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Well, you need a hot pot set. It looks like this. That particular one is a traditional charcoal burner, which I definitely do not recommend because you can not control the heat. There are gas powered and electric alternatives - the one I have is electric. You could also use a hot plate or a portable induction cooktop - then you need a wide and shallow vessel. Something like a flat bottomed wok would do. Suitable accompaniments are as shown in my photo. Because Chinese hot pot is so popular among Asian families (it is cheap and easy to do), there are shops that specialize in ingredients for hot pot. We typically get 3 types of vegetables, assorted tofu, shaved meat, fishballs, noodles, and eggs. Then you have to make the broth. This is really easy - I buy a pack of chicken soup herbs from the Asian grocery, a few chicken racks, and a Chinese cabbage. Parboil the chicken racks to purge the impurities, then remove and refresh. Simmer the cleaned racks in the soup along with the herbs and half the cabbage for an hour. Season gently, and you are done. There is a certain method to cooking and eating your food. Try it in a hot pot restaurant first before attempting it at home. Another type of casual party I like to throw is the pizza party I make all the bases and sauces in advance, then cook the pizzas to order. Because I have a flaming hot kamado outside, I can cook each pizza in 3 minutes. It takes longer to place the toppings than to cook the pizza. Spare dough can be turned into foccacias which the guests can take home, and spare sauce and condiments can be turned into a bastardized version of bolognaise the next day. Here is a mushroom, taleggio, and chermoula pizza:

I'm surprised that nobody here has mentioned cast-iron cookware. If you can get your paws on even one pan and then take care of it, it's good for a lifetime of largely hassle-free cooking no matter what level you're at. A basic 12" cast iron skillet with a lid (even if you buy the lid separately) is crazy versatile and can be used in place of more than half of the pans you've listed above. I'm a pastry chef professionally, which for me at least means that in the dinner arena I'm all about basic, easy, fast, and tasty meals. So, while I have about 200 cake pans of varying sizes and compositions in the bakery, I have only two pans in my kitchen: a 12" cast iron skillet with a lid, and an 8" round-bottomed drop-forged iron pan that I use as a wok. You can have them when you pry them from my cold dead hands - almost everything else in the dinner kitchen is dispensable. Edited to clarify what types of pan I'm talking about.

I think you'd be surprised by the cheap stuff used in most commercial kitchens -$11 knives and bare aluminum pans. I have lived without a food processor for years, I don't think you need one if you have a good blender and a good knife. As much as I love my Braun stick blender, it takes second place to my Oster classic beehive blender. I'd get a good, end-grain cutting board, a small cast iron skillet, a large cast iron skillet, and a dutch oven. I would get one non-stick pan for eggs, a slope-sided saucier, maybe a straight sided saucier, and three sizes of steel pans for things that involve boiling water. A wok is very useful (the best popcorn popper made) for a lot of things including deep frying. For the oven, a pie pan is essential, as are a couple of high-sided ceramic rectangular pans. You'll need a sheet pan and a muffin tin and maybe 2 loaf pans. Utensil-wise, some silicon spatulas are essential. I'd also get a colander, a ladle, tongs, a big spoon, a ceramic peeler, and a microplane grater (fine). Knives, you really just need a chef's knife, a paring knife and a bread slicer. Honestly, I'd seriously consider using some of your credit to get a Dyson vacuum -something I am really glad that I bought at BBB.

Again, it depends what you want to cook. The best cook I know, my sister-in-law, has one wok, one cleaver, one rice cooker and one chopping board. No oven. Her food is heavenly. She cooks Chinese. She thinks I'm ridiculous for having two knives! I'd suggest taking things one step at a time. For example, if you wake up tomorrow and fancy an omelette and think this may be a recurring thought, then go buy an omelette pan. If you never eat omelettes, or only eat them once a year, then don't.

First dud and it's not the recipe but operator error. I am a confirmed "wok wuss". Getting a wok screaming hot is something I will have to work up to. I don't think I soaked the noodles long enough and when I tried to stir-fry them, they clumped. They were a bit too chewy although they did improve as the gravy continued to soak into them. And I forgot to make the chile-vinegar condiment. Will have to flex my wok muscles and try this one again. The recipe calls for a generous grind of pepper to finish off and since I love pepper, I perhaps went a bit overboard!

I ordered a "joong mold" from the Wok Shop in SF. My hope is that I can make pretty wrapped bundles like those shown in this thread on Chowhound: http://chowhound.cho...m/topics/405795

I don't have a DigIQ or any fancy controllers, and I find it pretty damn easy to achieve 250 for 8-12 hours with no adjustments. As for aftermarket accessories, I have a plate setter (which is a big ceramic heat shield), a cooking grid riser that doubles as a wok stand, and a couple of pizza stones (full round and 1/2 moon). Of course, some gadget freaks have an endless array of specially crafted grids, stackers, rib stands, etc.

I own two, a large and a mini. The cooker won't make your food magically better, and it's certainly no substitute for good grilling & smoking skills. Still, I don't regret a penny of the (substantial) price, mainly because of the versatility. I use it as a wok stove, to bake bread when I don't want to heat up the kitchen, to do sub-5 minute pizzas, for low & slow smoking, and all the usual grill tasks. I can attest that it does hold heat and a steady temp amazingly well. Check out the non-company sponsored fan forum at greeneggers.net.....friendly people who will answer your questions, provide cooking support, and happily share their considerable knowledge. The few people I've known who were disappointed in the egg lacked fundamental outdoor cooking skills and also lacked patience. It's not an idiot-proof device: you do have to learn how to use it and understand basic principles of airflow, firestarting, and cooking. Again, the forum folks are more than happy to help people thru the brief initial learning curve.

