Just ruined another good pan. I'll be getting pic related as a replacement.
To avoid ruining another cookware, can anyone tell me how to care for them?
- Am I supposed to preheat it? At which temp? With oil or not? - Should I stay medium with electric stove? I always used the highest setting. Does it mean Teflon cannot handle the max setting of electric top? - Should I oil the pan regularly?
OP here, I'm mostly cooking: - eggs - stir-fry and fried rice - curry
Ian Perez
>Should I stay medium with electric stove? I always used the highest setting.
The only thing that needs heat this high is pancakes, you're doing it wrong. Electric elements also come up to max heat too fast and will ruin most any pan, non-stick or not.
Also teflon on high boils out fluoride gas, hope you don't have pets.
Juan King
Well not anymore he doesn't.
Jordan Moore
Use a wooden spoon. Never use any metallic utensils on Teflon.
Thomas Garcia
What doesn't kill them, makes them stronger.
So, I should stir-fry with medium heat?
Jason Hall
I did.
Aaron Ortiz
You shouldn't stir-fry in a flat-bottom teflon wok in the first place.
The element simultaneously is too hot for the teflon and not nearly hot enough for proper wok-hei.
Robert Campbell
Weeb. You think all home kitchen in China has high-BTU stove with carbon steel wok? They manage just fine without it. I don't get why white people has such a hard-on with wok-fucking-hei.
Grayson Roberts
These, also let the pan cool off slowly (don't shock it under cold water immediately after use). Also don't stick it in the dishwasher, wash it with a soft sponge or rag by hand. Watch this: youtube.com/watch?v=te72Z2svABA
Brandon Clark
That's why you're fucking up your non-stick pan. You're basically scraping the teflon off and mixing it with your food.
Joshua Parker
If you're not getting wok-hei then there's literally no point in using a wok over a regular-ass skillet
Kevin Nguyen
I meant I used wooden spoon.
Christopher Gomez
Wok is the most versatile shape. You can fry, stir-fry, deep-fry, boil, steam, and make soup with it. That's why Asians use it. Not because of wok-hei. Weeb.
Luis Jenkins
This idiot is literally only using it for stir-fry and he keeps destroying his pans in the process.
If he tried deep-frying anything he'd set his entire kitchen on fire.
David Diaz
Why so mean?
Bentley Howard
>You can fry, stir-fry, deep-fry, boil, steam, and make soup with it.
Yes, but it's not particularly good for anything except stir-frying. An ordinarily cylindrical pot or saucepan is better for steaming, boiling, deep frying, etc. These days the only thing a wok is really good for is stir-frying.
And in the case of stir-frying you want crazy high heat. In this context a nonstick wok is about as useful as a perforated condom. I'm not even sure why such a thing exists. It's beyond stupid.
Connor Gray
>- Am I supposed to preheat it? Yes.
>At which temp? Doesn't matter, so long as you don't let the pan get too hot. I prefer pre-heating on high heat so you're not waiting around too long.
>With oil or not? Doesn't matter. Though if you put oil in the wok when you pre-heat it then that will give you a margin of safety. If you see the oil smoke then that's a red flag you have it too hot.
>- Should I stay medium with electric stove? Nope, adjust the heat as needed during your cooking. This question is as stupid as asking how far down you should depress the accelerator when you drive a car. There is no single setting. You adjust based on what temp you need, how much food is in the pan, etc.
>>Does it mean Teflon cannot handle the max setting of electric top? Max setting is meaningless. What matters is the temperature. Teflon can't handle going above around 500F or so. That could happen quickly on high heat, or slowly on low heat. Stove knob settings are not temperatures, they are power outputs. Learn the difference.
>- Should I oil the pan regularly? Totally unnecessary.
Liam Cox
>I don't get why white people has such a hard-on with wok-fucking-hei.
Because that's really the only point for using a wok in the western kitchen. We have other cooking tools for boiling, steaming, frying, etc.
Also, many old-fashioned heating methods like pic related get plenty fucking hot for wok hei.
Xavier Taylor
>And in the case of stir-frying you want crazy high heat. Again, no home kitchen in Asia has a high-BTU burner. Still stir-fry better than weeb bloggers with their wok hei. >Yes, but it's not particularly good for anything except stir-frying. Why? You can obviously can make soup with it. Deep-frying with wok is very common, the default way to do it in Asia. Same with steaming with bamboo basket.
Is this the level of Veeky Forums?
James Price
>>- Should I oil the pan regularly? >Totally unnecessary. Interesting, it's standard recommendation in the manuals.
William Young
>Why?
The shape of a wok is ideal for stir-frying. It's less than ideal for everything else because of it's aspect ratio--it's very wide, but also very shallow in depth.
Soup is most efficiently cooked in a tall, narrow pot. A wide flat one wastes heat, and requires more liquid to immerse solid ingredients.
A wok is nice for deep-frying something flat, like many kinds of fish. For objects that are smaller or round in shape then a cylindrical pot will let your fry the same amount of food using less oil, and will also maintain a more stable temp due to less surface area.
Sure, you can steam with a bamboo basket. But you can do that with any kind of pot or pan, there's nothing special about the shape of a wok for that.
Ever hear the term "jack of all trades, master of none"? A wok's shape is ideal for a stir-fry. It's a compromise for everything else.
Grayson Perez
>>>- Should I oil the pan regularly? >>Totally unnecessary. >Interesting, it's standard recommendation in the manuals.
You need to oil cast iron or carbon steel cookware so that it doesn't rust.
Coated cookware, like nonstick, doesn't have any exposed bare iron/steel so there is no need to oil it because the coating is doing the job that the oil would have.
Daniel Ward
are your reterdaded are what?
Daniel Ramirez
>requires more liquid to immerse solid ingredients Huh? >cylindrical pot will let your fry the same amount of food using less oil How? We mostly concern with the upper layers, if anything because of the shape, you can fry more shit for less oil. >maintain a more stable temp due to less surface area It's on top of a heat source like stove. Of course it has stable temp. You're pulling this out of your ass. >there's nothing special about the shape of a wok for that You can add water easily from the sides.
Daniel Lopez
I mean, if you check manuals for non-stick cookware, it usually recommends you oil the pan regularly. Like seasoning, but not really.
Why so mean?
Josiah Williams
>How?
Simple geometry, user. The oil needs to be deep enough in order to completely immerse the food being fried. Because a wok is so wide, that means a lot more oil is needed to immerse food of the same size. See the attached drawing.
>>It's on top of a heat source like stove. Of course it has stable temp. You're pulling this out of your ass. A wok's wide flat shape gives it much more surface area, thus it cools down faster than a cylindrical pot. That requires more careful temperature adjustment on the part of the cook.
>>You can add water easily from the sides. I've seamed food countless times. I've never once needed to add water to the steamer. Just put the correct amount in from the beginning.
Jose Gray
>Simple geometry, user. The oil needs to be deep enough in order to completely immerse the food being fried. Because a wok is so wide, that means a lot more oil is needed to immerse food of the same size. See the attached drawing. Wok is not that flat, items you deep fry float. >A wok's wide flat shape gives it much more surface area, thus it cools down faster than a cylindrical pot. That requires more careful temperature adjustment on the part of the cook. That sounds like BS. You have constant heat source from the stove. >I've never once needed to add water to the steamer. Good for you.