He’s the best . After 54 years I can still say that . He and his wok work magic . We got the wok when his brother in law said “ why would I want that???” when he saw his wedding present in 1973! We got a 100,000 BTU burner to make sure he could get “ wok hey”. Perfect! 
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When members post pictures, I enjoy looking at the background almost as much as the subject...the art on Benny's walls, the view out windows, the fancy kitchen appliances. Your background is lovely...and familiar. You posted a picture of that barn that's way back there and I recall saying that is exactly what I thought Virginia would look like.
Anyway, the stir fry looks wonderful. And he's wearing the oven glove. ♨️
The garage / hen house dates from when the house was built in 1920. The person we bought from in 2017 had purchased the property in 1998. She took photos of everything at that time. She made a lot of changes. Converted part of the garage to a studio.
Here’s how it looked in 1998.
Am I correct in thinking it was you who posted a picture of it, maybe last fall? Perhaps it was another member and a different barn. And maybe Vermont and not Virginia. 🙄 Going through my comments, I can't see anything about it. Getting old is swell and it's all downhill.
I’ve never had a comment on it and unlikely to have been in any pictures I posted.
My husband uses the one side as his music studio. The original garage door is sliding French doors now , we replaced some the previous owner had on there. We also added a mini split for temperature and humidity control because of his instruments. The dirt floor side we cleaned out the chicken laying boxes and added shelves and it’s for our bikes and some garden tools. Still has a dirt floor!
I'm wrong about it and it probably was Vermont. Somebody posted a picture.
@Moe
I remember about the barn, it was Sue (SueVT)...
Thread here and
Your comment
As Phaz/Davey1 would say... Enjoy! 😂
Thanks, Michael, for going to that trouble. So, the barn was only incidental to the thread. Memories are fickle.
That’s the garage / chicken house/ bike shed . It’s evolved since the 1920 house was built.
I’ll find the picture when it was a red barn for the owner 40 yrs ago!
We have spent hours out there listening to the rain , watching the fireflies and enjoying the quiet. Everyone is gone in our neighborhood. It’s so peaceful. 🙏🙏
This looks like a capital approach to beating the heat in the Summer kitchen: take it out on the patio.
As vegetarian cooks, a grill has never been in the cards. But a wok … could happen. Our Taylor & Ng had the same vintage as yours when it was scrapped in one of our moves years ago.
Gotta ask, what’s the goo in the glass destined to give your veg flavor on the plate?
Thanks for the off topic post!
Tom
R says : Oyster sauce
A little Soy Sauce
Black Vinegar
Broth
Sesame oil
Shao Xing cooking wine
Some of each. Preserved black beans YANG JIANG.
So there you have it. There was pork tenderloin marinated in some “ stuff” and fresh bok choy , red onion , broccoli, ginger root
Always fancied a wok burner, but Lancashire rain might limit its use - and maybe not the thing for an indoor domestic kitchen!
My kind of sauce there; I've got some nice aged Japanese black vinegar that works well. Supermarket Fino sherry makes a good sub for Shaoxing wine
Lance
My kind of food, in fact I'm drooling just a little.
Thanks for the off topic sharing and love the extra it brings into our baking chats too.
-Jon
🙏 there’s a lot of fun in talking about food and techniques
That stir fry looks amazing Caroline, your husband uses the wok very well. I'd love to have a wok but with an electric cooktop it wouldn't work very well.
Benny
He was stir frying in a pan on a gas cooktop in his apartment in the French Quarter when I met him in 1970. He made a cabbage and ? dish that was over cooked and soggy and I thought it was amazing. I was 19. Haha.
He and I have come a long way since then. He did wok cooking on our electric stove in Auburn AL in the late 70’s - early 80’s. It wasn’t perfect but it was darn close. Having a steel wok and getting it HOT is the key. Put way less in each batch. He managed beautifully til we moved in 2001 and I designed an amazing gourmet kitchen with the built in deep fat fryer next to the gas cooktop. It wasn’t til I got this gas propane cooker in 2016 that he really could let loose .
Give it a try. The steel wok is the key, small batches, peanut oil and preheat really smokin’ hot. 🙏
Inspiring actually. It sure looks like the way to go. And he looks so professional!
I've been thinking of trying a wok style frying pan for use on the BBQ. It's quite unusual with lots of holes, a bit like a sieve. No idea if you use oil with it as that will just drop through the holes. Something like this:
-Jon
Just seeing this post. I can’t imagine using that perforated pan unless you want some serious flaming up from the drips. Otherwise if you are doing veggies without any marinade it would work but there would still be the charcoal taste which differs from the wok hei achieved from high heat. I also would worry if there is a coating on that metal reacting with the extremely high charcoal heat.
