Pressure Cookers, Woks, & Seasonings

What are the dimensions of the WMF wok? Has anyone cooked with it, and do foods stick to the sides?

It’s an 11" Wok. Don’t know the rest of the answer. Sorry.

A good carbon steel wok, with a proper round bottom so the food doesn’t have corners to stick in, will cost you $18 in Chinatown and last long enough that you can give it to your grandkids when you’re done with it.

Bacon Salt Website.
Buy online at $4.49 plus shipping to IA is $1.91 USPS 1st Class Mail.

http://store.baconsalt.com/JampDs-Original-Bacon-Salt_p_24.html

Its only 2 oz so this is a great deal.

I got the Butcher Salt, the Farm Gardener Salt, and the Herbs De Provence on a prior offer, and they have not left my stoveside since. I made an arm roast in a rotisserie “just to try”, and fully expected it to be tough and tasteless - “cheap cut of meat and untried seasonings, this can NOT end well.” thought I.
I was completely and very pleasantly proven wrong. I used nothing but a good coating of the butcher salt, let it soak in for about an hour, then dusted with the Provence, threw it on the spit, turned on the heat and walked away. While it wasn’t Prime Rib or anything when I came out, it was STILL one of the most tender, flavorful roasts I may have ever had. The herbs in the butcher salt are mild but definitely evident, and the Provence blend was very well balanced. In for 2 more of each, and looking forward to trying them on the grill!!!

I was about to grab the 4 qt pressure cooker but glad I didn’t. It has pretty bad reviews on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Fagor-Elite-Pressure-Cooker-4-Quart/dp/B0002XU2W6/ref=sr_1_15?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1362502803&sr=1-15&keywords=Fagor+pressure+4

The woks are terrible.
A: a non-stick wok is basically the worst idea ever. You are supposed to get a wok to the temperature of the sun and then go a bit higher. Unless you like burning teflon, you’re insane. Or you’ll be wondering why your food tastes like crap. There’s a reason chinese chefs don’t have eyebrows – they’ve been singed off by a 100,000 btu burner.
B: A $100 stainless wok. Woks are supposed to be like cast-iron. They’re supposed to be seasoned and you can’t season cast iron. They’re not supposed to be expensive or particularly nice. In fact, they’re supposed to be thin for quick transfer of heat.

Go to your local Chinatown and go buy a hand hammered wok that looks like it was made of out scrap metal for $20 (carbon steel). (Or look online, try the wok shop)
Season the hell of of it at extremely high heat (take your smoke detector’s battery out) and enjoy a perfect, non stock surface that will withstand extremely high temps.

Then go drool at 200,000 Btu wok burners and wonder how you can get a commercial over the range fire suppression system installed in your kitchen so you can get one.

Also 11-12 in woks are pretty small.
The 12in will feed 2 people, no more. Otherwise, you’ll be crowding the pan, especially if you don’t have some insane wok burner (not 30,000 btu but 100,000).

Thanks for the comments and recommendation. Chinese cooks don’t have eyebrows? Lol!

I was the first sucker to purchase a pressure cooker 8.5 quart Fissler. Got a confirmation of my order and my bank authorized the charge and issued an authorization number. Woot has not honored my order and now is sold out. They never even told me that they essentially threw my order in the trash AND I was the FIRST buyer. I had to inquire. Take your chances. this is not my first Rodeo, I have been buying from Woot for a while.

Got the smaller Fissler on a previous woot.These things are fantastic.Awesome home made stock in about an hour and makes the store bought stuff taste like toxic waste.Beans cook in no time too.Buy the biggest you can afford because you are not supposed to fill them more than 3/4 full to avoid clogging the release valve.This weekend I’m making garlic confit-canning jars of whole peeled garlic in olive oil.Sweet mild roasted flavor of garlic and bonus infused oil,can’t wait to try it.The cooker has a steaming insert and wire stand,there are no parts to lose on the actual cooker(well,the gasket).Looks like it will last forever.

‘Western’ woks always receive harsh criticism as they are compared to the traditional woks. Yet, you won’t hear anyone condemn a typical Western deep-skillet, and then tell you to scurry off to Chinatown for a wok.

Even so, the traditional-wok argument stops there; you’ll seldom hear these critics instruct you to build a Chinese, pit-style, wood-burning stove to go with it. Though, that’s not to say one can’t simulate authentic high-BTU wok cooking with a fairly inexpensive outdoor propane stove designed for it.

It’s all in the name. Try not to allow the terminology to distract you from what is a deep skillet of one kind or another, and judge its suitability to your cooking needs for what it is.

I think people’s reaction is because it is all in the name. A name get associated with the cuisine, cooking method, etc. not the vessel characteristics.

As for the wood stove, that is why I love Alton Brown. He seldom steers you wrong. To see wok selection go to 10:40. To see cooking method go to 16:45.

I can appreciate not wanting to pigeon hole the use of any pans, but it absolutely is a fact that if you took that shiny stainless steel wok up to temperature for use in a traditional Asian cooking ‘way’, the food would stick like nothing on earth, and that shiny pan’s looks would be ruined.

A completely different approach needs to be taken for traditional carbon steel woks. You can be proud when they look absolutely disgustingly black and grimy. All germs are killed off when they’re brought up to temperature, and no soap is ever needed when cleaning.

I have a 12 year old wok I bought when I came to America, and it looks like I just pulled it out of a klingon’s underpants. It cooks fantastically, and only gets better.
The only thing that can hurt them is a long duration of rust because it was inadequately stored or water wasn’t removed/drying not thorough enough. It’s best to dry them with heat.

It really is hard to get them up to heat on regular house stoves.
My stove is a little better than most, as it’s an old commercial job, but it’s still not like a real wok burner.
My vent above it isn’t. I turn our whole house fan on when woking.

Frankly the only thing stopping a pan fire should be the introduction of food and rapid movement.

The wok on sale here looks nice, but for me seem a little pointless.