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Trying to put a PID controller in the loop by using a smart induction burner and a probe (or other thermometer) probably won't deliver great results. As soon as food hits the oil, the temp is going to drop hard and unless you're frying something really thick like pieces of chicken, your food probably won't be in there long enough for the heater to fully recover the difference. I usually fry in a dutch oven on a nice 1800W induction burner (Vollrath Mirage Pro) and even with the power cranked to 100, the oil temp never gets back up to its starting temp during the fry process. I sometimes start with hotter oil to compensate (like starting around 415F for the final fry where my target frying temp is around 375F, and even then I have to jack the power to 100% to make sure the oil temp doesn't drop too low. This is frying in reasonably sized batches. My preferred method is to use a wok over a high powered wok burner, but that's an "outside only" situation. If you're lucky enough to have a high output gas burner indoors (like on a Blue Star or whatever) frying in a wok might be the best way to fry at home. At least if you have good extraction.

I got a large pork shoulder with making carnitas in mind but Charlie wanted it cut up for spicy pork bulgogi so that is what I did. I don't know why it turned out so dark. It should have been red but it wasn't burnt. It tasted like it should. Maybe it was the cast iron grill that is the cause. It's going to take a long time to get it cleaned up. Next time I'll use the wok. This is about a third of the whole. The rest is portioned out and in the freezer.

I have a blue star (for another 3-4 weeks) and a wok. Still have to be rather careful on batch size and over shooting either way. Moving to a wolf induction which in testing with other things responded significantly faster than the blue star. Going to miss the gas, but not the heat and splatter that comes with it.

Sorry, Woks of Life, but 捞面 does not translate as you have it. 捞 translates as 'dredged' or 'fished out'. 面 translates as many things but here 'wheat noodles'. Nothing to do with stirring or any other wok technique. The noodles are briefly cooked in a pan of water from which they are dredged or fished out before being incorporated in with the other ingredients in the wok.

Thank you @btbyrd for your detailed response. I am asking for the induction coil sizing matching to the Pan size. Please see the attached image. So that the heat evenly spreads over the entire bottom. Yes as you said i saw in some woks the coil covering only a portion of the bottom and the heat wont spread beyond that coil area resulting in partial cooking of the food. Actually I am looking for Induction cooktops and brat pans ranging from 50 liters to 400 liters sizes. I am getting more details and will post further for your valuable inputs like in your post. Thank you

Would love input on my shopping list. Remodeling the house and my beloved Bluestar and Copper Mauviels aren’t part of the plan. Basically starting from scratch pan wise outside of some oblique pieces I am not replacing. For the ones I am replacing my current shopping list is below. Would love input on if there is something else that would be of benefit to replace/upgrade these with. I've searched the forum and while there are topics on pans, none of them seem to be focused on induction and choosing overall the pieces that will be used. I am definitely willing to budget more if there is a gain, but would like a well rounded list. It pans me to replace my copper, but the time has come. Some great info on copper pans here: Some great info on copper cookware here: Which led me to the Falk which you will see below. As for pan technologies this is also a great read Either way, for this thread we are a family of 4, rather large eaters and we make pretty much food from every part of the world. Induction is new to us and I'd like to make the right decision the first time through. Here are what we are contemplating first in pictures and then my Excel summary. Frying pans: General purpose Falk Copper in 28 & 32cm High heat searing Demeyere Proline 32cm High heat not worry about it pan Madein Carbon Sauce/Saucier: Generally looking at only Saucier as I don’t know what I’d need a sauce pan in addition? Falk 18, 24, 28 Butter warmer Made in .75 Quart Griddle & Wok Madein I’ve tested this griddle, but have no idea on the wok. The griddle worked great on the Wolf induction range I am getting so I figure it is logical Stock pot/Dutch Oven Cuisinart 12qt and LeCreuset 7.5qt General questions: · I hadn’t planned lids that match as I tend to prefer silicon lids that are more universal. Butter warmer is the exception, am I nuts? · Is the 11.5“/29cm diameter stock pot logical or something narrower and taller? · 7.25qt/liter LeCreuset the right size for a family of 4? Staub or another choice more logical? · I have both a 28cm Saute and Saucier...are these redundant? Should I instead get a smaller Saucier? · Being the Saute is a bottom only cooking vessel should I go with the Demeyere instead? ... or possibly a Fissler? And my shopping/pricing list. I am going to Europe here in November and being the prices of Falk/Demeyere are much better there plan to purchase then. As a pre-shopping I had planned to order the try me Falk pan now. Feel free to point out anything negative, positive or nuts. I have some time, but would like to prepare for my trip.

