[rncmomx2]

wok is a great cooking tool if you have really high heat.
if I won't have any gas burner to cook, then its won't be all that great.
For cooking on open fire, what material can withstand multiple usage without burning through? Cast iron? Is enamel coated ones any more durable?
Who sells a quality stuff, not Chinese made specials.
Anyone use wood burning kitchen stove any more?
They are pretty few pennies, but since I have wood supply, it would be great way to cook.

Lodge is made in the USA, that is what 99% of mine is from. Wal-mart sells a few pieces, Gander mountain has some more of the harder to find items.

 

[Old Philosopher]

You can break a cast iron pan or pot by dropping it or putting a cool substance in it when it is hot. I have never broken one but it could happen:upsidedown:. If nothin happens I just have extras to cook with.:thumb: I boil water in mine all the time, never has hurt the seasoning.

I have seen a cast iron wok like pan in a outdoors store at some point but I don't remeber where it was. Would that be the best of both worlds?

They do make cast iron woks, ya know. I think Sweeper has one. :thumb:

We ought to get over on the Country Living side of the house and do a how-to thread on bringing cast iron back to life. I have a chicken fryer (not a pan) and a fry pan that are about as far gone as a piece can get. They need some serious TLC.

 

[rncmomx2]

They do make cast iron woks, ya know. I think Sweeper has one. :thumb:

We ought to get over on the Country Living side of the house and do a how-to thread on bringing cast iron back to life. I have a chicken fryer (not a pan) and a fry pan that are about as far gone as a piece can get. They need some serious TLC.

I had already found it, I posted the link for anyone looking for it. I would love to have one but paying 80 bucks for it aint in the cards.

Here is a link on cleaning and care of cast iron for ya.....http://www.lodgemfg.com/use-care-seasoned-cast-iron.asp

 

[sparky]

dutch ovens work great on open fires. You can use them like a croc pot and boil, fry or bake with them. I like the idea of a wok but if you are stuck with the open flame, nothing beats the dutch oven

 

[Old Philosopher]

Sorry I missed these parts of your question earlier!

Is enamel coated ones any more durable?

Enamel coated flatware and cookware is no where near as durable as cast iron, or a good mild steel wok. Once the enamel chips, they rust from the inside out.

Who sells a quality stuff, not Chinese made specials.

Check with a quality restaurant supply house. They sell commercial grade products.

Anyone use wood burning kitchen stove any more?
They are pretty few pennies, but since I have wood supply, it would be great way to cook.

I have a wood cooking stove sitting about 15 feet from where I'm typing. It's a failry modern Olympic, circa 1920. Should I be without the power grid, or propane, I can still do a full course Thanksgiving dinner on this baby.

 

[Old Philosopher]

I had already found it, I posted the link for anyone looking for it. I would love to have one but paying 80 bucks for it aint in the cards.

Here is a link on cleaning and care of cast iron for ya.....http://www.lodgemfg.com/use-care-seasoned-cast-iron.asp

Good link...but I think these two pans I'm talking about would give Lodge a heart attack!
We're talking about a chicken roasting pan that was used for a flower pot, and then left out over 5 Montana winters (and summers). The fry pan looks like something you'd find in a turn-of-the-century miner's cabin.
I can fix 'em, no problem. I just think it might be an education for some folks to see how it's done.

 

[1911HeadBanger]

Yep, the Wok is a very valuable cooking tool. I use one for everything from our regular stir-fry dinners to scrambled eggs in the morning. As far as the BOB goes, the old stainless canteen cup and mess kit are what I use when out in the woods. You can do alot with these if you practice.

 

[Old Philosopher]

Yep, the Wok is a very valuable cooking tool. I use one for everything from our regular stir-fry dinners to scrambled eggs in the morning. As far as the BOB goes, the old stainless canteen cup and mess kit are what I use when out in the woods. You can do alot with these if you practice.

I scrambled eggs in a canteen cup once. That was...uh...interesting. :upsidedown: You're right, though, the system was pretty well thought out.

 

[wyldthang]

I will chime in and say the cast iron chicken fryer or a dutch oven. I have a small (quart+) size dutch oven that doesn't weigh much. I use my fry pans as baking dishes too, they work far better than any other baking dish(glass, enamel, nonstick). The cast iron stuff can do everything the wok can do, plus bake.

SO cast iron gets my vote. I can make(have made) PIE using my fry pan as a pie pan, nuff said!!!

 

[HFTB-PFTW]

I bought on eBay Griswold cast iron frying pans made in the 50's. They are a joy to use and easy to care for. I won't have any other type of frying pan ever again.

The new lodge pans are heavier and do not have as non-stick a surface, though my 5 year old Lodge is getting there.

I hadn't thought about woks, I'll look into them this week. Thanks for the head's up!


Knives are also important. I've been replacing my cheap old cooking knives with good quality ones and the difference is amazing. Add a good cooking knife to your wok when you bug out!

 

[RedinKY]

Nice set!!!! BTW, how in the h*** can you "break" a cast iron pan/pot? :

I dunno but I remember my sister dropping one on her foot in the kitchen and broke it in two pieces. My Mom was so mad!! Didn't break her foot tho. She kinda scared me after that.....

