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We really love our Lacanche. They have several options for cooktops. We have a ‘French top” which is an 18k burner with a large solid cast iron plate over the burner, with a cutout circle in which you can put the included wok ring. With the cutout in place, it is great for things like big pots of tomato sauce or stacks. There are also several options for the other burners including one that gets very low. It comes in a 28” version, with either one oven and storage drawer or an oven and a smaller second broiler oven. We have a gas range with electric convection ovens and love it. I also like that there is minimal technology involved. No computer electronics, just excellent build quality to last a lifetime. And it comes in lots of cool colors, if that matters to you - was not part of our decision to go with this range, but I do like the look of the blue in our kitchen.

It's been a while, anyone have something new to share in the hunt for the ideal range? My oven just started stinking up the house with gas. I am sure it can be repaired, but since it's a 30 year old builder special, I am considering this an opportunity to upgrade. I'm looking for a 30" unit which should include a high-output wok burner. I'm flexible on other features and price, but reliability is critical to me. (Baker-friendly features would be a bonus, my wife likes to bake but she is not a gearhead like me!) I've read that BlueStar is good, though you can expect to need to calibrate the oven and replace igniters on the range, though these are also said to be jobs you can do with just a screwdriver. As far as hardware store brands go I like the look of the dual-oven-zone Samsung that was posed upthread. I'm not opposed to getting something "boring" like Samsung or GE if it meets my needs.

I have just installed a blue star 36" cooktop and I am in love . Although there is only one dealer in Canada I know of (in Montreal) gas ranges should not need much servicing if any IMHO. As Marya says, you just take out the grate of the high output front burner and most decent sized woks will sit nicely in the hole just above the burner. I have in the past week cooked some of my best stir fries ever on this burner. And the simmer burner kept a 2 qt saucepan at a real simmer with no tweaking of the flame.

Sometimes, an object which does everything does none of them very well. High-heat wok-cooking was so important to me that it was distorting the whole selection process. After a great deal of research, I decided that a red-hot wok was best relegated to outdoors: much higher heat and less mess inside. Indoors, I have a 36" dual-fuel Wolf range - great burner control,self cleaning oven with a "stone" mode for baking bread. Outdoors, I have a 60,000+BTU wok burner that I can also use for deep frying, lobster steaming, and other messy tasks such as browning meat for braises. This burner cost me $60 (the wok was $9) and produces results that I doubt I could ever achieve on an inside burner: Bill/SFNM

I neglected to mention that my rangetop is fueled with propane and the unit came propane-ready from the plant, thus giving me the full 22,000btu's and no loss in power. And as C.sapidus mentioned, a powerful hood is a must. I have a 900cfm Vent-a-hood that's 54"x27". The three extra inches all around allow for smoke-free grilling and wok cooking.

"So, here are things I'm looking for and hopefully someone can give me some advice: 1) Prefer a stove that can handle a low simmer and getting a wok red hot. 2) Continuous grate (or some other option) that makes moving pots and pans to the different burners easily. 3) Easy clean up - maybe a tray that can be pulled out and wiped, etc. 4) Wok ring option would be fantastic." I went with a BlueStar for all the same reasons. 1. It has a 350 BTU simmer burner(one of the lowest in the industry). 2. The movement of pots is very easy from grate to grate, at least front to back (the other two burners are at the opposite end with grill and griddle in between.) 3. It has easy to clean open burners and two pull out trays. 4. It does not need a wok ring. You simply flip over one of two 22,000BTU burner grates and the wok recesses into the open fire creating a lot of heat to stir-fry. 5. The burners are the same ones that Garland used for their now defunct semi-pro ranges. They are pretty awesome.

I have a Wolf 48 in. (6 burners and a grill). I got the S-grates. There is a wok option, and the simmer is sweet (500 BTU I think? v low). I think it maxes at 15K BTUs at the top end so not as hot as some others, but fine for my purposes. My convection oven is the bee's knees, I am extremely happy with it. My second (smaller) oven runs cool but that's not a big deal. Here is the range: And a closeup of the S-grates, which I love. Edited for photo codes.

