This has got to be one of the craziest ideas I have seen in a while. Cast
iron pots and pans are great for dishes in which you want to keep the
temperature constant for a long time, either because you are adding cold
food to deep fry in hot oil or keeping a stew/braise going evenly over a low
flame.

But woks are light and thin, so that you can adjust the heat from hot hot
hot stir frying to a simmer. And, you can move cooked pieces from the
bottom center to the side so that they don't overcook while the rest
finishes. On cast iron, teh temp would be the same throughout.

And, of course, even Iron Chef Chen would have trouble flipping food in a
cast iron work.

By all means get a cast iron skillet and griddle and Dutch oven. But go to
Chinatown and get a cheap, spun steel wok in a grocery store. Or maybe a
thin, flat bottom wok for an electric stove (or even a gas range with not
great burners).

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Louis Cohen
Living la vida loca at N37° 43' 7.9" W122° 8' 42.8"


"Julie" > wrote in message
...
> Does anyone have a le creuset wok? If so, does it work well, and are
> they worth the money? My range is electric and I've found that regular
> woks don't work very well on it.

"Louis Cohen" > wrote in message
...
> This has got to be one of the craziest ideas I have seen in a while. Cast
> iron pots and pans are great for dishes in which you want to keep the
> temperature constant for a long time, either because you are adding cold
> food to deep fry in hot oil or keeping a stew/braise going evenly over a
low
> flame.

You are missing the point. What you say is true, but many people do not have
a stove with the heat output that is required to use a traditional thin
steel wok properly. Add the ingredients and the wok cools down so you end up
with a stir-simmer and not a stir-fry. Because a cast iron wok holds the
heat it lets you stir fry properly even if you have a wimpy heat source. You
have ot adjust your cooking technique to take into account the fact that a
cast iron wok will not cool quickly when taken off the heat, but that is
easily done.
>
> But woks are light and thin, so that you can adjust the heat from hot hot
> hot stir frying to a simmer. And, you can move cooked pieces from the
> bottom center to the side so that they don't overcook while the rest
> finishes. On cast iron, teh temp would be the same throughout.
>

Not so. Cast iron is a very poor conductor of heat so you will have a good
heat gradient.

> And, of course, even Iron Chef Chen would have trouble flipping food in a
> cast iron work.
>

It's a STIR fry, not a FLIP fry!!


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.




--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

"Louis Cohen" wrote:
>> And, of course, even Iron Chef Chen would have trouble flipping food in a
>> cast iron work.
>
>
>It's a STIR fry, not a FLIP fry!!
>
>Peter Aitken

'Zactly! Any Chinese take-out with an open kitchen I've been to has all very
large woks with only a very small "ear" type handle on one side... no way you
can use them like a saute pan... they stir with those long spatula thingies.

I believe the smaller woks with a long handle, the type most folks buy for home
use, are actually Korean cookware, and in Korea they're not called woks, they
have a Korean name, obviously.

Originally the wok was made of hammered *iron* (not cast iron), not steel, not
spun.