I used to hate cast iron but my attitude is changing. I have a few skillets now.

 

[wyldthang]

Oops, I should add that my little baby dutch oven is part of a set of various cast iron stuff, it's not the only one I have, I have a bigger family sized/pie holding one. But the baby one is definately usable for backpacking, especially if you do the 25# pack limit/ultralight stuff, you can afford the few extra pounds of a small dutch oven and gain a great pot--so much better and versatile than reg liteweight backpacking cookware.

You bring up a good point about cooking style re the wok tho--I don't really use wok/stir fry techniques, I grill or saute/braise/stew-simmer. Which could be done in a wok--but I've learned to do it well in cast iron and I'm sticking with it :0)

 

[diamond lil]

I've never had cast iron, too heavy for me. But I have cooked in many strange things...bsicuit tin lids are brilliant

 

[wyldthang]

I've never had cast iron, too heavy for me.

hope you dont' take this the wrong way...but my mother in law HATED my cast iron stuff, THANK GOD it kept her out of my kitchen and out of my cooking! At least I could cook it all WRONG by myself ! haha!

 

[HotPrepper]

I don't think it would be that hard to hand hammer these and rivet some handles on.

The guys on the Ronco infomercial were using the tops of metal drums, but this may have been for effect. Something in a 8-10 ga. steel would probably work fine. Right now you can buy one for about $30, but I enjoy this kind of work and it might be a useful skill one day. Plus you can cook the food you grew in a pan you made.

One really needs to use a modified gas burner, preferably outdoors or over a hearty exhaust fan. The flame in some restaurants is on the order of 200,000 BTUs, well out of reach of any stovetop. You want the flame to envelop the majority of the bottom of the wok. Lower temps will give you soggy, greasy food and not have that characteristic burnt taste in the peanut oil.

 

[Old Philosopher]

I don't think it would be that hard to hand hammer these and rivet some handles on.

The guys on the Ronco infomercial were using the tops of metal drums, but this may have been for effect. Something in a 8-10 ga. steel would probably work fine. Right now you can buy one for about $30, but I enjoy this kind of work and it might be a useful skill one day. Plus you can cook the food you grew in a pan you made.

One really needs to use a modified gas burner, preferably outdoors or over a hearty exhaust fan. The flame in some restaurants is on the order of 200,000 BTUs, well out of reach of any stovetop. You want the flame to envelop the majority of the bottom of the wok. Lower temps will give you soggy, greasy food and not have that characteristic burnt taste in the peanut oil.

That would be cool, to cook in your homemade wok!

I think a lot of people still over estimate the amount of heat/fire you need for wok cooking. They were designed BECAUSE fuel was limited. Here's a shot of the charcoal "stoves" I was familiar with in SEA:

This stove hasn't changed in 30 years. A lot of folks in Korea were lucky enough to own one. They run off a propane tank (ala Bernz-o-Matic) hidden in the base.

 

[Grumble69]

Woks are nice in the field. Fairly portable. But my long term, permanent cooking station is the Big Green Egg:

http://www.biggreenegg.com/

It's essentially an outdoor ceramic cooker. You can grill, smoke, and bake in the thing (direct heat or indirect). Unlike a wok, I can control & hold the temperature anywhere in the range of 250-600F. And the thing is extremely efficient. It only consumes a small amount of charcoal in each use. Just save whatever charcoal is leftover from your fires. And oh yeah, made in the USA (although the idea is Japanese).

The cost for a large is around $600 or so. Not cheap. But could be a lot worse.

 

[Wheelgunner]

hubcap cooking

As usual, my survival suggestions are about 30 years too late.

You can't just find a wok-shaped hubcap in any big parking lot anymore.

 

[ELBUFO]

The Wok From Hell

I took the end off an old 250gal propane tank. Once it was customized and cleaned up it made quite the party wok. The ends of this tank were rather shallow compared to the more rounded ones I have seen. Since it is not cast iron, it was much harder to "season", but was doable. I hang it on chains suspended from a movable arm over 1/2 of a round propane tank (looked like a buoy). So if ya gotta feed the mongolian army...this puppy will do it. It was much easier than a Mongolian BBQ to make, and due to it's shallow bowl, works almost as good for this style of cooking as well. Stirring is done with some small modified oars. The only draw back is that my fire pit is a little to large. I am going to get another tank and make me a custom firebox just for the wok with a smoke stack venting out the side and up...Basically a sealed unit at the cooking surface.

 

[Old Philosopher]

I took the end off an old 250gal propane tank. Once it was customized and cleaned up it made quite the party wok. The ends of this tank were rather shallow compared to the more rounded ones I have seen. Since it is not cast iron, it was much harder to "season", but was doable. I hang it on chains suspended from a movable arm over 1/2 of a round propane tank (looked like a buoy). So if ya gotta feed the mongolian army...this puppy will do it. It was much easier than a Mongolian BBQ to make, and due to it's shallow bowl, works almost as good for this style of cooking as well. Stirring is done with some small modified oars. The only draw back is that my fire pit is a little to large. I am going to get another tank and make me a custom firebox just for the wok with a smoke stack venting out the side and up...Basically a sealed unit at the cooking surface.

Can I come party at YOUR house? :thumb: Wish you could share a pic with us.