Topic: Burner - myth no 1

[Invisible Mike]

I might give it a go if I can fashion some sort of tripod to sit the pan on. I've always been intrigued by how Chinese takeaways achieve "wok hei" by the fierce heat their burners throw out. The other week I was making a bhuna and left the oil on the heat too long. When I added the slightly watered down g&g the lot caught fire. The result was a curry with that smokey Chinese takeaway taste. I'm convinced high heat if not flaming is partly responsible for the flavour of Chinese and BIR. I think it's all down to the Maillard reaction.

[JerryM]

MushroomMike,

May or may not help. I only see a difference after the base has gone in.

Not saying the spice fry is not important but the low volume of water in the pan during the before base stages is low so that a domestic hob can hit the maillard no trouble.

It's after (as it goes in) the base when the heat is needed. The karahi is a perfect example I can hit 300c on a domestic hob no trouble when it's empty - add some water ie base and no chance.

[Garp]

No offence intended to Jerry, but this thread is total bollocks.

I, and many others, can produce BIR/TA-quality dishes without the need to have commercial burners/flames licking over the sides of the pan etc etc.

In my humble opinion, with all due respect, you, Jerry, seem to analyse things too much (see Balti thread) and come to conclusions which, to be honest , have no evidence to support them.

[JerryM]

Garp,

I tried to put you or anyone with the same mindset off at the start of the thread. 

As you are happy with what you produce then you don't need any help from me.

I am sort of in a similar boat - I don't need any help. What I mean by this is that I'm very happy with what I produce. Yes I'd like to understand the why and that is a tedious business.

In short all this post is saying is - if you've purchased a burner just having high heat is not enough. Other factors have just as important contributions to make.

[GulfExpat]

I really enjoy the analytical approach.  Horses for courses.

When is the next Group Test?

[Ghoulie]

Heston Blumenthal makes a living out of analysing to death food then re-engineering its manufacture in a new different tasting manner - whilst retaining a lot of the basic flavour

[JerryM]

Myth no1

It's important to me that I make sure I'm clear on this and add clarification.

This is about Caramelisation (per curry2go "roasting") and smokiness (per CA). You can certainly get the 1st with low heat you won't get the latter.

Whether that's important is down to the individual. Not just on their taste buds but on the balance of effort v rewards.

In short I thought high heat alone was enough. I now know it ain't.

For those with interest this is my current thinking:

1) heat typ 7 to 9  (6 might be ok, 7 to 9 is what I've seen)
2) gap burner to pan bottom typ 25 mm
3) burner to pan diameter ratio typ 45% (90 mm burner dia, pan bottom rim dia 200 mm )
4) black steel pan. Dump the Ali pan for this it won't do the job
5) maintain typ 230C rim temp after spice frying ie throughout the base addition
6) there needs to be enough oil 

This was not written at the beginning of April. The journey was inspired by Parker21 and Did not disappoint.

I'm at journey end on this. The info being just for those who are interested.