Breaded anything-fish, chops etc… First flip is wonderful, golden brown, looks awesome. Second flip-oh goddamn it, there’s all my lovely breading in the pan. Getting tired of having to carefully plate so only the “nice” side show.
If you’re cooking in oil, I would guess that it’s being soaked up by the first side and leaving the mostly bare pan to stick.
Probably, your pan is hotter at the beginning of cooking, so the coating cooks before it has a chance to stick to the first side. On the other side, the cooler pan allows longer contact between the uncooked coating and the pan, giving enough time to stick.
Also, how much oil or butter is there? If you have a nice coating of oil for the first side, but it’s all been absorbed when you get to the second side, that could also explain it.
So more oil to start with? I don’t want deep fried. Surely not pour cold oil in and wait for it to reach temp?
When I’m pan frying breaded foods, I aim for a solid coating of oil on the entire bottom of the pan when I start. I think that translates to about 1/8" - certainly not enough to think of it as deep frying, but the surface tension of oil makes it so that you can’t get a solid layer of oil much thinner.
You’re right that adding cold oil is not the best solution. I think you just have to play with amounts until you find out how much enough without being too much.
You might also try spooning some hot oil over the uncooked side while cooking the first side. You often see professional chefs doing this - tip the pan to the side so the oil pools up, and use a spoon to scoop that up and put it over the top. This way, side 2 of the food has a chance to partially cook and partially absorb the oil it needs before you flip. I don’t usually find this necessary, though.
How much oil are you using? This happens to me when I use just enough oil to saute. Adding between an eighth and a quarter-inch of oil eliminates the problem. Not quite deep-frying, but not merely sauteing, either.
Also have food at or as close to room temperature as possible before breading and cooking. I don’t mean leaving meat out for hours, but maybe 30 minutes or so. Don’t overcrowd the pan (this lowers oil temperature too quickly.) The hotter the oil, the faster the food will cook, and properly hot oil doesn’t penetrate the food much so adding more oil won’t significantly increase fat content or make the food too greasy.
The type of oil you’re using matters as well. The higher the smoke point, the more efficient the frying process.