For one thing, woks will often go to a higher temperature than is safe for non-stick coatings (actual measurements with infrared surface thermometer by Cooks Illustrated May/June 2005).
My collection of woks includes:
- Atlas Metal Spinning - 14" spin fomed steel with wood handle one side loop handle on the other side - best steel wok made. c-1966.
- Indian Kadhi, 14" crudely stamped steel (some rippling arond the edges) with riveted on brass plated loop handles - very crude - geometry slightly different from Oriental wok and absolutely the best device ever made for deep frying
- Cast iron Japanese 13" -very thin casting, very rare - c-1976.
- Calphalon 13" stainless - aluminum - stainless sandwich with riveted on
long handle and opposing loop handle. small flat area at bottom so it doesn't need a ring stand.
The Calpahlon gets my very strongest recomendation - $79 at Bed Bath and Beyond and probably similar on the Internet. Very even heat distribution under any conditions. Easy to clean, nothing sticks to it so long as it's kept clean, no coating to degrade, no ring stand needed and you can use metal slotted and solid scoops to get stuff out without fear of ripping the coating or scratching it. The
only case I would not use this one is if I needed that extra inch from a full size wok.
I got a stainless lid for it at a local Asian grocery and a steamer rack from the same place. The lid fits so well it sometimes pulls down a vacuum when cooling. You may already have a lid or Calphalon may list one, I haven't checked.
Edit: That "expensive" wok you reference I find completely rejactable on multiple grounds, price too high, non-stick coatings and anodize that won't scratch wear and degrade have never been made, aluminum, and
12 inches is way too small for a wok! 13 is cramped but quite usable, 14 ideal for home use but not economically available in stainless/aluminum sandwich.
Note: I don't buy aluminum anything. If it's coated or anodized those coatings are quickly destroyed and I cook a lot of acidic stuff that would be disolving aluminum - and I don't like the general feel of aluminum.
Yes
For one thing, woks will often go to a higher temperature than is safe for non-stick coatings (actual measurements with infrared surface thermometer by Cooks Illustrated May/June 2005).
My collection of woks includes:
- Atlas Metal Spinning - 14" spin fomed steel with wood handle one side loop handle on the other side - best steel wok made. c-1966.
- Indian Kadhi, 14" crudely stamped steel (some rippling arond the edges) with riveted on brass plated loop handles - very crude - geometry slightly different from Oriental wok and absolutely the best device ever made for deep frying
- Cast iron Japanese 13" -very thin casting, very rare - c-1976.
- Calphalon 13" stainless - aluminum - stainless sandwich with riveted on
long handle and opposing loop handle. small flat area at bottom so it doesn't need a ring stand.
The Calpahlon gets my very strongest recomendation - $79 at Bed Bath and Beyond and probably similar on the Internet. Very even heat distribution under any conditions. Easy to clean, nothing sticks to it so long as it's kept clean, no coating to degrade, no ring stand needed and you can use metal slotted and solid scoops to get stuff out without fear of ripping the coating or scratching it. The
only case I would not use this one is if I needed that extra inch from a full size wok.
I got a stainless lid for it at a local Asian grocery and a steamer rack from the same place. The lid fits so well it sometimes pulls down a vacuum when cooling. You may already have a lid or Calphalon may list one, I haven't checked.
Note: I don't buy aluminum anything. If it's coated or anodized those coatings are quickly destroyed and I cook a lot of acidic stuff that would be disolving aluminum - and I don't like the general feel of aluminum.
[link|http://www.aaxnet.com|AAx]
Yes
