451016 Mon Oct 15 14:00:03 -0700 2007 5 41 Cookware 0 3036763 Couple coworkers went to a "Wok cooking class " and liked it. I was looking at their class note and felt it missed couple important points. Therefore, I sent them some additional info. base on my experience, and posted it here for woking people's reference and critique. ================================================================== Do not cook high-acid food or curry in the wok, it will react with the wok (provided it's a carbon steel or cast iron wok, non-stick or stainless steel will not have the problem). That means, No lemon and lime. (yeah, I know what you are gonna say: " a well seasoned wok will not ...") Tomato is fine given you have a well-seasoned wok, but the seasoning instruction in your note is weak, I can tell you from my experience that it will not give you a good seasoning on the wok any time soon. So how to get a good seasoning on the wok fast? Option 1, buy a pre-seasoned wok (more expensive), Option 2, seasoning yourself with the following instruction: -1. Line the oven bottom with foil 0. Turn on the oven for 500F. Yes, 500F 1. Clean the wok with soapy hot water. 2. Put it on stove top and burn it till dry 3. Rub on high smoking point oil (lard will be ideal) onto the surface - no lard? Bacon then. - What is high smoking point oil? Answer: oil that smoke at a higher temperature, Corn oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, 4.Oil should smoke the moment it hits the wok. 5. Put the wok into the oven upside down( so oil will drip onto foil) 6. Bake for 1 hr. 7. Turn off heat and wait till it cools down. 8. Repeat the process for 4 times and your wok will be as good as (if not better than) any of the pre-seasoned version on the market. To "wok" correctly, you need to understand this: Wok bottom is a big 'hot spot'. That means, you need to drop food in small quantity, and wok in batches because bottom of the wok is the ONLY part that is actually cooking, while the wall of the wok is to hold the food warm (unless you have a giant burner spitting our rocket-launching heat). One more note on wok selection. "Woking" is about high heat cooking, non-stick surface will break down @ 400F (given it's the top of line non-stick surface). Therefore, non-stick is not the ideal for true "woking". However, I do own a non-stick wok only for "mixing" to make "Lo- Mein". And I have another non-stick wok ONLY for Serving. Carbon steel and cast iron are the best candidates for wok. Cast iron is heavier, but it retains heat better. Cast iron wok was household staple in China, every family has one (or used to have one). Carbon steel wok is lighter and does the job. When select Carbon Steel Wok, keep an eye on the thickness of the steel. It should not be less than 1.5mm. Stainless steel wok is a good choice if it's fully claded (meaning at least 2mm of aluminum claded between two sheets of stainless steel from the bottom to the top of the wok), but it's very expensive (if you can find one. Calphalon has a line called Calphalon One. It's expensive but it does the job. If you have money to spend it might be a good option). A cheaper stainless steel wok only has a aluminum claded disc on the bottom of the wok. In my opinion it's worse than a 12" saute pan. One exception is Jamie Oliver's Professional Stainless Steel 12.5" Wok. It works well on the burner grates designed especially for wok that I got from China town for $5.99. It beats other disc bottom wok by having a larger dimension base bottom (that holds more heat). Where to buy wok? Sam's Club http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=354627 Walmart The Wok Shop http://www.wokshop.com/products_main.html WorldMarket Never wash your wok with detergent after seasoning. Wok is not dish washer safe (duh..). Wok alternative: 12" and 14" skillet or fry pan. It has more flat cooking surfact conducting heat and cooking food. To be honest, if you only have a flat bottom wok sitting on a regular flat burner. You are better off using a 12" skillet or fry pan. A skillet or fry pan looks like this: \____________/----------==== Mon Oct 15 14:00:03 -0700 2007 79036 RunBe4UFly 1 3037576 Good post. Just one small addition. Lately I have been using my wok (14" steel standard issue Chinese variety) for deep frying western style foods with good results. You don't need much oil, and the food comes out nicely done and crispy. Just mix it around in the oil with your Chinese spider strainer while it fries. I've done potatoes, catfish nuggets, you name it. I do have high heat burners which probably helps (Bluestar 22k BTU). Mon Oct 15 18:02:02 -0700 2007 3036763 10668 johnb 2 3039127 Hey Johnb, are you sure it's not because of your Bluestar that gives you good result of deep fry? Tue Oct 16 09:00:03 -0700 2007 3037576 79036 RunBe4UFly 3 3041133 Certainly the Bluestar is integral. But I have tried regular pots on it too and the wok does a better job. I don't like to dump a "gallon" of oil in a pot and heat it up--safety issue and what do you do with all that oil when you're done? The wok does a great job and uses far less oil than would be needed otherwise, I suppose due to the wide shallow bowl shape. I fill it maybe 2" deep in the middle, so the edge line of the oil is perhaps 60% of the diameter of the wok. Anyway, works for me. Note, the Bluestar burner top has a lift out center part that you remove---the remainder leaves a large hole that the wok sits down in very close to the heat source. The flame covers the bottom of the wok very nicely. Its a great stove for wok cookery. Tue Oct 16 19:04:39 -0700 2007 3039127 10668 johnb 1 3037928 I cook curries in my steel wok all the time. Lime, vinegar.. no problem. It's a wok, not a violet. Mon Oct 15 19:59:54 -0700 2007 3036763 57025 fgf 1 3038018 Wok's with a loose lid are also the best way to pop popcorn! Mon Oct 15 20:35:37 -0700 2007 3036763 22801 bkhuna