Curry Recipes Online
Curry Chat => Lets Talk Curry => Topic started by: Fi5H on June 25, 2010, 08:58 AM
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Im going to buy a new flat bottomed wok today.. i have my eye on 2, one an aluminium one and the other is a carbon steel one.. anyone got any info on which is the best
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I'd probably go for the steel over the alaminium. I found this online:
Remember that old adage ?You get what you pay for?? This is one of those rare cases where it doesn?t apply. There is no substitute for a good carbon steel wok. Not only is it relatively inexpensive, but it conducts heat evenly.. While there many other types of woks on the market today ? aluminum, stainless steel, even copper ? every experienced Asian cook I?ve spoken with still swears by carbon steel, and I have to agree.
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Hi
I was myself using a stainless steel wok for curries until recently, but I found that the wok was just too heat sensitive and made cooking the curry without burning the spices etc a real battle. Perhaps a cast iron wok would be better.
However just got a small and large one of these: http://www.catering-suppliers.com/cgi-bin/2008productView.cgi?prodID=97 (http://www.catering-suppliers.com/cgi-bin/2008productView.cgi?prodID=97)
Would highly recommend these pans, make cooking the curry so much more easy compared to the wok.
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thanks for that guys.. i did a bit of research and found that the carbon steel are more used but if it s not made correctly can cause hot spots.. I`m going out today so i`ll tell you what i got.
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I find my 13 inch carbon steel wok does a good job for cooking curries.
Mine is a round bottomed one, however, I'm not sure whether a flat bottomed one would be so good.
Stainless steel is probably worse for a wok as it is well known for being a poor heat conductor thus producing hot spots.
Paul.
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does a rounded bottom sit will on a gas cooker?
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Hi
Interesting question! and one to which I had no idea of!
Mine is flat bottomed on a standard gas stove, and brilliant for Chinese style stir fry, but a bit of a pain to stop curries burning.
EDIT: In no way should you let my opinion of flat bottom woks and curry put you off - as it has already been said above, stainless steel works may have hot spots and perhaps mine has a big one!
Seems like a lot of people on the internet do though, this looks to be a reasonably interesting article that may help explain things: http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/woktype.html (http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/woktype.html)
Cheers
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I have managed to get by over the past 25 years with only two woks, i.e. they last and last and last! Both have been steel and therefore require "tempering" but once you have used them a few times they build up a "patina" which means they become quite non-stick. I would also suggest go for one with only one handle and a wooden one at that so it doesn't conduct heat and burn your hand. I have used both flat and round bottomed without any noticeable difference. You can usually balance a round one on a gas burner. Your local Chinese supermarket sells the best woks at the cheapest prices. Go for something with deep sides to prevent splashes on your cooker!
Hope this helps.
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would you go for a non stick one or not?
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Hi
Do you use a metal chef's spoon when you make your curries?
If so, then a non stick work will probably not be the best tool for the job?
cheers
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I use wooden utensil's, thei is the one i was looking at
http://www.kenhom.com/ken_hom_range/ProductDetails.aspx?Id=4 (http://www.kenhom.com/ken_hom_range/ProductDetails.aspx?Id=4)
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I have managed to get by over the past 25 years with only two woks, i.e. they last and last and last! Both have been steel and therefore require "tempering" but once you have used them a few times they build up a "patina" which means they become quite non-stick. I would also suggest go for one with only one handle and a wooden one at that so it doesn't conduct heat and burn your hand. I have used both flat and round bottomed without any noticeable difference. You can usually balance a round one on a gas burner. Your local Chinese supermarket sells the best woks at the cheapest prices. Go for something with deep sides to prevent splashes on your cooker!
Hope this helps.
What he said.
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would you go for a non stick one or not?
Fi5H
I wouldn't go for non-stick if I was buying a steel wok for a couple of reasons. Firstly any non-stick coating doesn't last and I think that's commercially designed into non-stick cookware cause it means you replace your pots and pans and that's good business for Tefal or whoever. Secondly non-stick woks don't cope with the kind of high temperatures and physical stirring etc. that cooking curries entails. Thirdly, when it starts to go, you lose your non-stick performance in patches of the pan and this hinders your ability to stir fry whatever you are cooking. Fourthly, you will achieve a lifetime of non-stick with a steel pan properly seasoned.
OK I know that's more than a couple of reasons but that's what I believe!
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I would go with solarsplace post recommending the Aluminium flat bottomed frying pan ( as most Indian T/A Chef's use ) Wok's are good for stir fry's but I don't think suitable for Indian Curry making, I bought a Wok at first but the frying pan is much better.
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IWok's are good for stir fry's but I don't think suitable for Indian Curry making,
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see definition of a Karahi from Wikipedia
A Karahi (also spelled Kadai, Karai - both pronounced the same, ka-rai /kəˈraɪ/) is a type of thick, circular, and deep vessel (similar in shape to a wok) used in Indian and Pakistani cuisine
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IWok's are good for stir fry's but I don't think suitable for Indian Curry making,
??
see definition of a Karahi from Wikipedia
A Karahi (also spelled Kadai, Karai - both pronounced the same, ka-rai /kəˈraɪ/) is a type of thick, circular, and deep vessel (similar in shape to a wok) used in Indian and Pakistani cuisine
And to follow on it says -
A Karahi (also spelled Kadai, Karai?both pronounced the same, ka-rai /kəˈraɪ/) is a type of thick, circular, and deep vessel (similar in shape to a wok) used in Indian and Pakistani cuisine. Also known as a kadai or cheena chatti, it is useful for shallow or deep frying of meat, potatoes, sweets, and snacks such as samosa and fish, and for simmering of stews (which are often named after the utensil).
