All Clad Wok

[Jenise]

I passed one up the other day at TJ Maxx--only $79. I blew it, huh.

Jenise, you didn't give the dimensions but it does sound like you blew it.

Oh I don't think you blew it. After a six week Chinese cooking class and learning all things in a wok, I segued into an All Clad 13" fry pan and have stayed there. I never saw the need for the slanted side wok with the small cooking area, so my wok sits in the garage. I even have a fancy one with the half ring that sits on top of the pan, so you can move your shrimp or chicken or whatever up to keep warm. Never used it either. Do you use a wok much to do stir-fry?

I'll have to respectfully disagree with Karen on the virtues of woks vs. flat-bottomed pans for stir-frying. I wouldn't consider anything other than a classical wok for stir-frying. I find stir-frying is a lot more difficult in a flat-bottomed skillet or saute pan, and the results are inferior.

-Paul W.

I'll have to respectfully disagree with Karen on the virtues of woks vs. flat-bottomed pans for stir-frying. I wouldn't consider anything other than a classical wok for stir-frying. I find stir-frying is a lot more difficult in a flat-bottomed skillet or saute pan, and the results are inferior.

I agree, Paul, and will add my curmudgeonly 2¢ that the best wok I've used is a rolled steel no-name one that I bought in SF's Chinatown about 30 years ago for less than $5. Pretty it ain't, but it does the job quite well with a wok ring on the stovetop.

Mark Lipton

I'm not saying a Wok does not serve the purpose of moving the cooked food up the sides of the Wok and being able to keep the cooking surface very hot. I'm saying that I like cooking with a larger cooking surface, I'm not fond of that intense heat and the mess it makes, so I've learned to stir-fry another way. I'm positive I'm loosing the perfect texture, etc., but I'm not that fussy about it and my stir-fries suit us. As I said, I did learn to cook with the Wok for eight weeks, even had to graduate from the class by creating a complete meal and cooking it on the Wok, just not my preferred method.

[Jenise]

Jenise, you didn't give the dimensions but it does sound like you blew it.

It was a full-sized, regulation wok with support ring for gas stove, etc. Just what I needed. After typing my message yesterday I took off for TJ's to see if it was still there. It wasn't. But I did find a 3 qt AC saucepan in the plain brushed SS finish I love, something I'd been wanting/needing anyway. I have a Cuisinart pan that size that I've been using and which would be fine for a conventional stove, but the uncladded sides tend to burn on my range's high BTU's so I really did need a more substantial pan.

[Jenise]

I agree, Paul, and will add my curmudgeonly 2¢ that the best wok I've used is a rolled steel no-name one that I bought in SF's Chinatown about 30 years ago for less than $5. Pretty it ain't, but it does the job quite well with a wok ring on the stovetop.

Mark Lipton

Same here, but that one went away at some point and I don't recall why. I currently use a Circulon but the teflon's failing and I never really got the point of that anyway (didn't choose it--gift from hubby, so it had to be given a fair trial).

On another cooking site, someone was talking about stir-fry and said that Cook's Illustrated suggests using a non-stick, flat bottom skillet. I checked it out and found that after many tests with stir-fry, they felt that the flat bottom, produced the best textures, and kept the moisture in the food. I don't feel so bad now!

[Jenise]

Karen, no reason for you to feel bad at all. It's a perfectly fine way to cook stir fry for the way most westerners do stir-fry, and you've already proved to yourself that flat and teflon are perfect for your cooking style. You need apologize to no one for that! But just bear in mind when consulting Cooks Illustrated that they are writing for western readers with teflon tools and automatic dishwashers. I respect what they do, but there's no denying that they largely avoid ethnic culinaria and when they do go in that direction they homogenize greatly and leave authenticity at the door. In the case of Asian cooking, they're not interested in capturing the flavor called "wok char" nor cleaning up the pan that achieves it. Nothing wrong with that, but all the same it doesn't mean that flat-bottomed non-stick pans achieve equal results.

Karen,

I'm a pragmatist. The flat-bottomed pan works for you for stir-fry, so by all means use it. I find I get better results with a traditional wok. It's not an issue where there is one true, correct answer.

-Paul W.

Isn't anyone concerned about using high heat on a nonstick/teflon surface ? I've given it up because of health concerns. I use a Chinatown wok purchase on the 22,000 BTU hob for stir fry.[ Perhaps just as many health issues ?? ] Don't wash the wok but the rest of the stove does get messy so I purchased flat copper burner covers that keep the spatters from going where it really is hard to clean. Of course an induction wok hob would accomplish the same without such a terrible cleanup

I agree, Paul, and will add my curmudgeonly 2¢ that the best wok I've used is a rolled steel no-name one that I bought in SF's Chinatown about 30 years ago for less than $5. Pretty it ain't, but it does the job quite well with a wok ring on the stovetop.

Mark Lipton

Same here, but that one went away at some point and I don't recall why. I currently use a Circulon but the teflon's failing and I never really got the point of that anyway (didn't choose it--gift from hubby, so it had to be given a fair trial).

Still have mine. It was a gift from a Chinese wholesale grocery salesman when I was a chef in San Francisco. I think it was 1978.