---= BOYCOTT FRANCE (belgium) GERMANY--SPAIN =---
---= Move UNITED NATIONS To Paris =---
*********
"Life would be devoid of all meaning were it without tribulation."
Sheldon
````````````

As I understand it a wok needs to be thin so that you can get it very hot
very quickly. In Chinatown in
Sydney you can buy flat bottomed woks and a little stand to put your wok on
when cooking on an electric hotplate - I used one when we had electricity
before converting to gas and it worked well.

"Julie" > wrote in message
...
> Does anyone have a le creuset wok? If so, does it work well, and are
> they worth the money? My range is electric and I've found that regular
> woks don't work very well on it.

"Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
om...

>
> It's a STIR fry, not a FLIP fry!!
>

Flipping food in a wok is a common technique in chinese cooking. They even
make a special wok for it:

http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products..._iron_pow.html

Also, if you watch the movie "Eat Drink, Man Woman", when Master Chef Wu
goes to the resturant to save the banquet, as he walks through the kitchen
you can see several examples of woks being flipped. There is even a
close-up.

HTH

TT

"Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
om...

>
> It's a STIR fry, not a FLIP fry!!
>

Flipping food in a wok is a common technique in chinese cooking. They even
make a special wok for it:

http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products..._iron_pow.html

Also, if you watch the movie "Eat Drink, Man Woman", when Master Chef Wu
goes to the resturant to save the banquet, as he walks through the kitchen
you can see several examples of woks being flipped. There is even a
close-up.

HTH

TT

"Two Thumbs" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
> om...
>
> >
> > It's a STIR fry, not a FLIP fry!!
> >
>
> Flipping food in a wok is a common technique in chinese cooking. They even
> make a special wok for it:
>
> http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products..._iron_pow.html
>
> Also, if you watch the movie "Eat Drink, Man Woman", when Master Chef Wu
> goes to the resturant to save the banquet, as he walks through the kitchen
> you can see several examples of woks being flipped. There is even a
> close-up.
>

Duh, yes, I know! I do it myself. My comment was just on the name of the
technique, I should have been more clear.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

You can't have it both ways - either you heat up the whole cast iron pan so
that it remains hot after adding the food (and hence no gradient) or you
start cooking before the whole pan heats up (so you don't have a large a
reservoir of heat).

As long as quick temp changes are not an issue, or you plan to strengthen
your forearms by lifting the pan off the burner, you could heat up the whole
pan over a burner with low output. But you wouldn't have the gradient.

And, the word "stir-frying" is English. I suspect that the Chinese term
(chow, maybe, in Cantonese) describes the way you move the food around,
either with a cooking shovel or by flipping it. It's not really very
different from sauté, which I believe means "jump".

You should have seen the episode in which Iron Chef Chen flipped the entire
wok contents in the air and caught them after one rotation.

--
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Louis Cohen
Living la vida loca at N37° 43' 7.9" W122° 8' 42.8"


"Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
om...
> "Louis Cohen" > wrote in message
> ...
>> This has got to be one of the craziest ideas I have seen in a while.
>> Cast
>> iron pots and pans are great for dishes in which you want to keep the
>> temperature constant for a long time, either because you are adding cold
>> food to deep fry in hot oil or keeping a stew/braise going evenly over a
> low
>> flame.
>
> You are missing the point. What you say is true, but many people do not
> have
> a stove with the heat output that is required to use a traditional thin
> steel wok properly. Add the ingredients and the wok cools down so you end
> up
> with a stir-simmer and not a stir-fry. Because a cast iron wok holds the
> heat it lets you stir fry properly even if you have a wimpy heat source.
> You
> have ot adjust your cooking technique to take into account the fact that a
> cast iron wok will not cool quickly when taken off the heat, but that is
> easily done.
>>
>> But woks are light and thin, so that you can adjust the heat from hot hot
>> hot stir frying to a simmer. And, you can move cooked pieces from the
>> bottom center to the side so that they don't overcook while the rest
>> finishes. On cast iron, teh temp would be the same throughout.
>>
>
> Not so. Cast iron is a very poor conductor of heat so you will have a good
> heat gradient.
>
>> And, of course, even Iron Chef Chen would have trouble flipping food in a
>> cast iron work.
>>
>
> It's a STIR fry, not a FLIP fry!!
>
>
> --
> Peter Aitken
>
> Remove the crap from my email address before using.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Peter Aitken
>
> Remove the crap from my email address before using.
>
>

> "Julie" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Does anyone have a le creuset wok? If so, does it work well, and are
> > they worth the money? My range is electric and I've found that regular
> > woks don't work very well on it.

They are HEAVY. They are not "traditional" i.e. hammered non-stainless
steel, and will change direction as slow as the queen Mary.