My new LG gas stove has a central burner like that. I don't think it's measurably higher than the others, but it has 2 rings for flames. If you turn on both of them it sounds like a jet engine, so I rarely turn it all the way up. I used it for wok cooking and for quickly heating my canning kettle. Supposedly it can be used with a comal but I prefer putting that on 2 burners for more even heating. By the way, all the talk about eliminating gas stoves will work only in the US and other countries with relatively low electrical rates. Electricity is much too expensive in Mexico for anything electric--portable heaters, stoves--so everyone uses gas (or wood) for cooking. It's a 3-rate system: the lowest usage gets the lowest rate, much of which is government subsidized, and at the upper rate it's eye-wateringly high. And if you dip into the highest rate in one month you're stuck with that rate for 12 months regardless of whether your normal usage is lower. We spend a lot of time turning off lights even though we've converted to LEDs.

Well yes, but I wouldn't / couldn't get a wok burner. No one in China uses them domestically. We do use stand-alone induction units like this for hot pots etc, but it deals with stir fries just fine when ocassionally needed. Otherwise, domestic gas cookers are used. More on this here.

I have indoor only crocs for kitchen. The lined version only. I wasn't a believer in crocs at first, but now can't cook without them as my foot armor. I have another pair for my outside cooking, they have melted areas from stray ashes from my tao burner wok setup.

I got to fool around the other day at Frontier Energy Food Service Technology Center and they had some SERIOUS induction woks!

Stir fried eggplant with ground pork from Woks of Life - first stir fry Chinese eggplant, then ground pork with garlic, ginger, dried chili. Finish with sauce made from water, corn starch, light and dark soy sauce, sugar, rice vinegar, roasted sesame oil, oyster sauce, Shaoxing rice wine and white pepper

Feeling a bit bored I decided to enumerate my battery of cookware. Only general purpose pots and pans designed for cooking over direct heat on the stovetop. I counted 60. This excludes all electronics and bakeware, as well as specialty pieces such as grills, griddles, fish poacher, aebleskiver pan, takoyaki pan (takoyaki are smaller than aebleskiver after all), and Rancho Gordo bean pot. Plus the humongous chicken steamer. For purposes of this post I did include my tagines and donabe which are more generic in function than, say, an aebleskiver pan. Though I dare say in a pinch one could prepare passable takoyaki in an aebleskiver pan. But why would one? The pieces I use most often seem to be a forty year old stainless stockpot (no copper or aluminum, just thin steel), a well battered Williams Sonoma Thai wok (for which I have a spare still in the box), and a variety of saucepans. What I find myself lacking is a small saute pan. Sad. Particularly since I prefer saucepans with high sides. How do other eGulleters relate to their pot and pan addictions?

Easy Tortilla "Jian Bing" from Kenji in The Wok My flour tortillas (TJ's Truly Handmade) were a bit smaller and thicker than the usual so the result wasn't as crêpe-like as intended and aside from the hoisin and chile oil, mine skews more quesadilla than jian bing but still a quick, tasty breakfast.