Yes, it should. You will be fine. (Speaking as a fellow apartment wok user.)

For what it's worth, I'm managing to get it fairly black with minimal smoke. It is producing some, but not the billowing clouds that I was afraid would set off the building fire alarm. And in terms of heating the oil when actually cooking, should the oil smoke not subside when I start adding food to the wok? My concern isn't the short amount of time between when the oil starts smoking and I add food. It was the much longer period of time that I'd be producing oil smoke during the seasoning process.

Voice of experience here - using a wok as intended generates smoke. Even with a good hood, the family has learned to avoid chile fumes in the kitchen when I am cooking Sichuan or Hunan recipes. You may find that seasoning the wok is the least of your worries. Bruce's comment is spot on. With that in mind, if you can't use the wok over high heat as intended, you may as well be using a non-stick Joyce Chen Peking pan instead.

I actually found a site that recommended flax seed oil for iron seasoning. Unfortunately I don't remember the site. My wok was seasoned in the 70's with sesame oil. Still works well

Cooking some garlic chives in it (as mentioned above), rubbing them all around the wok's surface is also a good idea, and I also like heating kosher salt in the pan until it turns grey. Garlic chives (jiu cai / gow choy / nira) are not the same thing as regular chives - you'll generally only find them at Asian markets.

So I tried both duck fat and vegetable oil, and they both seemed to work equally well, though the veg oil took a lot less time. I'm not sure if I've done it completely right though. The bottom parts of the wok that were closer to the heat are a nice smooth satin black, but the upper parts are brown and mottled, kind of like the cooked on grease that is so difficult to scrub off stainless pans. Do I need to get these parts hotter to turn them black like the base?

Voice of experience here - using a wok as intended generates smoke. Even with a good hood, the family has learned to avoid chile fumes in the kitchen when I am cooking Sichuan or Hunan recipes. You may find that seasoning the wok is the least of your worries.

Another Option-- Take it to your favorite Asian eating place.. let them hit it with their Wok Burners!!

Many 'traditional' approaches in that book use pork fat ( at hand ) and chives for the scrubber. one uses that which is at hand. but ..... you have to have a place where you can do a charcoal grill? get the book first from the library then you might get one for yourself. it a really interesting journey with a Wok!

from BofWok paraphrased: I paraphrase from Breath of a Wok: First Washing Vigorously wash both sides w Stainless-steel scouring pad removes machine oil. You can also rub with coarse salt. Dry with something lint free: paper towels, then continue drying over low heat. Heating 1/2 tsp. Oil spread over the entire inner wok using paper towels. 450 oven 20 minutes. Let cool until warm to the touch. Scrub with hot water only w SS scrubber. Repeat 3 - 4 times. (ed.: use just enough oil and there will be less smoke.) A different method uses pretty much the same but an oven at 300 for 40 min. This method uses hot water only and an abrasive side of a ‘For non-stick’ sponge. Cover the wood with soaked cloth and some aluminum foil if using the 40 min method These worked well for me. There are many methods similar. Enjoy.

Do you have an outdoor area? Can you setup a wok burner

in 'Breath of a Wok' they also use and oven with the wooden handle(s) wrapped in a wet cloth with the possible addition of aluminum foil to keep the 'steam' in http://www.graceyoung.com/cookbooks/cookbook-2/ you do not need to get it to 'burning' just pretty hot. you do this several times and rub with salt inbetween that book is a stunning one, perhaps its in your library?

I recently bought a new carbon steel wok (wooden handle) and now I have to season it. I know the standard practice would be to heat it till smoking hot and then apply oil until the surface turns black. I live in a condo with less than ideal kitchen ventilation though. Is there any way I can do this without triggering the building fire alarm and pissing off my neighbours and local fire department?

Well, the vp-112 did dry the wings somewhat with 10 cycles of 1 minute each to 60Hg , but not nearly as much as the overnight in the fridge. This was judged only by the by the ruckus that ensued when I dropped them in the oil , louder than the fridge wings and not as bad as the non-dried wings I did also. I chickened out of checking the temp drop as that would have gotten my hand too close to the bubbling oil. So it's worth doing in a pinch. Don't know if more cycles would improve it or be a diminishing return. Didn't notice any appreciable difference in the wings, but that's probably because I was using a new electric fryer for the first time and it doesn't recover temp as well as my lodge logic cast iron wok on the stove top does. The wok wins in that department, but the wings better be dry with no lid, makes a mess.

What do you want the backsplash for? I looks in that photo like the wok sits up above that level on those carts.

Town Food makes a great one, but it's quite expensive (around $3k, I believe). See the second item on http://townfood.com/ranges_mobile.html Sometimes Asian markets / stores will sell really low-end ones I haven't personally found anything great in the middle tier quality wise. What about just taking a metal food-service cart, and then putting a propane based wok burner on top (the burners like the ones in the picture above can be found for around $50-150 US). That's basically what it looks like that cart is.

Does anyone know , who might sell portable wok carts.. with a built in burner or two and a back splash. I dont want a tri-pod set up!! I want something I can use on my deck outside!! Curious? Paul Like this?