Karahi are traditionally made out of cast iron, although other materials like stainless steel and copper are sometimes used, and non-stick varieties do exist.
OK for frying stuff in Oil as in ' deep frying ' but no good for making your usual T/A style Curry ,
at the Garlic / Ginger frying stage and when you add the Spices you need to have some room in the pan to push the ingredients to the side of the pan away from the hottest part of the pan ( the centre in the case of a Gas Ring Burner ) and because of the shape of a Wok everything wants to slide back into the centre ( again the hottest part ) once the Base Sauce is added it doesn't cause a problem and any simmering would be fine with a Wok , you don't' see many Woks being used for making Curries in T/A ;)
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with all due respect emin-j I was merely showing that Karahis are like woks and have been used for centuries in India and Pakistan. What they are called is a matter of culture, but they are similar nonetheless.
Just because you don't see them in takeaways doesn't mean they can't be used for curries, all you did was make a huge generalisation that in my opinion has little substance.
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with all due respect emin-j I was merely showing that Karahis are like woks and have been used for centuries in India and Pakistan. What they are called is a matter of culture, but they are similar nonetheless.
Just because you don't see them in takeaways doesn't mean they can't be used for curries, all you did was make a huge generalisation that in my opinion has little substance.
With respect Stephen Lindsay I was making the point that in my experience making Curries in a largish flat bottomed frying pan is more practical than using a Wok , I don't know of course what FI5H plans to cook in his Wok and they do have their uses such as deep frying and stir Fry's.
And I believe Carbon Steel Woks work best.
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Hi emin-j,
I must admit, I do use a wok at the moment although I have also got an Ali TA pan. To be honest, I don't get any noticable differences.
I use my wok more because I can really thrash the food about in it without making too much mess, whereas with the Ali pan, I ended up with as much on the hob, as I had in the pan.
One of my local TA's only uses wok's, but I think it is because it used to be a chinese TA before, and the wok burners were already in when they moved in. The curries are great, but the startes are shite, so I don't tend to use the place that much.
Ray :)
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Hi emin-j,
I must admit, I do use a wok at the moment although I have also got an Ali TA pan. To be honest, I don't get any noticable differences.
I use my wok more because I can really thrash the food about in it without making too much mess, whereas with the Ali pan, I ended up with as much on the hob, as I had in the pan.
One of my local TA's only uses wok's, but I think it is because it used to be a chinese TA before, and the wok burners were already in when they moved in. The curries are great, but the startes are shite, so I don't tend to use the place that much.
Ray :)
Hi Razor , yes totally agree with you regarding having more room to splash your Curry about , our kitchen looks like a Turmeric Bomb has gone off when I finish cooking ;D
It's just that I prefer to have some less hot space around the outer edge of a Alu Frying Pan than have everything sliding towards the ' hot spot ' in the middle of a Wok.
Just my opinion of course ;)
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at the moment i use a cross between a frying pan and a wok, it has a flat bottom on the outside but rounded on the inside and very high sides and it works very well, its just old and battered now. i need the "wok" style of pan because when I cook Im normally cooking for the family and need to cook larger quantities also the deeps sides make less mess. As for what kind of pan many Indian cooks use.. I`ve seen them cook curries in stock pots.
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at the moment i use a cross between a frying pan and a wok, it has a flat bottom on the outside but rounded on the inside and very high sides and it works very well, its just old and battered now. i need the "wok" style of pan because when I cook Im normally cooking for the family and need to cook larger quantities also the deeps sides make less mess. As for what kind of pan many Indian cooks use.. I`ve seen them cook curries in stock pots.
With authentic Indian cooking a fair bit of simmering is involved as in the cooking down of the Tomatoes and Onions etc to create the sauce and a lot of ingredients are needed to make even a single serving as a ' Base Sauce ' is not used as in a BIR Curry and a larger pan / pot would be needed , I have made Curries using our slow cooker and they turn out quite well .
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i wonder if anyone can help me.. i finally bought 2 woks a large non-stick one for big curries and a smaller non non-stick one.. I seasoned the wok as explained on various websites but during cooking the season seems to flake off.. so what am i doing wrong? does anyone know?
Andy
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Hi
There is no need to season a non stick wok.
Regards
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and a smaller non non-stick one..
im unsure what the correct wording would be for this lol
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seasoning is only required on steel woks without a non-stick coating so you are ready to go Fi5H - just wash and rinse in soapy water as normal and be careful about the utensils you use as steel ones can scratch the non-stick coating.
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a non non-stick is not a non-stick wok.. now say that fast after a few beers lol i will rephrase it.. i have a large non-stick wok and a smaller wok that is not a non stick wok.. and that's the wok the seasoning is flaking off.
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Hi FiSH,
Regarding your non-stick wok: It sounds like you have been over enthusiastic with seasoning the wok and have probably put too much burnt oil on the surface.
The seasoning on a well used wok is actually very thin, so much so that you cannot feel it on the surface of the wok. It should feel super smooth to the touch.
The good news is that for cooking curries, which tend to be pretty oily, there is not much of a sticking problem even with a brand new wok. It's a different matter trying to cook a chinese fried rice without using much oil.
If I were you I'd give your wok a good scouring back to the bare metal and let it season itself through normal curry cooking.
Cheers,
Paul.
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hi Paul,
thanks for that bud, getting through the confusion of my earlier post lol. I will do what you suggested.
Andy