"Jaclyn" > wrote in message
...
> I'm trying to decide on what type of wok to get for when I get married
> in a few months, and there seems to be a bit of a debate about whether
> the sides of a wok should be hot or not. I was looking at this
> carbon-steel wok on cooking.com:
>
> http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=179458
>
> There is a review on that page which says that a real wok is supposed to
> get hot in the sides, and this one does not, which creates a possibility
> of food-poisoning. I have also read that cast-iron woks can be good
> because they heat evenly all over, including the sides (of course there
> is the downside of their weight, and the fact that they are less
> responsive when you want to turn down the heat).
>
> On the other hand, I have read (in some newsgroup postings and in a
> book) that the sides of a wok are *not* supposed to be as hot as the
> bottom, because that way you can push certain ingredients to the side
> while you are cooking other ingredients. Personally, I have never used
> this technique myself, and I'm not sure why it would be beneficial. It
> seems to me that if you are using certain ingredients that you don't
> want to cook as long, you would just add them in later, rather than
> pushing them up the sides. But maybe I'm wrong - I've only stir-fried a
> few times, using a large flat pan that belongs to my mother.
>
> So my question is, is it better to get a wok that gets hot on the sides,
> or one that doesn't? And which material would be best for this purpose?
> (I'm assuming cast-iron if I want it to heat all over, and carbon steel
> if I want cooler sides?) My fiance has an electric stove, so I will need
> something with a flat bottom.
>
> -Jaclyn

I hate to throw a wet blanket on your enthusiasm, but I think this is all
academic. I doubt that any wok on any electric range (with the possible
exception of induction) is going to perform well. The wok simply won't get
hot enough and you end-up steaming the food. As soon as the first portion
of food is put in the wok, the temperature drops and the burner doesn't put
out enough heat to let the temperature of the wok recover. The same is true
of most gas ranges. Some commercial style ranges have very high BTU wok
burners that MAY approach the performance that is necessary for proper wok
cooking. Then, you also have to have very good ventilation to cope with the
smoke that will be produced.

My opinion is that the sides of the wok are not suppose to be smoking hot.
You "park" the food there and then add more ingredients to the bottom. But
as discussed above, the bottom won't really be all that hot, so it is a moot
point. I think you are better off getting a cast iron skillet smoking hot
and stir frying the ingredients in that. You can cook them in states and
then combine them at the end when you make the sauce to reheat.

I don't understand the comment about the food poising. Properly cooked food
can be held at room temperature for up to two hours without a problem
according to the USDA. To hold food for service for a longer time, it must
be held either below 40F or above 140F.