Get a Peking pan. Those woks are flat on bottom. It may be your stove
doesn't have a ummmph to wok right.
blacksalt

> "Julie" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Does anyone have a le creuset wok? If so, does it work well, and are
> > they worth the money? My range is electric and I've found that regular
> > woks don't work very well on it.

They are HEAVY. They are not "traditional" i.e. hammered non-stainless
steel, and will change direction as slow as the queen Mary.
Get a Peking pan. Those woks are flat on bottom. It may be your stove
doesn't have a ummmph to wok right.
blacksalt

Two Thumbs wrote:
>
> "Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
> om...
>
> >
> > It's a STIR fry, not a FLIP fry!!
> >
>
> Flipping food in a wok is a common technique in chinese cooking.

Stand at the counter while your carry out is being wokked and you'll see
plenty o' flipping. The metal spatula is chowing away, and there is much
chinging, scraping, and hissing of steam.
blacksalt

Two Thumbs wrote:
>
> "Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
> om...
>
> >
> > It's a STIR fry, not a FLIP fry!!
> >
>
> Flipping food in a wok is a common technique in chinese cooking.

Stand at the counter while your carry out is being wokked and you'll see
plenty o' flipping. The metal spatula is chowing away, and there is much
chinging, scraping, and hissing of steam.
blacksalt

"Louis Cohen" > wrote in message
...
> This has got to be one of the craziest ideas I have seen in a while. Cast
> iron pots and pans are great for dishes in which you want to keep the
> temperature constant for a long time, either because you are adding cold
> food to deep fry in hot oil or keeping a stew/braise going evenly over a
low
> flame.
>
> But woks are light and thin, so that you can adjust the heat from hot hot
> hot stir frying to a simmer. And, you can move cooked pieces from the
> bottom center to the side so that they don't overcook while the rest
> finishes. On cast iron, teh temp would be the same throughout.
>
> And, of course, even Iron Chef Chen would have trouble flipping food in a
> cast iron work.
>
> By all means get a cast iron skillet and griddle and Dutch oven. But go
to
> Chinatown and get a cheap, spun steel wok in a grocery store. Or maybe a
> thin, flat bottom wok for an electric stove (or even a gas range with not
> great burners).
>
> --
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
> Louis Cohen
> Living la vida loca at N37° 43' 7.9" W122° 8' 42.8"
>
>
> "Julie" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Does anyone have a le creuset wok? If so, does it work well, and are
> > they worth the money? My range is electric and I've found that regular
> > woks don't work very well on it.
>
I was of this opinion as well. But, as it turns out, the Chinese make cast
iron woks that are quite thin and actually work very well. If you go to the
Chinese countryside and take a poll of wok preferences, you will get a
majority of Chinese households preferring cast iron.

I recently tested this by ordering a cast iron wok from
http://www.thewokshop.com and found that it worked just fine. You can read
my review at http://www.foodieforums.com. I still have a preference for
carbon steel but there is no doubt the cast iron wok gets the job done.
I've never tried a Le Creuset wok, however so I can't comment on that.

Fred
Foodie Forums
http://www.foodieforums.com

"Louis Cohen" > wrote in message
...
> This has got to be one of the craziest ideas I have seen in a while. Cast
> iron pots and pans are great for dishes in which you want to keep the
> temperature constant for a long time, either because you are adding cold
> food to deep fry in hot oil or keeping a stew/braise going evenly over a
low
> flame.
>
> But woks are light and thin, so that you can adjust the heat from hot hot
> hot stir frying to a simmer. And, you can move cooked pieces from the
> bottom center to the side so that they don't overcook while the rest
> finishes. On cast iron, teh temp would be the same throughout.
>
> And, of course, even Iron Chef Chen would have trouble flipping food in a
> cast iron work.
>
> By all means get a cast iron skillet and griddle and Dutch oven. But go
to
> Chinatown and get a cheap, spun steel wok in a grocery store. Or maybe a
> thin, flat bottom wok for an electric stove (or even a gas range with not
> great burners).
>
> --
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
> Louis Cohen
> Living la vida loca at N37° 43' 7.9" W122° 8' 42.8"
>
>
> "Julie" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Does anyone have a le creuset wok? If so, does it work well, and are
> > they worth the money? My range is electric and I've found that regular
> > woks don't work very well on it.
>
I was of this opinion as well. But, as it turns out, the Chinese make cast
iron woks that are quite thin and actually work very well. If you go to the
Chinese countryside and take a poll of wok preferences, you will get a
majority of Chinese households preferring cast iron.

I recently tested this by ordering a cast iron wok from
http://www.thewokshop.com and found that it worked just fine. You can read
my review at http://www.foodieforums.com. I still have a preference for
carbon steel but there is no doubt the cast iron wok gets the job done.
I've never tried a Le Creuset wok, however so I can't comment on that.

Fred
Foodie Forums
http://www.foodieforums.com

"kalanamak" > wrote in message
...
>
> > "Julie" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Does anyone have a le creuset wok? If so, does it work well, and are
