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Author: Distorted VisionDistorted Vision Date: Jul 11, 2008 21:54
Hi,
I'm just starting to learn to cook chinese food so please forgive me
if my questions seems ignorant.
I just bought a new wok from my local Chinese supermarket. I knew I
should buy a carbon steel wok but I assumed that they would all be
there since they supply local Chinese restaurants etc. They all looked
the same to me and I couldn't even identify the difference in quality
between them so I just chose the most expensive one.
Anyway, when I came to season my wok something did not appear right.
The wok did not turn blueish black when heating the oil with a paper
towels and wooden tongs. It just started go dark brown slowly but not
uniformly eventually turning black in parts. When it came to using the
wok for the first time I was very disappointed with the results. Food
seemed to burn easily and stick to the bottom.
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Author: BonkyBonky Date: Jul 12, 2008 02:14
sure looks stainless to me. Awfully shiny for carbon steel.
Usually the cheapest hand hammered POS will be your best bet.
Any of the carbon steel woks your links point to will be fine.
Get a round bottomed one. Flat bottoms are worthles
-- might as well just
get a big sautee pan. You can't flip and toss the food right in a flat
bottom wok, and the flat bottom means that the intense heat that's meant to
be at the very nadir of the wok ain't so intense and is spread out all over.
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Author: Distorted VisionDistorted Vision Date: Jul 12, 2008 02:56
Hi,
Many thanks for your reply. The wok I bought is definitely aluminium -
I checked it with a magnet this morning. I think I'll get the Hancock
London Wok. My only concern was that its only 1 mm gauge. Will this
make any difference and lower than the norm? The flat bottomed one on
Amazon is 2 mm..
Many thanks for your help!
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Author: Distorted VisionDistorted Vision Date: Jul 12, 2008 03:01
Hi,
Many thanks for your reply. The wok I bought is definitely aluminium
-
I checked it with a magnet this morning. It all makes sense now - the
only thing printed on the minimal packaging was 'Superlight'. It also
explains why it was twice of the price of the other woks the same
size.
I think I'll get the Hancock London Wok. My only concern was that its
only 1 mm gauge. Will this make any difference and lower than the
norm? The flat bottomed one on Amazon is 2 mm..
Many thanks for your help!
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Author: KswckKswck Date: Jul 12, 2008 05:07
Doesn't look like carbon steel. More like aluminum.
Carbon steel woks have a coating on them-to protect them during
shipping-that needs to be scrubbed off before using the wok. That that
should be the LAST time the wok ever sees soap. Use a plastic scrungie-thpe
thing to clean it-similar to the thing you would clean a Teflon pan. Get a
hand hammered wok-you will see 'dents' on the surface of the pan.
Since you have square burners, depending on the size of them, the ring you
would need for a round bottom wok may make the wok unstable. So measure
first and get the flat bottom if need be.
Ignore the outside of the wok, it will get burned, marked up, etc. When
seasoning a wok for the first time-it is tedious. Oil, heat, cool, repeat.
Don't just do it a couple of times and assume it is okay...
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Author: jt augustjt august Date: Jul 12, 2008 05:17
In article
j22g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>,
Distorted Vision gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Many thanks for your reply. The wok I bought is definitely aluminium -
> I checked it with a magnet this morning. I think I'll get the Hancock
> London Wok. My only concern was that its only 1 mm gauge. Will this
> make any difference and lower than the norm? The flat bottomed one on
> Amazon is 2 mm..
>
> Many thanks for your help!
Don't be so sure about aluminium. All right, forget alumium. What you
have is decided stainless, and specifically 300 series stainless. The
iron structure of the metal is cystaline, and thus non-magnetic.
Aluminium cannot get as shiny as the pans in your picures. And for the
price you paid (
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Author: Distorted VisionDistorted Vision Date: Jul 12, 2008 06:24
Thanks alot for the great insight. I'm going to go ahead and order the
Hancock pan but I was wondering if the stainless steel would be of any
use to me. I'm guessing that they must be better for some things
otherwise they wouldn't make them.
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Date: Jul 12, 2008 06:26
Can anyone please confirm that I have in fact purchased a stainless
steel wok? I paid
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Author: ianian Date: Jul 12, 2008 08:13
Distorted Vision wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I'm just starting to learn to cook chinese food so please forgive me
> if my questions seems ignorant.
>
> I just bought a new wok from my local Chinese supermarket. I knew I
> should buy a carbon steel wok but I assumed that they would all be
> there since they supply local Chinese restaurants etc. They all looked
> the same to me and I couldn't even identify the difference in quality
> between them so I just chose the most expensive one.
>
> Anyway, when I came to season my wok something did not appear right.
> The wok did not turn blueish black when heating the oil with a paper
> towels and wooden tongs. It just started go dark brown slowly but not
> uniformly eventually turning black in parts. When it came to using the
> wok for the first time I was very disappointed with the results. Food
> seemed to burn easily and stick to the bottom.
>
> I have cleaned the wok with a scouring pad and removed all the black ...
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Author: jt augustjt august Date: Jul 12, 2008 08:59
> I was wondering if the stainless steel would be of any
> use to me. I'm guessing that they must be better for some things
> otherwise they wouldn't make them.
The stainless steel is more for the ego. Some people just have to have
everything looking just so. These are the people who pay the premium
for the brushed steel fron dishwasher and all stainless stove and
fridge. They have the kitchen-aid stand mixer in stainless, the
quisinart coffee maker and food processor the same.
jt
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