Wok on Performer


 
RCBaughn

RCBaughn

TVWBB Super Fan
So I thought the best idea for wok cooking was to just load the chimney up, let it get rocket hot, dump the coal into the performer in a pile, and set the wok right on top of them.

Well, I never got what I guess you could call wok hay and never got the pan super hot, even though the coals were glowing red. Do you think that you need to always use a chimney to get that high heat directed at the wok and that the coals being piled up like that just let the heat dissapate right past the wok? I was pretty let down, the shrimp stewed more than it browned and the veggies wilted. The rice also took a long time to get hot and never got any of that typical fried rice goodness.

As much as I love fried rice, and lo mein for that matter, I am beginning to learn that it is just better to go to the Asian Market and pay the $5.99 for a big container of shrimp fried rice or shrimp lo mein. And with seafood so expensive it is damn near cheaper too since they give you a ton of nice sized shrimp. Not this pesky little ones, and they are always nice and pink in the middle but still super brown. That flavor I just don't think anyone can ever get at home, or at least I can't.

Maybe there are certain things that are better left to the professionals, and this might be one of them. I guess we can't be good at cooking everything though, and this seems to be my ultimate bane in the kitchen... Or deck for that matter.... LOL.


P.S. - Thought about buying a propane turkey fryer if it looks like it would give high heat. Any thoughts and comments on that would be appreciated.
 
i think that putting the wok directly on the coals won't get it as hot as you would think. i think it has to be a little above the coals.
and no, coals are just not going to get a wok blazing hot but it will get hot enough for most cooking. just look at the cooks done with a discada.
and yes, if you can get a turkey fryer setup that will get it blazing hot. start checking cl for them.
 
Craigslist is a great idea. Think one of those $45 ones from Walmart would be good enough? The one I looked at was 38,000 BTUs from what I read on the Walmart website.
 
I have one, not sure the BTU but it's like a salamander heater. It is part of a turkey fryer kit. I'm sure I could re shape the wok if I left it on long enough so any of these should be hot enough. With any fire you have to be above the flame or the coals to get maximum temps.
 
If you can get your hands on one of the older Weber Woks like the one below, it fits perfectly in the new 22" Gourmet Grate, and nicely in the 18" without a grate. I use lump charcoal and the charcoal ring from my mini when I use the wok on the 22", it gets plenty hot!
wok.jpg
 
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RCBaughn said:
Well, I never got what I guess you could call wok hay
Click to expand...

The elusive Wok Hay... I'm still chasing that using my gas burner. Apparently it's not only a matter of high-heat, the wok needs to have that black carbonized coating as well that comes from a well used wok. Still trying though. :)
 
I have been having no issues gettin the wok hot with my current set up!! Here is a couple pictures..
E5EE0611-2A53-46C8-B070-ABD9B85DBF7D-188-00000004E5ACEE86.jpg

Few bricks to keep the coals concentrated in the center..
ECDC14FE-C1BA-4E1B-9A7A-637F59945EBF-188-00000004EDFFAAC7.jpg

Did 5lbs of skirt steak in about 3 minutes in a few small batches..worked great!

Hope this helps!!
 
I went and got shrimp lo mein last night, and when I went to eat it, I swear I inhaled a small amount of smoke and I mean that in the best way possible. It was so, so, so good. It went from nose to mouth all at the same time, never had it so good from anywhere. The vegetables had light, light dark edges, like it had touched the pan for maybe 5 seconds if that and the cabbage was still crunchy and the shrimp still pink but browned awesome.

To test if it was just my mind and if the wok hay "smokey" flavor was TRULY cooked into the food deeply, I bought two to go meals and let the one I didn't eat when I got home sit in the fridge overnight and reheated for lunch today and got the exact same flavor profiles, although the shrimp was a bit tough but can't help that in the microwave.

