"Jim Wagner" > wrote in message
>
> Next, I put a wok with about a tablespoon of oil in it
> on the red hot burner. The oil began smoking at about
> 480F - which took about 30 seconds to reach. About
> 10 seconds after that the thermometer went off scale.
>
> My conclusion is that it's pretty easy to exceed 500 degrees
> on an electric stove. It happens pretty fast, too.

Your conclusion is good for woks with a tablespoon of oil. Something that
people using them should be aware of.

How about repeating the test using a normal frying pan and temperatures
used for frying eggs, or hamburgers, etc. Wok cooking, expecially Teflon
coated ones are a tiny minority of the real life cooking done every day.

>
> if you're concerned about teflon giving
> off toxic fumes or substances you should never use
> that teflon coated pan when cooking on high heat with
> the chance of the pan being essentially empty.

Sensible.

>
> And yes, we just switched back to a carbon steel wok
> and tossed the non-stick one :-( It was the only
> non-stick stove top pan we owned anyway. Everything
> else is stainless or cast iron.
>
> Jim Wagner

Traditionally, the hand hammered wok is used over very hot coals. The
design is efficient and the wok system of cooking means foods should be
moved to certain areas as they are cooked to reduce the heat. Seems to me a
Teflon wok defeats the purpose of doing so.
You will be a happier cook now.
Ed