Hot Pot For Home Use

[weinoo]

I'm looking to purchase a Mongolian/Chinese/etc. hot pot, so that I can do hot pot at home.  There are lots of them for sale on Amazon and other sites, and just yesterday I saw one in an Asian grocery I visited in Queens.

 

But, they seem to all be made of the same thing - really, really, thin stainless steel. So while it will work on my induction cooker, or with a butane single burner unit, I was wondering if anyone has seen or owns one that might be a little bit heavier?

Edited March 22, 2017 by weinoo (log)

[liuzhou]

3 hours ago, weinoo said:

they seem to all be made of the same thing - really, really, thin stainless steel.

 

If they are Chinese made as you seem to suggest, they will be thin steel. That's all I've ever seen here. Some people do, however, use a wok with their induction cooker or single burner.

[weinoo]

Thanks, Li...

 

[Shalmanese]

Hotpot pots are only ever used for wet cooking so heat distribution isn't an issue and you want responsiveness so you can turn the flame up and down over the course of a session. A thin pot is perfect for this use case, there's no advantage in going thicker.

[weinoo]

Seriously, no advantage?

 

Other than maybe better quality?

[Chris Hennes]

Quality in what sense? As far as I am concerned, quality in cookware is the ability to do the job you need it for. What do you hope to gain with a different construction?

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I can't speak for @weinoo, but he, probably like me, is just fed up with the lack of durability in what should be durable goods lately. It is very hard to argue with the logic in @Shalmanese's post above though. He makes a very succinct and good case for less is more in the case of a hot pot. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Do you have any bias against appliances?  Consider the Zojirushi EP-PBC10.  The pan can even be used on the stove top.

 

I don't have the EP-PBC10 but my chicken tonight was grilled on my Zojirushi grill.  Pretty good, if I don't say so myself.  If hot pot was what I wanted Zojirushi would be an easy choice.

 

[liuzhou]

2 hours ago, Shalmanese said:

there's no advantage in going thicker.

 

Having gone through three or four hotpot pans over the last few years and had them wear through and develop holes, I'm going to disagree. I have recycled a couple as plant pots - one is full of vigourously growing mint at the moment.

 

2 hours ago, Shalmanese said:

Hotpot pots are only ever used for wet cooking

 

Not so. Dry hot pots are very common. There is a recipe for one example here. The author of this recipe cooks it in a wok then transfers the finished dish to a serving plate, but I've never seen that done here in China. It is cooked and served in a regular hotpot pan on an induction heater or burner as normal .

Hot pots, dry or wet, are mainly winter dishes and in unheated homes in the south (i.e. most) the food would be ice cold in minutes if re-plated without a heat source. Hot pots are pretty much the only way to get a hot meal in the worst of the winter, Hence their popularity.

[dcarch]

A thin (and cheap) hot pot has advantages.

 

Many hot pots are used on a $12.00 propane portable table top stove, which has limited fire power. A pot with thin wall works well. Many hot pot restaurants too use that kind of portable stove and the same thin pots.

 

dcarch

[weinoo]

On 3/23/2017 at 0:27 AM, Chris Hennes said:

Quality in what sense? As far as I am concerned, quality in cookware is the ability to do the job you need it for. What do you hope to gain with a different construction?

 

Well, some answers are below.

 

I'm also of the belief that a heavier pot on my dining table, with a bunch of people sticking stuff into it,  might be more stable.

 

On 3/23/2017 at 1:48 AM, Thanks for the Crepes said:

durability in what should be durable goods lately. 

 

I'm sort of about the same thinking.

 

On 3/23/2017 at 2:51 AM, liuzhou said:

 

Having gone through three or four hotpot pans over the last few years and had them wear through and develop holes, I'm going to disagree. I have recycled a couple as plant pots - one is full of vigourously growing mint at the moment.

 

 

Not so. Dry hot pots are very common. There is a recipe for one example here. The author of this recipe cooks it in a wok then transfers the finished dish to a serving plate, but I've never seen that done here in China. It is cooked and served in a regular hotpot pan on an induction heater or burner as normal .

Hot pots, dry or wet, are mainly winter dishes and in unheated homes in the south (i.e. most) the food would be ice cold in minutes if re-plated without a heat source. Hot pots are pretty much the only way to get a hot meal in the worst of the winter, Hence their popularity.

 

Thanks, Li.

