Gravy's Cooking Thread

Deathwing said:

Any tips for cleaning an air fryer? We have the standard basket and bucket model. All the holes and slots built into the basket make it a pain in the ass to clean. So, we don't clean it after each use. Or many uses...

Now there's crud and grease built up that's only coming up with fingernail scraping. Dishwasher and soaking aren't doing anything.

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It's probably carbonized by now. Get it hot and spray some Easy Off on it for 15 minutes or so. Don't leave it on too long and rinse it good afterword or the easy off will corrode it.

Deathwing said:

Does that work for Teflon?

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Easy Off will be fine for coated surfaces and stainless steel. It will eventually corrode and/or pit any other metal such as aluminum etc.

Dr.Retarded said:

Lanx do you, or anyone else, have a good recommendation for a non-stick wok. The one I had for years is kind of kicked the bucket. Need to find another.

Was wondering if there are any of the ones out there that are ceramic coated that might be a decent option. Open to any suggestions and would appreciate them.

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Woks are designed for and benefit from high temp cooking. I try not to be an alarmist about stuff just because I have personal medical issues with chemicals, but I haven't seen anything that makes me think high-temp cooking and non-stick is anything but a bad idea from a chemical standpoint.

And in my experience the options are either chemical coatings that I don't trust, especially for high temp cooking, or gimmicks that don't actually work. Have tried ceramic and other non-chemical coating non-stick and it's always been mediocre, again especially for high temps.

My behemoth cast iron wok dies fine and with proper methods I haven't ever had any issues related to sticking. Will get some sticking and buildup, but it's easy enough to clean. I imagine if I sand it some and do a proper seasoning it'd perform much better. People seem to do fine with carbon steel, similarly.

Nonstick coatings and woks just seem antithetical to me. I've almost gone back to nonstick for an egg pan or tortilla heater, but even then we do fine with stainless steel and my smoothed cast iron respectively (though my other has issues with temps and timing and order so will end up with a messy pan at times, but those are personal problems hah).

I guess, what is a nonstick wok going to provide that a real wok of the various styles won't? Just slightly easier cleanup? Less learning curve?

Dr.Retarded said:

Gas stove. And I think of Viking 14-in Teflon and it lasted for a good long time and did a pretty good job. But also take it out and use it on the grill for higher temps and I think maybe that's where it shit the bed.

I just didn't know if there was new technology in coatings like ceramics to where you can get much higher temperatures, and not worry about degradation. I thought about buying carbon steel in my past but I just don't want to have to fuck with the upkeep. I don't use it that often, hence the reason to have a non-stick. I could get a cast iron maybe, it's not that I don't keep up with a bunch of those.

I'm just trying to find an easy solution for the times where I need to use one.

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Properly seasoned cast iron should be fine, but most wok cooking involves either a ton of oil or constant moving. Sticking shouldn't be an issue

Dr.Retarded said:

Yeah, I was just trying to see if I could find a solution that was non-stick and holds up to high heat. Again I just don't want to have to screw around with maintaining a seasoning for something I don't screw around with much. I'm not Oriental, and I pull out the wok maybe once a month.

All my Le creuset cast iron is well seasoned, and I guess that's why I was asking about that specifically because I would imagine they probably have a decent offering, or somebody else does.

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This is why I gave up on "traditional" methods long ago. I was starting to be overrun by specialty cooking "tools" and running out of room for things I barely ever use. Like my Vitamix. It's cool and all but I almost never use it

Even if stuff sticks you can get creative and deglaze it into a sauce.

Dr.Retarded said:

Gas stove.

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If on gas you've got a great setup for a light carbon steel wok and real high temp stir frying. Especially if you can do a curved wok holder attachment to swap out that gets the wok lower and offers some support. With a lightweight carbon steel wok that would be my ideal indoor setup.

Preferred over cast iron, which I find works okay but only if you're stuck on electric or induction. Flat bottom cast iron on gas doesn't really make sense.

And if you're only using a wok once a month that isn't that rough for upkeep, right? Because you're not doing frequent maintenance? And gas with carbon steel makes for quick heating, cleaning and re-seasoning after dinner I think is how it works.

There's not really an easy solution that makes sense or magic nonstick that isn't shit in my opinion. I'm particular about turning my frogs gay with chemicals though.

And if you're not doing high temp inside, then I'm not sure a wok is really needed. It just becomes a bowl shaped pan. Which nothing wrong with that, can be handy I suppose. I do a lot of stir frying in my 12 inch All Clad because it's just light enough I can fling the food (with some mess) and often only doing smaller servings for two. Just have to do it in batches, at times, since there's less capacity and you don't have the sides of the wok to move things to.

Carbon steel would be great for the grill, too.

I think you know what you need to do, just hoping there's some miracle to solve a problem in not sure you actually have.