Food and Cooking

I second this. It's a balance of heat and amount of oil. Crowding the pan cools it down so it doesn't have enough energy to quickly cook off the water that's in the food, leading it to steam rather than fry.

On the other end, your oil shouldn't be so hot it's smoking.

My typical method is to preheat a dry pan on med or mid-high heat, depending on the level of sear I want. Once it feels reasonably hot when I hold my hand over, I add enough oil to swirl around and thinly coat the bottom of the pan. Usually you don't want more than that unless you're planning on shallow frying. You can always add more if things are looking a little dry. The oil will heat pretty quickly in that thin layer, so you can add your food right after you've swirled the oil. It's usually just beginning to smoke for me. Again, don't overload the pan, you should hear a good sizzle as your food goes in, if it starts to cool a bit too much, bump up the heat briefly to bring it back to where you want it. Cook to your desired doneness and you should end up with nice, non-greasy, non-burned food.