 

This restaurant, which opened a year or so ago, is all dry hot pot...MaLa Project.

Edited March 25, 2017 by weinoo
add some stuff, spelling error (log)

[weinoo]

12 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

Do you have any bias against appliances?  Consider the Zojirushi EP-PBC10.  The pan can even be used on the stove top.

 

I don't have the EP-PBC10 but my chicken tonight was grilled on my Zojirushi grill.  Pretty good, if I don't say so myself.  If hot pot was what I wanted Zojirushi would be an easy choice.

 

 

I have no bias against appliances; I actually like Zoji products and own one or two of them. I am looking for a hot pot which has two separate sections for two types of cooking liquid, and also might take up a little less room to store.

[liuzhou]

11 hours ago, weinoo said:

This restaurant, which opened a year or so ago, is all dry hot pot...MaLa Project.

 

Yeah, "mala*" suggests that it is a Sichuan place and dry hot pots are particularly popular there.

 

*麻辣 - má là describes the flavour of Sichuan food. 麻 - má is the numbing effect of Sichuan peppercorns. 辣 - là is the spiciness of chili peppers.

 

Edited March 24, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[Toliver]

On 3/22/2017 at 1:02 PM, weinoo said:

I'm looking to purchase a Mongolian/Chinese/etc. hot pot, so that I can do hot pot at home.  There are lots of them for sale on Amazon and other sites, and just yesterday I saw one in an Asian grocery I visited in Queens.

 

But, they seem to all be made of the same thing - really, really, thin stainless steel. So while it will work on my induction cooker, or with a butane single burner unit, I was wondering if anyone has seen or owns one that might be a little bit heavier?

 

The last hot pot I saw in a local Chinese restaurant I'd swear it was cast iron. It was black with the bumpy texture I normally associate with the exterior sides of a cast iron skillet. It was quite heavy.

I'd hazard a guess they're out there somewhere...obviously difficult to locate.

[Beebs]

Is it necessary to get a hot pot-specific pot?  I recall my family used a deep, heavy corning ware casserole/pot, and also clay pots.  Until my folks discovered the wonders of the induction stove.... Now all we use is the stainless steel type.

 

A few months ago, for giggles, my dad dragged out a really old-school type of hot pot. Made of steel with a chimney in the middle, in which you put charcoal to heat up the broth.  They got it as a wedding present, but have never used it, preferring instead the electric stove.

[weinoo]

19 hours ago, Beebs said:

Is it necessary to get a hot pot-specific pot?  I recall my family used a deep, heavy corning ware casserole/pot, and also clay pots.  Until my folks discovered the wonders of the induction stove.... Now all we use is the stainless steel type.

 

A few months ago, for giggles, my dad dragged out a really old-school type of hot pot. Made of steel with a chimney in the middle, in which you put charcoal to heat up the broth.  They got it as a wedding present, but have never used it, preferring instead the electric stove.

 

I want a hot pot specific pot simply because they're the only ones I've seen with separate compartments for different types of cooking broth. I'm sure I could use an enameled cast iron casserole that I already own to play around with one broth.

 

I've also seen both the clay pot versions (I think they're used for shabu shabu?) and the ones that get filled with charcoal in the center, though using one of those in my apartment might not be the wisest choice .

[liuzhou]

19 hours ago, Beebs said:

Is it necessary to get a hot pot-specific pot?

 

If you want to do a double hot pot (鸳鸯火锅 - yuān yāng huǒ guō ), then yes. Like this.

[weinoo]

On 3/24/2017 at 2:30 AM, liuzhou said:

 

Yeah, "mala*" suggests that it is a Sichuan place and dry hot pots are particularly popular there.

 

*麻辣 - má là describes the flavour of Sichuan food. 麻 - má is the numbing effect of Sichuan peppercorns. 辣 - là is the spiciness of chili peppers.

 

 

 

Slightly off-topic, but good Sichuan restaurants have really upped their game in New York City over the past decade. Even in Manhattan, there are a good dozen places to get quality Sichuan food in restaurants.

[liuzhou]

1 minute ago, weinoo said:

 

Slightly off-topic, but good Sichuan restaurants have really upped their game in New York City over the past decade. Even in Manhattan, there are a good dozen places to get quality Sichuan food in restaurants.

 

Same in London.

Sichuan has a few, too!

Edited March 25, 2017 by liuzhou (log)