Ah, boy can I weigh in on this one. I JUST replaced and electric drop in range with a new DCS 6 burner gas. I did considerable research before this purchase and am pretty confident that the DCS was the best for me. The DCS has a wok ring as an available option, and a 17.5k btu, they are the largest residential burner outputs on the market. The eyes are a sort of 2 stage thing. They claim that when you are simmering only one stage is operational, which makes that very low simmer possible. I made a huge pot of chicken stock last weekend and the simmer worked great for me. The grates are continuous from front to back for 2 burners, but not side to side. Still, the grates are touching side to side, so you get the same effect. Although the oven is gas, not electric, it does come standard with a convection fan. For a 36 inch, 6 burner, you are looking at over 5K for the price. I've had this new range for about 2 weeks now. Previous to the electric range from hell, I cooked on Wolf commercial ranges over more than 10 years and two houses. This isn't a commercial Wolf, but I'm EXTREMELY happy with it.

No. Unless to store it. (And unfortunately I don't think it would fit.) I was looking for an induction compatible, dishwasher safe, low-sided pan that I could use on my Paragons as well as on the stovetop. All my existing frying pans are either non-stick or non-induction. I have been searing in a wok-like stir-fry pan from Thailand but the sides are really too high for the application. Speaking of bargains, that $30 stir-fry pan was possibly my best pan purchase ever. I use it often. I used it last night. It is getting all dented up but it doesn't seem to care. Anyhow I have a spare still in the box, waiting in the living room.

Salt and (Sichuan) Pepper Prawns As ever, I choose my nomenclature carefully. They are prawns, not shrimp. There is a difference. Whatever, they were alive when they hit the wok. Cooked shell on and with the tastiest part - the heads. You know it makes sense.

Well, what you have read is largely nonsense. Over a billion people are right now cooking dinner in woks on non-commercial-grade stoves. See here. Woks were invented for stir-frying centuries ago. And today, many (most) come with slightly flattened bases, so that they can be used on convection cookers. I'll grant they don't do so well on traditional electric stoves, but what does? What makes you think you can do chicken parm in a skillet but not in a wok?

Well, not necessarily. I'd say in western kitchens, I like the choice. Why bring out a 14" wok if I can bring out a 1 quart saucepan and do the same job, and still have room on my stove for 2 or 3 other pots and pans? Maybe I'm braising in a Dutch oven on one of those. Maybe I'm shallow frying in a different one. Maybe I'm heating water for coffee in a 3rd? So yeah, for all those billions of people for whom 1 cooking vessel is all they're allowed, a wok might be just fine. Me - I like having choices. It's not a stainless steel wok - it's a splayed sauté pan, which they also make in carbon steel. No harder to clean than any other pot or pan in my arsenal.

I think you need to learn how woks work. For a start, the heat is appled to the bottom of the wok, meaning that is the hottest. The side walls are intentionally cooler. That is one reason for stirring - so that the food passes through the hottest part, then when almost done is pushed to the side to keep warm while faster cooking ingredients are added in the centre. If you are worried (unnecessarily, I would say) about the sides being too thin, then go for a cast iron wok instead. That is what I use, but then I use it for nearly all my cooking, three times a day, every day. The advantages are that they last longer (I've had my current one for about 10 years) and take a higher heat. The disadvantages are that they are heavier. To use any wok, the empty wok is heated until smoking hot, then the cold oil is added - it wil be sizzling hot immediately, then add the slowest cooking ingredients. Yes, the temperature will drop slightly. You'll be glad. Food being cooked at a lower temperature is not going to be your problem. Burning it is, so keep that food moving! Oh No! The temperature is falling! As @KennethThas said they are easy to clean. Cold water and a wire scrubber does the trick. No cloths or towels involved. Put it back on the stove over a high flame and it will be bone dry in seconds. You could, if you wanted, invest next to nothing in a traditional wok brush. They need replacing quite often though. Wok Brush There are many videos on the internet demonstrating how to stir-fry in a wok. I'd ignore the recipes, but you can see the techniques used. That has already been established!