I think that it made up my mind, unless I want to start experimenting again, that I just need to let Red Pearl Restaurant make me a big box of shrimp lo mein for $5.99 when I get a hankering. I don't know if it's worth it to make sadly given how great their prices are even though I LOVE prepping my own meals, and I really would love to be good at all foods. But I can even get salted crispy oyster, squid, or manila clams with fried rice (same level of wok hay on the rice too) for $7.99 and $8.99 for spicy sautéed intestines too (which are amazing BTW, I was so shocked). Conch there is even $10.99 and it's the only place I bet in the South that has it, only ever seen it in the Bahamas otherwise in the famous Conch Salad I searched out. No way I could buy 12 big shrimp, let alone the 12 or so oysters or squid pieces that come with a meal for that.

Unless someone can tell me where I can get seafood super cheap (since that's all I really like to stir-fry since chicken and beef are so much tastier other ways, like on the grill or in the oven) I will probably renounce my wok'ing and hang her on the wall in my kitchen to show off her patina I've worked on so hard. She is carbonized beautifully because I spent about two hours with a LOT of veggie oil, chives, and a handheld propane blowtorch. Slick as a baby's bottom, but just can't get it hot enough. Okay, I'll stop my frustrated ranting now, LOL.

P.S. - I'll take pictures when I get their food next time to let you see what I mean on the coloring. It's phenomenal, yet it's a completely hidden restaurant/market in B'ham.
 
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well, there is conveniance and then there is conveniance. you need to choose what works for you. but to me, most food we cook is always much better. not the first time nor the second but eventually. that being said, i will not attempt the food i eat at a chinese restaurant that i go to either.
 
I agree George, this might be the thing that very few of us can get right and it's better left up to professionals, or even hanging out and eating with those people who can pull it off at home on the grill....... Now who wants to invite me over for dinner?!?!?!? I'll bring the leftover white rice! Haha.

I have all the ingredients stocked up to make most Asian recipes now, but I guess I can use the fish sauce in marinades for meat since it gives a huge umami boost. Soy sauce is a given, along with oyster sauce, and so on. The fermented chili-bean sauce is the only thing I might end up chunking one day, but it was only $4. Guess the turkey fryer is out though unless it looks like that would absolutely do it.

I like the chimney idea, but I've read you have to wait in between additions for the coals to catch up since air is blocked off from the top and that it's also better to do the meal in different stages separating ingredients. Seems like that would negate that awesome flavor melding you get from a wok. But anyone who uses a chimney have to lift the wok and let the coals refresh? And how long does it take if so? I know I am over thinking this, but I love discussion and going from there and making successful attempts. Hate to get out there and see everything stew away all wet but I guess failure is what leads to success.
 
I feel your frustration with wok hay, I haven't given up myself yet, but I'm not trying as often anymore. We even notice the difference when the husband or the wife does the cooking at our local Chinese Take-Away, his cooking is full of that smoky aroma whilst hers isn't. Considering that they are using the same equipment and ingredients, there's obviously more skill to is as well that needs to be replicated.
 
Here is a picture of the lo mein from Red Pearl that I have been raving about and trying to replicate. You can see the light sizzle on the noodles and the charring on the veggies even though this picture kind of sucks. There is a flavor there that I can't describe. Their stir fry isn't saucy and isn't salty, although it does have quite a bit of oil in it, but it isn't greasy in ANY way. It's just perfect. The noodles are so soft too, not al dente at all but not mushy either. That is another big problem I have replicating and it may be the kind of noodles I am using.

photo5.jpg


Some places I have been to use a dark sauce on their stir fry and even then it isn't overly soy sauce tasting nor is it salty at all, but the stuff here is what I would imagine is really good true wok hay, because even without glopping sauce on everything there is a huge amount of flavor. I thought that it was sesame oil, but when I've used even just a tiny, tiny amount it blew out the flavor of the whole dish. I am really at a loss on what they use. A big bag of MSG I bought didn't even do it for me, although that is a wonderful seasoning to throw in dishes. Makes people wonder what that secret flavor is their are tasting. Love it.

Here is a picture of my very last attempt, and the only way I got those charring levels was with a handheld butane torch that I hit the whole thing with while it was cooking. Just wasn't the same though. It was more of a blackened flavor than the smokey wok hay you know of. Not burnt, but borderline there so it wasn't the flavor I wanted. I have no idea though, definitely a bummer.

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