# stir-fry without making alot of smoke?



## FireDragon76 (Jan 6, 2016)

Is there a way to stir-fry without making a lot of smoke? I ask because the apartment I live in does not have a vent hood. I have a Joyce Chen 12" carbon Peking pan and a 9" Alpha nonstick aluminum wok, both are on an electric stove. The Peking pan gets hot enough but the problem I have is some things just stick to it and it's really hard to clean up. I've tried curing the pan but it makes way too much smoke, even when opening windows (I have mild asthma). So I'm left with a partially cured pan that gradually is building up a patina on the bottom and sides, but sometimes food (such as egg or some meats) still sticks to it and makes a cleaning headache.

The non-stick takes at least twice as long to heat the food, and the food doesn't taste the same. I use an infra-red thermometer to check the temperature to make sure the wok is getting hot before I add food, but at best its more like sautéing than stir-frying, and if I add a lot of food at once, the temperature tends to drop dramatically. Browning food takes long and overall things taste drier.

When the carbon steel pan works, the flavor is great... I just wish there were a way to cure and cook with the pan with less smoke.


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## chiffonodd (Jan 6, 2016)

Use oil with a high smoke point?


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## daveb (Jan 6, 2016)

You can cure your carbon pan in your oven without putting out smoke. Several threads a year go into specifics. I'm not where I can find a link but a search for seasoning carbon steel should find one.


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## FireDragon76 (Jan 7, 2016)

I've watched seasoning a stainless steel pan and the pan was just heated with a thin layer of oil until it started to smoke, then the heat was removed. Of course, carbon steel could be totally different- I'm no expert.


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## chinacats (Jan 7, 2016)

FireDragon76 said:


> I've watched seasoning a stainless steel pan and the pan was just heated with a thin layer of oil until it started to smoke, then the heat was removed. Of course, carbon steel could be totally different- I'm no expert.



I've never heard of seasoning stainless steel...what you saw was likely a carbon steel pan.


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## aboynamedsuita (Jan 7, 2016)

I'd place limited trust an IR thermometer to tell you the temperature unless you have a pro model with an understanding of instrumentation engineering/design due to the variable emissivity of the pans. I have one and it is fairly accurate for my (well) seasoned cast iron when perpendicular (I've preheated the pans in the oven and checked) but if I use a stainless Demeyere Atlantis it is way off.

I think you may be referring to the Eurodib / De Buyer video, if so that is carbon steel. A video you may find helpful on YouTube is the start to finish seasoning by the culinary fanatic. Jeff does it for cast iron but I've done it (with a few tweaks) to get a head start on carbon steel as well (I like to season the outside of the pan and around where the handle is attached).

I actually have a new 16" round bottom wok that'll have to be stripped of the crap they cost it with (looks like a lacquer or machine oil uke and then seasoned. I'll be doing an initial in the oven, then I've read about sautéing ginger and scallions (I imagine that'd be similar to the highly regarded frying of potato peels).


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## FireDragon76 (Jan 7, 2016)

chinacats said:


> I've never heard of seasoning stainless steel...what you saw was likely a carbon steel pan.



Not to keep it from rusting, but to prevent sticking: http://wholelifestylenutrition.com/...less-steel-pan-to-create-a-non-stick-surface/


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## FireDragon76 (Jan 7, 2016)

tjangula said:


> I'd place limited trust an IR thermometer to tell you the temperature unless you have a pro model with an understanding of instrumentation engineering/design due to the variable emissivity of the pans. I have one and it is fairly accurate for my (well) seasoned cast iron when perpendicular (I've preheated the pans in the oven and checked) but if I use a stainless Demeyere Atlantis it is way off.



Years ago I used IR thermometers when I was working on motorcycles and it was just a hunch I could use it to test food. I never thought about the accuracy of them but I'd be curious to learn more.

I did a google search and it turns out that there is evidence from China and Taiwan that stir-frying with woks increases the risk of lung cancer in women that don't smoke. I never thought it would be that big a risk but apparently it is a real issue: Chinese women have about the same risk of lung cancer as American women, even though far fewer actually smoke cigarettes.


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## chinacats (Jan 7, 2016)

FireDragon76 said:


> Not to keep it from rusting, but to prevent sticking: http://wholelifestylenutrition.com/...less-steel-pan-to-create-a-non-stick-surface/



Kind of defeats the purpose of stainless--you'll have no fond.


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## ThEoRy (Jan 7, 2016)

Cooking in a wok without developing smoke is like cooking without heat at all. It can't be done. Woks are to be heated to extremely high temperatures on top of volcano like fires. See below.

[video=youtube;Q3IDbOqoQyM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3IDbOqoQyM[/video]


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## FireDragon76 (Jan 7, 2016)

The oven trick worked, though it still made a bit of acrid stench and I had to open windows, it was not as much as doing it on the stovetop. I used a small amount of cooking spray and a paper towel.

I had to take the Peking pan apart but it wasn't too hard to do . The handle is phelonic and only good up to 350


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## aboynamedsuita (Jan 7, 2016)

FireDragon76 said:


> Years ago I used IR thermometers when I was working on motorcycles and it was just a hunch I could use it to test food. I never thought about the accuracy of them but I'd be curious to learn more.
> 
> I did a google search and it turns out that there is evidence from China and Taiwan that stir-frying with woks increases the risk of lung cancer in women that don't smoke. I never thought it would be that big a risk but apparently it is a real issue: Chinese women have about the same risk of lung cancer as American women, even though far fewer actually smoke cigarettes.



The food itself is probably okay but if you add to the pan cold it'd register lower. I believe the shininess of SS affects the emissivity and therefore the reading (IIRC most are fixed at 0.95 but you could see values half of that).

This is the 16" round bottom wok I bought:
http://www.johnsonrose.com/product.php?item=5216






I also got the wok ring for my stove. It won't work 100% because I'm on electric  but it'll do.


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## WingKKF (Jan 7, 2016)

Stir fry in the balcony (if you have one) with a nice high btu gas flamer and a big box fan to send the smoke away or move someplace with a hood if you really want to cook.


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## FireDragon76 (Jan 14, 2016)

Years ago, I used a round-bottom wok on an electric stove. I never noticed any problem getting it hot, even hot enough to deep-fry food.

I'm thinking nonstick is the way to go. I have a small aluminum nonstick wok and while it takes longer to cook food, the smell is more pleasant and there is less oil used. I turn the heat on my small burner up to medium high and it gets hot enough to do a hot saute. Not a lot of the smoky flavor you get at really high heat but the flavors are clearer.

Also, I've tried steaming vegetables instead of stir-frying . Cooking the same vegetables but steaming instead of frying them. I've used a wok with a lid for this in the past but currently I am using a double boiler.


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## cheflivengood (Jan 14, 2016)

ThEoRy said:


> Cooking in a wok without developing smoke is like cooking without heat at all. It can't be done. Woks are to be heated to extremely high temperatures on top of volcano like fires. See below.
> 
> [video=youtube;Q3IDbOqoQyM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3IDbOqoQyM[/video]



lus1: . Take it from me...my restaurant is all wok cooking...if there is no smoke you're not doing it right. The shape of a wok promotes aggressive pluming, that's why you need extra space and CFM from your hoods to pass code if you have wok ranges.


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## WingKKF (Jan 15, 2016)

Yeah that smoke is the main ingredient in "wok hei" or the breath of wok (well, maybe the byproduct of the process that creates wok hei), so you're missing the whole point of wok stir frying without the smoke:>


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