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stir frying

(4 Posts)
frida Fri 10-Jun-11 10:28:34

Can you sucessfully stir fry in a large frying pan? I have a ceramic hob and cannot use a traditional wok so use a large frying pan but it does not seem to get really hot (like the tv chefs). Am thinking about a portable gas ring type of thinngy-ma-jig, or can anyone suggest a really good pan for ceramic hob?

gangy5 Fri 10-Jun-11 17:39:16

Quite difficult with a ceramic hob as you have to have pans with special
bottoms don't you? Maybe a wide shallow saucepan would work well.
We call them a sauteuse in the profession. Basically this is a wide saucepan that is no more than about 4" deep. With this you would get maximimum contact with the heat of you largest ring. The next best think would be a frying pan!!

absentgrana Fri 17-Jun-11 14:10:03

The reason why it's so much easier to stir-fry in a wok than a frying pan is because the wok has sloping sides. As your stir and toss the food, it goes back down the sides to the centre where it's hottest, only to be tossed up again, whereas in a frying pan it just spreads around the base of the pan (or the kitchen, in my case). I don't really know anything about ceramic hobs, but could you use the same kind of ring that that round-based woks stand on on electric hobs. Would a flat-based wok work? They are available in a range of materials. By the way, non-stick woks can't be heated to the high temperatures required for stir-frying.

baggythecrust! Fri 17-Jun-11 14:30:37

I have a flat-bottomed cast iron wok, recommended by a Ugandan friend. It works on anything. At present I use it on a Rayburn hotplate with fine results but it works on a camp fire too.