Hamburger + Wok = Inevitable Smoke?

September 21, 2006 6:29 PM

Have fun and hilarity at my expense! So I tried to pan fry a hamburger in a wok and my apartment is now full of smoke...

I don't know much about cooking, especially in a wok.

Here's what happened:

1. I bought pre-shaped hamburgers at Sam's Club, I assumed they were pre-cooked because I was in a rush.

2. I get home and open the box and they are not pre-cooked. I think "whatever, they'll just take longer".

3. Heat up wok.

4. Put in wok.

5. Make sure battery isn't in smoke detector, because dear lord is there a ton of smoke.

At how many and which points did I go wrong? What should I have done differently? Should I have pan cooked it in a pan, perhaps? Should I have put oil in the bottom of the wok first (I didn't want an oily burger, so I didn't).

It does taste good, for the record; I'm eating it right now.

Please feel free to laugh at my expense, I have a self-deprecating sense of humor anyway.

posted by ztdavis to food & drink (15 comments total)

Is the wok brand new? If so, did it come covered in some coating that you're supposed to wash off before using it?
posted by winston at 6:36 PM on September 21, 2006

3. Heat up wok.

you don't heat up a pan when you cook a hamburger, so why would you heat up a wok?

i think that's where you went wrong
posted by pyramid termite at 6:38 PM on September 21, 2006

Winston:
The wok is a month old and I've been working to season it, so it's been used several times without this particular problem.

Pyramid Termite:
That's very likely it, let's test the theory with another burger.
posted by ztdavis at 6:44 PM on September 21, 2006

Pyramid termite for the win. The second burger, without a preheated wok, had little if any smoke.

I knew it was something obvious.
posted by ztdavis at 6:57 PM on September 21, 2006

Thanks for both of your help, by the way.
posted by ztdavis at 7:03 PM on September 21, 2006

Perhaps your heat was too high. It should smoke a bit, and might even be enough to set off a smoke detector which is close, but not too much more than that. You are cooking burgers, not stir frying you know.

On the other hand, do not ever try to make authentic blackened food inside without a chemistry-lab grade smoke hood (we are talking a cast iron skillet which is so hot that its IR emissions in the visible spectrum are visible in a brighly lit room). Who would think that you could fill an entire A-frame cabin with smoke, from top to bottom, choking uncomfortable smoke, in just a couple of minutes with a frying pan and a couple of rainbow trout?
posted by caddis at 7:04 PM on September 21, 2006

To further pyramid termite - you can heat up a pan to fry a hamburger and then fry one, a wok however is designed to be heated to searing temperatures ASAP and so will have been hotter than a frying pan in the same situation. There is no problem heating up a frying pan before cooking in it - it will gradually heat up, much more slowly than a wok. Don't use a wok in future.
posted by fire&wings at 7:18 PM on September 21, 2006

Three little words: cast iron skillet.
posted by holgate at 7:20 PM on September 21, 2006

A work get hotter I think (I think it's thinner) than a normal pan, and you're supposed to keep the food moving (hence "stir fry"). I think it would be hard to keep a hamburger moving like that, and I'm betting you didn't!
posted by crabintheocean at 7:26 PM on September 21, 2006

Were you using butter or oil, if oil, what kind? Various oils have higher and lower smoke temps.
posted by doctor_negative at 7:27 PM on September 21, 2006

To cast another vote for holgate: cast-iron skillet, under the broiler, 3 minutes on each side. Perfect burgers.

Salmon, you ask? Douse the filet in hoisin sauce, place in cast iron under the broiler for 8 minutes. Serve with rice and warm rolls, and charge each of your friends $20.
posted by jbickers at 8:04 PM on September 21, 2006 [1 favorite]

Pre-cooked hamburgers are widely available. Hint: They come on buns with fries and you don't have to get out of your car and wander through Sam's club.
Although if you hit Sam's at the right time you can fill up on freshly prepared samples of tasty cooked food.
posted by longsleeves at 8:22 PM on September 21, 2006

What do you mean you don't heat up a pan when you cook a hamburger? I always allow a skillet to heat up before I put a burger or steak on it so that the outside of the meat will immediately sear and give me that really nice caramelization. If you allow the pan to heat up slowly you will not get that before the meat itself is cooked. I say this as someone who has worked as a chef..if that adds any credibility.
posted by spicynuts at 7:24 AM on September 22, 2006

Thanks jbickers, for some reason I had never thought of broiling burgers. Gotta' try it. Upside down grilling- I love it!
posted by dkippe at 9:09 AM on September 22, 2006

spicynuts:

They did seem to taste a whole lot better when they were a little seared, but that also seems to be what caused all the smoke. Is there a way to sear them in a skillet without maybe alerting the fire department?
posted by ztdavis at 5:47 PM on September 22, 2006