Quote:
Originally Posted by Ducay
This is a terrible trick for precisely that reason you warned. All it takes is one of those decent sized blobs of water to be left in the pan to cause (not just spattering) but some of the oil to get vaporized with the steam, which will ignite a hell of a lot easier. This is why you don't put water on oil fire.
You could flick a few dribbles of water into the pan, maybe, just to ensure they float, but you're better just feeling the heat, then adding the oil and letting it heat (if needs a few more seconds) until it starts shimmering, or wisps of smoke appear.
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Hmm... I was always taught that if I were to use water to test the heat, that I was to take a wet towel to completely wipe away the water and allow it to fully evaporate prior to putting in oil. (Usually a wet towel rag thing). Furthermore, the wok we used had a specific "white ish color" to the metal when it was ready for oil so we never really used the water trick after a while.
If I didn't wipe off water because no towel or whatever, I was to turn off the heat just prior to adding oil and swirling it. (Heat is generally off for like 5-10 seconds maybe). If I see smoke, don't turn the heat back on immediately, take away from heat source and swirl it a little more, wait for it to cool then turn heat back on and put it on the heat source.
Possibly my explanation is a little off, but the methods I describe are used by my relatives as well and I have never in my life witnessed oil fires.
Is this method incorrect?