Thanks for the tips. I’ll look into better knives as the Chicago cutlery stuff I have now is good steel but the chef knives don’t have enough weight. What does “tank” mean in reference to knives? I’ve never heard that term.
I know about the aluminum thing so I stick with hard anodized which is pretty much impervious unless you get oven cleaner or lye on it. I have yet to be convinced that any non-stick coating is durable enough for me so this is the best solution.
Oh yeah, forgot to mention the KitchenAid. It kicks ass, too. I have the high end one (I think it’s a K5) and although I like the power, would I buy another one I’d consider one of the lower end ones. The high end one doesn’t have the head thingy that lifts back to clear the bowl, and that would be very convenient.
I’m so embarrassed…
I meant, of course, to say “tang,” not “tank.” for those who don’t know this one, the tang is the part of the knife blade that is contained in the handle. A full tang extends the full length and profile of the knife’s handle and is thus more durable. It’s not the best indicator of a knife’s quality – Chicago Cutlery knives have full tangs, but they’re unquestionably inferior to Henckels knives (which have a partial tang) – but all else being equal, it’s the way to go.
Re: pans…I use Calphalon anodized aluminum pans. Like Wüsthof Trident knives, they’re expensive, but they’re well worth it. Anodized aluminum doesn’t react with food, and the surface is almost like a non-stick surface, but it won’t wear off. Copper is the best, but the expense is just not worth it for me. Le Creuset makes a great line of enamel-coated cast iron cookery; I would love to have one or six of their casserole dishes. (and no seasoning needed!)
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Da Chef
Assuming you’re using only the highest heat your stove top is capable of, the only thing I can think of that you might be doing wrong is not positioning your wok close enough to the flames. If your burners have removable grills above the burners intended to give a flat-bottomed pot a stable surface, take 'em off. Also, do you use your fire ring like this:
__________/
or like this?
/__________\
(hope my little attempt at ASCII art works)
You want to use it with the larger side up, so the wok sits lower. If the outside of the pan isn’t blackened with soot by the time you’re done cooking, you may not be able to use a wok on your stove. Solution? Use it on your Hibachi with the grill removed, on a bed of charcoal briquettes.
And when I’m in Denver, I expect SOMEONE to cook for ME. grin
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Da Chef
Yeah, it’s great stuff, but not exactly cheap!! My dad works for a local restraunt supply store, so I can get it at about 1/2 the retail price, but OUCH! It still hurts the wallet a little.
Chef, do you know how to clean baked on oil from a hard anodized pan without destroying it? I’ve got a Calphalon pizza pan that seems to be uncleanable. The only thing I know that will clean the gunk is a strong base and I already know that will strip the anodizing right off.
I’ve been shopping online for the Wusthof-Trident knives and I think that may be a good next investment.
Yeah, I’ve cast a greedy eye at that Le Creuset cookware, myself, particularly the casseroles.
I don’t cook a heck of a lot of casseroles, though, so I make do with my Pyrex stuff, my All-Clad Dutch ovens (3-quart and 4-quart), and, of course, the cool old antique bean-pots I found in Maine…
Did a half-gallon of yellow-eyes last Saturday, with mustard, molasses, bacon, and rum. God, I love baked beans.
Uke
To tell you the truth, Chef Troy, I can’t even remember which way I used the ring since it’s been so long since I used the wok. I know I’ve never used it on my current stove (Dacor dual fuel thingy, with big ol’ flat iron grates on top). I just know I get excellent results with the fry pan.
Interestingly enough, I just went up to the Dacor web page (www.dacorappl.com) and they make a wok ring thingy for my stove. Cool! Also very very cool griddles and simmer plates… Chef, this subject is going to end up costing me money, I can just tell.
Calphalon recommends using Ajax (no kidding!) I have had pretty good results with SOS pads and lots of elbow grease. The annoying thing is, Calphalon pans are such a dark shade of charcoal gray that often the only way to make sure you’ve completely cleaned it is to rinse and dry the pot, then angle it to the light and look for dull spots in the reflection. Sheesh.
Athena said:
Here’s the rationalization I use, and you’re welcome to delude yourself with it. “This will make me want to cook at home even more, and therefore we will eat at restaurants less, which means this will pay for itself.”
BTW, I’ve been meaning to ask and keep forgetting: Are you the same athena I knew from Bianca’s, or not?
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Da Chef
by the way, Padeye, what are you doing oiling a pizza pan in the first place? a scattering of cornmeal is better.
Or use that silly Calphalon pizza pan for a frisbee and get yourself a pizza stone. The quality of your crusts will improve.
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Da Chef
Hmmm, Chef, that’s great way to look at things. I think it would be even better to try to convince my SO that HE should buy the things, since I cook for him all the time.
I don’t know what Bianca’s is, so I don’t think I’m the same Athena. But this has been a great thread - I love to cook, and I like talking about all this stuff. I briefly entertained the idea of going to cooking school, but I like it too much to want to do it for a living!
Chef, I tried putting a little bit of olive oil on the crust to keep it from getting saltine craker dry. The Calphalon pizza pan is kind of a white (charcoal gray actually) elephant. It holds so much heat that the crust is burnt before the cheese is even melted let alone cooked. I’ll give Ajax and brillo a try. Green schotchbrite doesn’t seem to faze the stuff.
I don’t know, guys. For kitchen equipment, quality and price are not usually that correlated. Don’t look for any new-fangled revolutionary 7-ply anodized aluminum stuff, any cheap old cast iron pot will be good, and any cheap old knife, as long as it has a good edge, will work great.
A cast iron pot is fairly cheap, and it’s the best cooking pot I know of. I have a La Crueset as well, but the only reason I use it is because it has a cover. Otherwise, the cast iron is sturdier, and you don’t have to worry about any enamel flaking off (it just happened to me with my La Crueset). Unlike other materials, I don’t feel bad if I use metal utensils in it. And it’s so heavy that I can stir and do stuff in it, and usually don’t have to hold the pan down as I do it. Of course you can’t survive on just one pan. If you are going to fry egg’s, I certainly wouldn’t do it in a cast-iron skillet, but again, you just need a cheap $10 non-stick skillet.
About knives, I wouldn’t worry about getting $80 knives. I personally like cleavers, which to me are nice and logical, having a straight edge, and being rectangular and all. You can get one with an incredibly sharp edge for about $8 (this requires some looking around, though). The good ones have a distinctive look - the upper half is black like the metal is really rusted, and the lower half is steel. One disadvantage - it rusts. But good cleavers like that have a very thin edge. The thinner you see, the better. It shouldn’t be thinned at the very edge to make it sharp - a good portion of the blade has to be that thin. It’s easy to sharpen, that way, and if properly sharpened, it will cut through onions like they didn’t even exist. That, and a more expensive ($45) bone-chopping heavy cleaver will do you fine.
One question, though - are wok’s only made out of cast iron or hammered steel? I have a wok, and always assumed it was made out of aluminum.
That’s how this whole thing started. Traditional woks are made from hammered sheet steel. (Presumably from steel drum lids that don’t sound good enough for steel drums) 
The cast iron stir-fry/wok is the first one I’ve seen and from what I gather in this thread no one else has used one. Heavy aluminum like Calphalon uses works okay - I have a small stir fry pan which heats well but is too small to be very useful - but thin aluminum would make for a lame wok IMO.
The cleaver makes a lot of sense as that’s amost exactly what a Chinese chef’s knife is.