour the used cooking oil into the kitchen sink as this will create environmental problems.
The correct way is pour the used cooking oil into an empty container and seal it, then put the container into a plastic bag and seal it as well, after that throw the sealed plastic bag away.
When the pan is still hot, do not directly put it under the running cold water.
When a metal pan is still hot, suddenly lowering the temperature may cause warping and cause damage to the pan.
Suggest to let the pan cool off sometime before starting to wash it.
Washing the pan before starting to cook the next dish is going to take you some time and effort.
If you are in a rush of time or a lazy person, you may choose this alternative method.
After removing the used cooking oil, use a paper towel (which is purposely for kitchen use) to wipe off the oil residue and food particles on the pan, then continue next cooking without washing the pan.
This method does not hundred percent eliminate the egg odor & flavor, bacteria, viruses, and free radicals.
When cooking the next dish, make sure the heat temperature is more than 160°F (71°C) to kill the bacteria and viruses from the egg.
In general, 160°F (71°C) temperature can kill most bacteria and viruses on the egg.
Final thought
To save your time in reusing the same pan without washing, use a paper towel to wipe off excess cooked oil and food particles, then cook the next food with sufficient heat temperature (71°C) to kill most bacteria and viruses.