It was about 20 years ago. A friend was leaving China for the USA to study, so a farewell party. The event was held in a restaurant owned by a mutual friend who kindly gave me access to the kitchen. The omelette (plain) was made in one of their huge woks. Woks are not really suited to omelette making as the egg naturally pools in the bottom, so I had to keep swirling it until the egg set around the edges of the pan – back-breaking work. The hardest part was then folding it. I remember I took three of us to flip it over on itself. It was then served on a huge banquet platter, presented intact, then cut into slices with a machete! Someone did take pictures but it was before the Instagram age whereby people photograph every piece of trivia they come across, so I don’t have a copy. Also most of the attendees are long gone from China (two long gone from the world, alas), but I can ask around and see if anyone has one. The friend settled in Seattle after her study and is still there. She doesn’t have a copy, either. Everyone did find it hilarious but assumed it was just made with lots of separate chicken or duck eggs, but I had kept the now empty shell as evidence. Both emu and ostrich egg shells are sold here pre-blown (no, you don't get the contents) as curios or ornaments, usually intricately and beautifully painted or carved. Here are a couple of images from Taobao, Chinese largest online shopping site. Painted Emu Egg Painted and Carved Ostrich Eggs.

I realize that you don't believe anyone but yourself. However, there are other sources (and I only put woks of life in there to aggravate you - it seems to have worked!). https://www.eater.com/23053390/guide-to-buying-chinese-soy-sauce https://themalamarket.com/products/zhongba-dark-soy-sauce-naturally-brewed This makes zero sense, considering Heinz has always made what everyone else strives to achieve when making ketchup. And with other good-quality products.

Not sure if the Gagg is 10 settings or half settings or what. It was like $8k and the Wolf was $3300 so it wasn't in the running for me. It has singular coils and isn't the "freedom" setup of the Thermador with a ton of coils. It does have some "long throw" tech to supposedly heat up a wok further from the burner than most. Either way, just wasn't worth the extra dough for a knob for me. I wish others had the same knob setups....in particular the Bosch/Thermador since they are built usually in the same plant as the Gagg stuff. To pay for the hob it is something like that. If you add HVAC to cool the space it is much faster. I switched for mess and heat. Also figured it was coming at some point and my bimetal pans are still worth a ton now, but once it comes they won't be....unless they commercialize short wavelength induction for copper, but at that point I could just buy again.

@Shelby how did those ' Poachers ' wok out compared to the silicone ' cups ' are the P's easy to clean ? any egg get stuck to them ? outstanding lookin food BTW

I anticipated someone asking this. First, I must say my kitchen and the average Chinese family's kitchen probably differ. I cook western food about 25% of the time which my neighbours don't. Different cuisines; different techniques; different tools. For example, the most used tools, maybe the only tools in a Chinese kitchen are a wok scoop/spatula, a ladle and a strainer which normally hang on the wall beside the burner unit. Mine hang there, too for easy access, but my collection of 'essentials' is wider. Here is my kitchen wall in the rental before last. The strainer on the left, the wok scoop on the right and the ladle right of centre would be enough for my neighbours. Most wouldn't even know what the others are for, especially the microplane. One tool is missing, I notice. My fish descaler. Must have been a fish night. Smaller items usually sit on countertops in containers like this. This one is about 8 inches tall. It usually contains large spoons, a meat mallet, poultry shears etc. I also have a smaller one for teaspoons etc. I have three of the larger ones, but my neighbours probably just the one. I'm a bit of a gadget addict. Chopsticks live in dedicated boxes, either wall mounted or free-standing. Image from online shopping site, Taobao Knives and one of my sharpening steels are in a couple of knife blocks like this. The other steel is hanging on the wall. Image from online shopping site, Taobao OK. I'm a kitchen knife fetishist, too. My neighbours make do with a cleaver and maybe a paring knife. I like this system My tools are always to hand* and I don't need to go rummaging in drawers when I need something. At the same time, I see some advantages to drawers. I guess it's what get used to that matters in the end. * They aren't to hand at the moment. Emptying boxes with a (healing) broken back is a slow process. A friend is coming tomorrow to help.