> > > they worth the money? My range is electric and I've found that regular
> > > woks don't work very well on it.
>
> They are HEAVY. They are not "traditional" i.e. hammered non-stainless
> steel, and will change direction as slow as the queen Mary.
> Get a Peking pan. Those woks are flat on bottom. It may be your stove
> doesn't have a ummmph to wok right.
> blacksalt

I agree, I had to stop using mine, it was just too heavy. Also it doesn't
have a long handle, so the close-to handles get very hot.
Annie

"kalanamak" > wrote in message
...
>
> > "Julie" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Does anyone have a le creuset wok? If so, does it work well, and are
> > > they worth the money? My range is electric and I've found that regular
> > > woks don't work very well on it.
>
> They are HEAVY. They are not "traditional" i.e. hammered non-stainless
> steel, and will change direction as slow as the queen Mary.
> Get a Peking pan. Those woks are flat on bottom. It may be your stove
> doesn't have a ummmph to wok right.
> blacksalt

I agree, I had to stop using mine, it was just too heavy. Also it doesn't
have a long handle, so the close-to handles get very hot.
Annie

On Fri, 24 Dec 2004 06:21:17 -0000, "GrAnnie" > wrote:

>"kalanamak" > wrote in message
...
>>
>> > "Julie" > wrote in message
>> > ...
>> > > Does anyone have a le creuset wok? If so, does it work well, and are
>> > > they worth the money? My range is electric and I've found that regular
>> > > woks don't work very well on it.
>>
>> They are HEAVY. They are not "traditional" i.e. hammered non-stainless
>> steel, and will change direction as slow as the queen Mary.
>> Get a Peking pan. Those woks are flat on bottom. It may be your stove
>> doesn't have a ummmph to wok right.
>> blacksalt
>
>I agree, I had to stop using mine, it was just too heavy. Also it doesn't
>have a long handle, so the close-to handles get very hot.
>Annie
>
Mine is fantastic! Never mind about heavy! I use mine on a
dedicated wok feature on my gas hob and I have no problem. I wouldn't
be without it!

Daisy

On Fri, 24 Dec 2004 06:21:17 -0000, "GrAnnie" > wrote:

>"kalanamak" > wrote in message
...
>>
>> > "Julie" > wrote in message
>> > ...
>> > > Does anyone have a le creuset wok? If so, does it work well, and are
>> > > they worth the money? My range is electric and I've found that regular
>> > > woks don't work very well on it.
>>
>> They are HEAVY. They are not "traditional" i.e. hammered non-stainless
>> steel, and will change direction as slow as the queen Mary.
>> Get a Peking pan. Those woks are flat on bottom. It may be your stove
>> doesn't have a ummmph to wok right.
>> blacksalt
>
>I agree, I had to stop using mine, it was just too heavy. Also it doesn't
>have a long handle, so the close-to handles get very hot.
>Annie
>
Mine is fantastic! Never mind about heavy! I use mine on a
dedicated wok feature on my gas hob and I have no problem. I wouldn't
be without it!

Daisy

"Daisy" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 24 Dec 2004 06:21:17 -0000, "GrAnnie" > wrote:
>
> >"kalanamak" > wrote in message
> ...
> >>
> >> > "Julie" > wrote in message
> >> > ...
> >> > > Does anyone have a le creuset wok? If so, does it work well, and
are
> >> > > they worth the money? My range is electric and I've found that
regular
> >> > > woks don't work very well on it.
> >>
> >> They are HEAVY. They are not "traditional" i.e. hammered non-stainless
> >> steel, and will change direction as slow as the queen Mary.
> >> Get a Peking pan. Those woks are flat on bottom. It may be your stove
> >> doesn't have a ummmph to wok right.
> >> blacksalt
> >
> >I agree, I had to stop using mine, it was just too heavy. Also it
doesn't
> >have a long handle, so the close-to handles get very hot.
> >Annie
> >
> Mine is fantastic! Never mind about heavy! I use mine on a
> dedicated wok feature on my gas hob and I have no problem. I wouldn't
> be without it!
>
> Daisy
I know they work well but as I use it on an AGA-type stove, I can't get it
away from the heat quickly as the hotplate is the entire top of the stove.
I have to bodily lift it onto a trivet to stop the cooking.
Ideal for stoves where you can control the heat quickly, I agree.
Annie

"Daisy" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 24 Dec 2004 06:21:17 -0000, "GrAnnie" > wrote:
>
> >"kalanamak" > wrote in message
> ...
> >>
> >> > "Julie" > wrote in message
> >> > ...
> >> > > Does anyone have a le creuset wok? If so, does it work well, and
are
> >> > > they worth the money? My range is electric and I've found that
regular
> >> > > woks don't work very well on it.
> >>
> >> They are HEAVY. They are not "traditional" i.e. hammered non-stainless
> >> steel, and will change direction as slow as the queen Mary.
> >> Get a Peking pan. Those woks are flat on bottom. It may be your stove
> >> doesn't have a ummmph to wok right.
> >> blacksalt
> >
> >I agree, I had to stop using mine, it was just too heavy. Also it
doesn't
> >have a long handle, so the close-to handles get very hot.
> >Annie
> >
> Mine is fantastic! Never mind about heavy! I use mine on a
> dedicated wok feature on my gas hob and I have no problem. I wouldn't
> be without it!
>
> Daisy
I know they work well but as I use it on an AGA-type stove, I can't get it
away from the heat quickly as the hotplate is the entire top of the stove.
I have to bodily lift it onto a trivet to stop the cooking.
Ideal for stoves where you can control the heat quickly, I agree.
Annie