A couple reviewers mention cooking foods other than stir-fry method; can I cook a small roast in it or does it cook at high heat ONLY?
1295597
You can cook at any temperature. I've cook soup in this. I've also done long term deep frying of Chinese pretzels
1295598
Katy the wok has 14 heat settings plus a high sear setting. A recipoe book is encluded as well...with recipes from soups to chicken pieces! This wok is amazing. Great value, well worth the money. A great asset to any kitchen! Enjoy
754950
400 degrees. Through trial & error I found 300-350 is best temp for my stir fry recipes.
965569
This is a roaster great for meats-ribs, hams, small birds, etc., but it cooks way too fast to not be attended. Like a larger roaster (I have a 25 pounder for turkeys) this will take your cooking time down significantly. Instead of a 4-5 hour cook time your probably looking at 2 1/2 to 3 max. the temp on this even on low is hot. great for smaller amounts of roasting. I do cook beans, roast, etc. but once again--it cooks hot and fast. I personally love mine. its held up well.
2076353
We mainly use high heat, as high as the big burners go, and have not had a problem with stir fry. There are a few small scratches from use, but no flaking, peeling etc.
2179801
We use it mainly for breakfast eggs, bacon and tomato so we normally use it with alight spray of rice oil and at medium heat,but for a stir fry I have had it high for a short time to brown onions etc then reduce heat on a gas stove
189965
Not sure that you can since roasting is a dry heat method where the heat in the oven surrounds the food. With the exception of the sauté function, cooking in this is about moisture with little evaporation. If you turned the unit on sauté and tried to roast something, it would be like tring to roast something on a pot on the stovetop -- that method isn't roasting.
337827
You can indirect cook or roast on a Q. See link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ogP6HpME2Y
1158809
Hi. I don't recommend stirring fry vegetables in this pan on high heat. It will burn the pot and leave spots that are hard to clean. If you don't use high heat it might be ok.
790455
I'm sorry that I cannot answer your question from experience, but I have not stir fried with this little stove. Common sense tells me, however that it will certainly get hot enough in a small area of the skillet. While it will get hot enough, it may not have the wide heated area that is required for cooking a large volume of food. It would be suitable for a small demonstration, however. It is great for coffee pots, frying eggs, etc. on camping trips.
31155
Since you want to have enough room to vigorously stir the food around, I would limit it to two quarts of food. In reality you do the meat separate (maybe a cup at a time max) and add veggies later after the meat is cooked (maybe a quart at a time). So the true answer is...only a quart and a half at a time to do it like a traditional stir fry, but if you added everything back in to stir in a sauce at the end, the larger amount. Hope this helps.
2101969
No, This unit IS NOT good to cook foods with. I couldn't even get it to bring a roast up to temp in 2 days.
534462
I does well. You can set the heat level and the time for roasting. You are going to judge the roast by sight and smell so you have to experiment a bit. Record your results so that you can duplicate the process. If you over roast and everything has carmelized you just have a dark and tasteless brew. I truly do love my SR500. I've learned that slightly lighter than a Full City roast gets most of my beans, whatever the source to the place that I like. Sometimes I adjust but that's normal with green beans from different sources and moisture content.
1947296
Yes, you can cook a smaller amount. The portion doesn't matter. It will still come out just as good.
1252686
Since you are not supposed to use these pans with very high heat, I'm not sure deep frying is the best for this due to the heat. But they are great for stir frying. I never use heat higher than medium high (following recommendations), and have had no problems and they remain in great shape after 15 months of almost daily cooking. I think they are excellent pans overall, but I think you may be better served with other pans that can tolerate highest heat settings.
2098271
No, I use it mainly for frying but I assume that you could if you set the temp, put the lid on and monitor the roast. check the booklet that came with it
847277
I use peanut oil as it has a high smoke factor - the tiniest bit of oil is used with stir fry , so shouldn't be a problem
1659307
I would say no, but you might get away with a rice dish. It's a clay pot so dry high heat probably isn't good for it, would just stick with soups or a braise.