Pretty much. You whisk a couple of eggs with any add-ins, heat ~ a cup of oil to about 400°F in a wok, pour in the eggs, cook 20-30 sec, flip, cook another 20-30 sec. Result is crispy on the outside, soft and tender inside. Not something I plan to repeat with any regularity but I was curious to try it. You can see Kenji making it in this video. The egg business starts around the 4 minute mark.

I just use my wok. Instant I am done it goes in the garage while we eat and then gets poured through a small strainer that fits into a canning funnel right into a ball jar. Goes on the shelf until next time. Obviously a thermostatic device of some sort would get more uses out of the oil, but this is better than tossing the oil each time and is really easy to deal with. Same mechanism could be of course done with a fryer. Going up to a cabin for a few days this week to go fishing and a fry daddy is coming along...

I've posted about the restaurant here. They do indeed offer "Wok-o-Tacos" as described in their menu: "3 flour tortillas, buttermilk-fried chicken tossed in Korean BBQ, kimchi, pickled red onion, avocado, topped with cilantro, and a drizzle of soyoli". They also offer a bibimbap bowl with a description much more in keeping with what we're reading here. I suspect you're right that the eggs would have been problematic at a buffet table...especially one that was outdoors, as this one was, with only warming trays.

There is a new series on Netflix all about street food and the vendors who bring it to the masses. I saw one episode so far on a Thai woman who earned a Michelin star for her food, it is humble beginnings and pure necessity that drive a lot of these people to this vocation. What was striking when you look at this woman of advanced age (I don't recall if they said her age or I just missed it) you can see the strength in her arms from tossing a steel wok all day, every day, and the burn marks that are no doubt the occupational hazard. She wore some crazy goggles while she cooked (looked like motorcycle goggles) to protect her eyes. A real badass, she cooked what she wanted to eat and knew people would want to buy it.

Here’s something I haven’t seen before. S: 陈皮;T: 陳皮 (chén pí), dried orange or tangerine peel is a common ingredient in Chinese cuisine. Every supermarket has it, although most people dry their own, including me. It keeps for decades in a sealed container in a cool dark cupboard.. In fact, for most people, the older it is; the better. It is possible to buy peel up to 80 years old. That is expensive, though. More than $5 USD a gram. These three jars in my local supermarket hold (left to right) 15-year-old peel ($77.39 USD / 500g), 10-year-old ($46.99), 3-year-old ($24.88). The Woks of Life site goes to its ludicrous lengths as usual, explaining how to dry it. One sentence would do. “Remove peel and dry it in the sun.” It is used medicinally, but also in both sweet and savoury dishes. It is used in hot pot bases, in soups, stocks, and especially, braised dishes. So, I’m well used to the ingredient. What I found yesterday was powdered peel in sachets. I totally fail to see the point. The stuff comes free with every tangerine you buy! Dried tangerine peel powder

Chinese food uses a lot of vegetabes but almost always with meat included, too. Vegetables are stir-fried, often in lard (pig fat). I realise you are not necessarily looking for vegetarian food, though. However you might want to read this article first for background. As to cookbooks as mentioned by @Katie Meadow, I recommend you have a look at Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking (eG-friendly Amazon.com link) by Fuchsia Dunlop. This covers simple family cooking as actually found in China. My neighbours would recognise every dish. I agree with Katie that a good wok, preferably carbon steel (and definitely not non-stick), is the way to go. If you have a Chinatown or Chinese market nearby, they are usually the best place to buy them. Don't worry so much about high heat - Chinese home cooks manage well with normal domestic stove tops. Good luck! If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

Do you dispute that coal contains heavy metals? These metals do, obviously, occur in nature, but do you want their combustion products and residue in your food? Bear in mind that coal is added to briquets, whereas any heavy metals in lump charcoal had to make it into the tree(s). I used to cook a lot on a solid-fuel stove, using wood, charcoal and anthracite coal. The coal burned much hotter, so much hotter that it required special grates and doors. Made for great wok hei, though. If you need citations, compare the Btu ratings for charcoal and anthracite.