Topic: How to achieve high cooking temperatures at home.

[h4ppy-chris]

Ok, Here's a question or three.
How long does everyone cook their curries for?
Have you timed yourself?

That last video Chris just posted was 8.27 and that looked like a pretty high heat going the full length of the cooking time. Lets say 8 mins?
That burner was a LOT hotter than any domestic hob and yet he hardly moved the pan in that time.
So are you cooking your curries for longer to compensate or is everyone cooking in the same amount of time as a pro chef on your domestic flame?
 

It's not the heat that you have, its how you use it.

[Malc.]

It is a very good question Frank, could it be his style of cooking or just this dish in question? So far both the vid's Chris has posted, the Chef adds water, perhaps that's how he can afford to keep a heat going. The honest answer is I don't know, made more confusing by the fact I currently cook on electric.

[DalPuri]

It is a very good question Frank, could it be his style of cooking or just this dish in question? So far both the vid's Chris has posted, the Chef adds water, perhaps that's how he can afford to keep a heat going. The honest answer is I don't know, made more confusing by the fact I currently cook on electric.

Me too, I hate it! 
Roll on the Spring so i can get back outside with my wok burner. 

If you were to make this dish at home, would you cook at full heat and for twice as long? 

Based on a jalfrezi that I cooked and video'd, I take somewhere about 13-15 minutes on average.

Did you cook at full heat for all that time Goncalo?

[chonk]

It depends on the dish, and the cooking technique, but I usually take my (approx.) 15-20 mins to cook a curry (open flame). I'm not cooking BIR-style, but by using a base, you would already save some time. I'm using a pressure cooker quite often, and classic potato curries like "Aloo Mattar" are done in 10 Mins max. (without the preparation) Other dishes, mostly Dal recipes, have to simmer quite a while, at least for my taste, regarding flavour and texture.

Greetings!

[DalPuri]

Thats good to hear that maybe people are cooking for twice as long at home.
Because i think a lot of people arent cooking their curries hard enough.

Really happy to hear someone on this forum cooking mains with a pressure cooker. 

[chonk]

Don't want to miss it (:

[chewytikka]

If you can cook, you can cook a curry on any heat source, but if your going to cook a 100 in 4hrs you need high output (btu/hr) burners. a simple fact.

I'll do a saucy curry like Madras, Vindaloo (which need high heat) in 6 or 7 Minutes and more complicated dishes on average 10 to 12 mins. thats cooking on a basic domestic gas hob burner of only 3kw.

SS is lucky to have a 4.5kw burner, on most domestic hobs you buy today, the biggist burner will be around 3kw, lots of them are less.

You just have to adapt your cooking technique to suit what you have at hand.

Saying that, It was a big difference for me, moving from a 5+kw down to a 3kw in my Dad's new kitchen, at first I had to check if it was even on.

All my video recipes are cooked on the same 3kw, in real time, and are genuine BIR at home.
But I'd much prefer to be using the 5kw in my own kitchen, because of the extra Btu power and control.

Some stats: approx
3kw burner rating (11.000 Btu/hr) output
4.5kw burner rating (16.000 Btu/hr) output
8.5kw burner rating (29.000 Btu/hr) output (open burner) BIR Kitchens
10kw burner rating (35.000 Btu/hr) output (open burner) BIR Kitchens
22kw burner rating (78.000 Btu/hr) output (open burner) Chinese Kitchens

N.B. Some BIR and Chinese burners are over 100,000 Btu/hr

The other point is the control of the heat, some people are saying you need constant heat, I don't quite get this, apart from the obvious.
It's more like you are constantly working and controlling the heat as you cook the dish.
High, Low, Medium, your in control, like changing gear as you drive your car.

I'm just glad I haven't had to adapt to cooking on electric or induction/magnetic
but I dare say I would manage.

cheers Chewy

[Malc.]

Some very interesting stats there Mike, thanks for posting.

[goncalo]

Did you cook at full heat for all that time Goncalo?

I'd say I've crossed between high-medium to low-medium, but can't be precise as to which I did spend most of the time. I'm making a new base tonight and will pay attention  and experiment with  this for sure!

[DalPuri]

I'll do a saucy curry like Madras, Vindaloo (which need high heat) in 6 or 7 Minutes  thats cooking on a basic domestic gas hob burner of only 3kw.

This statement doesnt sit right with me.
If you can cook a basic curry in the same amount of time as a BIR chef on your 3kw, then why would a BIR kitchen need high output burners to cook the same curry in the same amount of time?

Or would you say, that basic curries cooked in a BIR kitchen only take 3 or 4 mins?