WARNING: Silpat, induction and wok do not mix!
pbrisjar
15 years ago
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Fori
15 years agopbrisjar
15 years agoRelated Discussions
New wok, things to do with it?
Comments (13)A non-stick wok is basically a bowl-shaped saute pan that you shouldn't heat hot enough to really stir-fry. Goldgirl, if you have a gas stove, you can pick up a real wok quite cheaply in any Chinatown (if you live close to one) or online...of course you'll have to temper it like you do an iron frypan. However, modern gas stoves really don't allow for the kind of heat classic stir-frying requires, and with an electric, forget it. See, a wok is designed with the idea of flames coming up the sides, creating a large, hot surface that the food (because of the slope) naturally tends to fall off, only to be tossed back up. So, the food is cooked by repeated but relatively brief contact with a very hot surface. This sears in juices and cooks through at the same time. In a nonstick, or over an inadequate heat source, the searing heat isn't possible, and so juices leach out of the vegetables, creating more of a "steaming" effect, which is what you'd get with a saute pan. The wok "effect" is more easily achieved with a good, heavy stainless saute pan used with constant "flipping" of the food being cooked over a high heat than with a wok over a modern gas or electric heat....See MoreWhere can you buy Silpat?
Comments (17)Cotehele: I was alarmed when I read in one of your posts that you got a large piece of silpat to cut down for use in your convection oven. I wondered about that after reading these posts and went to the manufacturer's website to learn more. The DeMarle website specifically states not to cut silpat or use sharp instruments on it. It has fiberglass in it and the fiber glass can migrate to food if the surface is cut. That can't be a good thing. They even go so far as to say to store it flat, not folded, to wash with warm water, not to scrub it and to air dry it. I am still not a fan but I might try it again and see if I can overcome my aversion to the greasy feel of the thing. I do prefer the aesthetic of parchment paper though....See Morewhere/how do you store your silpats?
Comments (31)I haven't had the nerve to try Silpats on my induction yet. I used parchment fine for bacon, etc, then used it while making tortillas. The flat cast iron was heated hotter for longer, I guess, and the paper scorched badly. When I moved it, there was a cloudy area below it that didn't clean off. Freaked me out pretty severely, but I got some Cerambryte and took it back up 2 weeks later and the cloudy area came right off. I don't know what it was, it really didn't seem surficial, but it must have been. I've been nervous about trying that again, but maybe I'll do it with a Silpat next time, thanks!...See MoreHIIP054U How Hot do Hobs Get?
Comments (10)I routinely (always) use silicone rubber pads under my pots and pans. And I always start eggs boiling under boost and use boost for various other temporary heating tasks, such as bringing a large pot for spaghetti to boiling. Boost is not the issue. Pan temperature is the issue. All power transferred by the hob coil goes to the pan and not to the silicone or the Ceram glass cooktop. Pans get hot and transfer heat by conduction back to the silicone pad or pads. Some conduction from the pad to the glass occurs, some convective heating of the air under the pan occurs, and some radiation from the pan to the glass occurs, all of these modestly raising the temperature of the glass. So long as no cooking is performed at temperatures higher than threshold smoking of peanut oil (450F), the silicone pads (if cut from the high temperature rated silicone) will not be affected. It is when a pan is accidentally heated without water or sufficient food for too long at a high power level that the pan base passes the silicone damage temperature threshold and the pads start deteriorating. (So too would any food in the pan start deteriorating.) In such a case one has to replace the pads by cutting out new pads from the silicone sheet that one is using for a source. Now, there are a few underlying details that should be noted. Most high temperature silicone rubber has historically been colored red oxide. Other colors of high temperature silicone can now be found however. (See for example the MSC catalog at mscdirect.com.) I am unaware of any clear silicone that is rated at the 450F and above range. In the image above, a clear reinforced silicone is evident. It may only be rated for baking cookies. I await any data the poster has on this particular mat. In any case, I favor a different way of supporting the pans with silicone pads. If three or four small pads cut from a larger sheet are used (scaled to pan size), the pan has less thermal contact with the glass underneath and the glass temperature does not rise anywhere near the temperature of the pan. The hob glass is only uncomfortably hot under my egg pan after two minutes of boost to boiling and 10 minutes of half-power controlled boiling. I haven't tested the glass temperature under a grilling pan. I would expect some potential for burns, but nothing like a radiant coil surface would reach. Bottom line: Cook within the safe cooking temperatures of food and the silicone rubber pads supporting the pan will not char or deteriorate. Walk away when you shouldn't on a pan heating up at too high a rate and you will start damaging the silicone. In my post disaster investigation experience, if a pan gets too hot for the silicone, by the time the silicone has given up the ghost the hob has shut down due to pan radiant heat heating the thermal sensor at the center of the hob coil. Failed silicone rubber will have darkened, thinned, and appear limp relative to its initial flexibility. I've never had a silicone rubber "goo" problem with any family cooking mistake. kas...See Moredatura-07
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