Noodles sticking to the bottom of my wok (not a euphemism)

[Dom]

OK, so I've cooked some egg noodles in my nice new wok a couple of times now, and despite putting some vegetable oil in the bottom before chucking the noodles in, they still stick to the bottom of the wok and burn onto it. Twice it's happened now, and even though I'm constantly stirring the noodles, they stick.

It was quite an expensive set of pots and pans too, so I'd rather not ruin them the minute I think I'm some kind of Gordon Ramsay.

So does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can stop the noodles sticking and burning?

[sarahA]

Stainless steel I presume? Do you have to seal those before use, i.e. coat it in oil and heat it up? I know you do with cast iron. Anyway, personally don't use it because I find most stuff sticks, but I think you need to use a lot of oil, and/or keep food moving quickly in it so that it doesn't have time to stick.

However someone with more experience in the not non-stick line may know better

[Dom]

Yeah they're stainless steel I think. It came in a set of 6 Prestige pots and pans. They also came with a lifetime guarantee so I imagine they should be lasting me a while. As I say, I put oil in the wok and heated it thoroughly beforehand but it didn't seem to do much good to be honest.

[Dom]

It's pretty similar to this set - https://www.prestige.co.uk/76229-prestige-cuisine-5-piece-stainless-steel-cookware-set/ - except it's a 6-piece set with a wok.

[Mr Anderson]

Has the pan been washed? If so that could potentially be an issue. I used to have a cast iron one and cleaning that involved scrubbing it out with scrunched up newspaper or kitchen roll, followed by scrubbing oil into it to finish. Basically you want to avoid putting water/soapy water into it, or anything else that could cause rust spots, to save getting 'sticky' patches.

[Dom]

Ah, I'll bare that in mind, thanks. I did wash it out before using the first time, yeah. Although only because they'd sat in their box in the loft for about three years beforehand.

[sarahA]

As I say, I put oil in the wok and heated it thoroughly beforehand but it didn't seem to do much good to be honest.

How much oil? A slight coating won't be enough AFAIK. The minute food goes in it'll soak that up and then you're left with none to prevent any sticking. You'll need a lot more than you usually use in a non stick pan. Also increase the oil depending on ingredients. Onions and mushrooms both suck up a lot of oil when cooking.

[Dom]

Ah, I did have half an onion chopped up in the pan. I actually thought I'd put too much oil in at first, but I'm guessing that I didn't have nearly enough in there now. I also had a red pepper thrown in.

[sarahA]

Most likely by the time you added the noodles there wasn't much oil left. I know when I first read and learned to cook egg fried rice (chinese stylee) that it said you needed a good 3 tbsp of oil as the rice all needed coating to prevent it sticking to both the pan and together.

[Chris H]

Oil needs to be burnt into it before use.

And no washing up liquid, ever.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A791282

Works for me until the missus throws it in the fairy liquid.

[Dom]

Great advice, thanks. I didn't do any of those things. Except use washing up liquid...