That looks like a lot of fun. Not sure I have enough room with my pellet smoker, charcoal Webber kettle and gas grill and Ooni propane pizza oven 😬🫣. I do love a good Chinese stir-fry☺️
You have a lot of toys! We just have a tiny tabletop charcoal grill and that’s it. Since you already have the propane tank …. 😊😂
Ooh, you have lovely things!
Are you happy with the ooni propane gas pizza oven?
I'm thinking of getting something similar, was wondering if it left a smell of gas on the food? Some of the models rotate the pizza so that you don't have to do it manually too.
-Jon
And I don’t worry about exposure to it outside with my Ooni Koda. Wood smoke may bring some flavor but it is far from harmless and likely more of a heath hazard although it is a considered more like using solar power when measuring environmental impacts. They do make a dual fuel version of the oven.
The turning peel takes some practice and has some risk of doing damage but using it lets steam escape from the bottom. All of the small ovens cook unevenly but quickly. I turn the flame down after loading so it take less than 2 minutes to bake at 900F and 800F stone temperature.
Pizza baked any other way is a different animal.
D
Definitely o issues with propane smell. The newer version is supposed to promote more even cooking. I do like mine but there is a learning curve to prevent burning. I would certainly consider it.
is one of those joys of life and the food just tastes better. Thanks for sharing your space Caroline it looks lovely. I always wanted a wok burner that could double as a fish fryer but I make do with a Blackstone griddle for stir fry. It’s not as tidy as a wok but more versatile for breakfast pancakes and it does a mean patty melt.
My covered porch off the kitchen is where I enjoy cooking with 🔥
The BBQ grill gets the least use in the rotation because I am not very good at it and there’s a lot of Barbecue places around here that do it much better. Unlike the pizza oven which makes the best pizza in town.
Let’s do a cookout
D
Patty melt! My husband tried that but your big griddle did it! The burner gets so hot and is difficult to set to a low enough temp . for griddle cooking. He does try though.
What’s the secret to your patty melt? How many oz of meat?
As to pizza.. hm…. I’m sure yours is very good :) but .. but… mine is too lol!
And maxes out at about 550F and does pretty good at stir fry except for it spreads all over as you turn it and has to be gathered up. I like green peas in fried rice but they roll around against the edges.
The burger balls are 2.5 ounces before smashing and I like to use ground chuck with an 80% lean/fat mix.
Your pizza looks like a great granny’s style and maybe the best in your town but if we were neighbors it would be fun to find out whose pizza reigns supreme.
I can’t wait for the Eckart peaches to be in the stores here so I can make my favorite peach pizza pie
D
A challenge!!??? I have a problem saying my pizza is best in town a) I’ve tried pizza at the limited commercial locations and they stink b) as far as within a person’s home nope rarely / never eat at neighbor’s homes so I guess I’ll just use my grandchildren as the judges lol! “ Dammie’s pizza is the BEST ! “. 🙏😂😊❤️
Friendly challenge and a playful excuse to share a meal if we did live nearby. I take it that your neighbors aren’t the Mr Rogers type and more like the kooks and nut bags I barely tolerate around here.
We are getting ready to not celebrate with no one on the 4th There are a lot of mediocre cardboard box pizzas places here and grocery freezer aisles selling garbage that look’s like pizza as well. That was enough motivation for me to try to make something better.
I forgot to mention earlier that the griddle makes a wicked good breakfast burrito 🌯
the rest …. A wonderful Ukrainian and my soulmate gardener .
I empathize. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏❤️❤️❤️❤️
I hope my statement is non-controversial, just a general observation of fact. Political parties come and go and many governments stink, but the country itself is worth defending and loving. Independence Day is a worthy holiday, if you're inclined to celebrate national holidays. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, the USA truly is the greatest country on earth and all forum members who live in the US have reaped the benefits of living in a free, democratic and capitalist society. Why do so many of the world's immigrants choose the US? It is obvious to me.
Sermon over.
Edit: This post wss in response to something that has since been removed, so that's why it's a "what the #@*"!! is she talking about?" post.
For speaking out and up. Hopefully this will continue to be the case and our voices will not be muffled. 🙏
I did state that I was going to edit that comment out for fear of reprisal and the topic wasn’t appropriate for this forum anyway.
D
I like a good dust-up once in awhile, but this forum is surprisingly calm & pleasant, unlike the knitting forum I used to be on. You wouldn't believe how eye-gougingly brutal old women can be when it comes to politics. I attribute it to constantly having sharp objects in their hands.
Our town is tiny .Think Robert E Lee and George Washington. We have a small contingent of true thinkers.
Back to stir fry. This dish is amazing!