J Krugman wrote in message ...
I have always been intimidated by stir frying: the high heat, the
smoke, the bazillion ingredients... Maybe I spooked myself out,
but these fears were amply confirmed when I attempted my first stir
fry last Monday. What a nightmare!

I followed the instructions I had to the letter (well, almost; see
below): during what seemed like an eternity of chopping and other
prep work, I let my 12" skillet heat up slowly over a very low
flame; then I cranked up the heat to high for 3-4 minutes, added
to 3 T of peanut oil to the skillet, let it heat up for about 1
minute, and then added my first batch (of 2) of marinated, bite-sized
chunks of chicken breast (about 1/2 pound's worth). My instructions
said that these should be stir-fried for 2-3 minutes, until golden
brown. At around the 2 minute mark I noticed that the oil was
burning badly (it was turning dark brown), and right about then,
the building's smoke alarm went off, even though the smoke detector
is outside my apartment, behind a thick, firmly-shut door (I had
turned off the power to the smoke detector inside my apartment
before I started cooking). Needless to say, I had to abort the
project...

In the aftermath, I discovered that the oil's high heat had melted
off the edge of my nonstick-friendly spatula, a veteran of many a
sauteeing campaign.

The one thing I did not do according to the instructions that might
have prevented this little disaster was to use a nonstick skillet.
(My biggest nonstick skillet seemed too small for the task, so I
opted for my 12" stainless-steel one.) Perhaps with a nonstick
skillet, and consequently less oil, I would have had less smoke...

My kitchen, and hence my stove, is far away from any external wall;
there is no reasonable way for me to vent my stove to the outside.
Right now my stove is equipped with a puny recirculating fan (which,
incidentally, was turned on during the episode I described above,
to no avail), tucked somehow under and around a microwave oven. I
imagine that any scheme to take care of stir-fry smoke will involve
relocating the microwave oven and installing a better hood/fan. My
main question is, is there an indoor venting system that can handle
the smoke generated by a stir-fry well enough to prevent smoke
alarms from going off? If so, what brands/models/styles should I
be looking out for?

Other questions I have a is it in fact OK to use a nonstick
surface at such high temperatures? how do I cook in batches at
high heat and at the same time avoid burning the oil? where can I
find a spatula that is both nonstick-friendly and capable of
withstanding the very high stir-frying temperatures? is there any
way to minimize the smoke that does not detract from the quality
of the stir-fry?

Thanks for your stir-frying wisdom!

Jill

Use cast iron. ;-)

C.