Fair point. I use my frying pan as I suspect you use your wok - for everything. The only problems I've had are with stir-fries, that's what I brought it up. So I'll use my new non-stick for shallow-frying (chicken parm), eggs, and pancakes. Anything else? What is a wok not good at? How does a wok address my initial concerns? Doesn't burn around the edges - no thin side walls. ? Cooks larger batches - higher heat capacity. I don't understand how a wok will help. A carbon steel wok is thin; any food dropped in will quickly lower the temperature of the pot. My current frying pan is only 3/32" thick and has similar problems. Is easy to clean after cooking multiple batches. Seasoned carbon steel is well known for its non-stick properties. How does it compare to ceramic non-stick? Can it cook acidic dishes without ruining the patina? Yeah I have no experience with cast iron / carbon steel but after skimming the literature it does seem rather easy to maintain. Do you have a dedicated towel for cleaning the wok - much like a mechanic has one for grease and gasoline - or do you just use paper towels? That looks like a small stainless steel wok. How hard is it to clean? So... everyone is in agreement? A wok is best?

I can't speak for @KennethT, but I use mine for almost all my cooking. Not just Asian. French, Italian, American and more. I doubt you could find a more versatile pan. I use mine for frying, steaming, braising, smoking, poaching and more. I cooked my breakfast, lunch and dinner in my wok today. Dinner was fish and chips - all cooked in the wok.

What else do you use the wok for?

In the center of the wok chicken will deep-fry. Further up it will shallow-fry as intended. Around the edge I'd imagine it sears.

I agree with the wok idea. I recently got a carbon steel flat bottomed wok to use on an induction burner and I love it. I originally got it for stir fries, but now I find I use it for many tasks. I use it so much, it lives on my countertop.

I've read that a wok doesn't do well on flat stoves, and needs commercial-grade heat to really shine. Most sites recommend getting a frying pan or stir-fry pan instead, which is basically a frying pan with high-curved sides, aka chef's pan aka sauteuse evasée aka everyday pan . Also, its not like I can do chicken parm in a wok.

Carbon steel wok.

Don't they all do that? Every one I've had did. My current one does beep then switch off, but there is a reasonable time delay before the power cuts. I've never timed it. I'll test it later, if I remember. It's 2,100 watts which I find more than enough for stir-fry wok cooking when I have to use it that way, but that happens very infrequently. I mostly use it for long, slow, acidic wok braises. 🤣

I've really enjoyed using this lately (while only briefly each time): It's a relatively inexpensive induction hob - 3500 Watts!!! It brought about 12 quarts of water to a rolling boil in just under 12 minutes. It doesn't really like it when I lift the pan - it beeps at me when I do so, but at least it doesn't shut off. So far, I've only had time to use it to bring the stockpot to a boil (as a test) and to stir fry a few veggies in my carbon steel wok, which was an absolute pleasure - so much easier than when I used to use my crappy underpowered gas stove. One of the things that makes it inexpensive is that you can only choose from about 10 power levels, which has been fine so far for what I've been doing. Sometime soon in the future I'm going to get a Vollrath induction unit (I'm thinking the 2600W since so far I haven't had the need to use this one at 3500W except to boil water - the stir fries haven't gone over 2400W and even that is crazy hot) which you can control the output power in 1% increments, from 0 to 100% and also, rather than cycling the power on and off for the power level, it adjusts the power intensity. Plus, to control the power there is a knob rather than push buttons... but that's for another post.

@liuzhouIs there a reason why you went with cast iron woks as opposed to carbon steel?

Haha! Of course 36 cm. Have edited. That said, I have seen 36 inch and much larger woks. But not at home!

I mentioned elsewhere on eG that my faithful assistant in the kitchen, my wok had passed away. I bought a new one, of course. A 36cm uncoated, round-bottomed, handmade, cast iron chap, but recent personal attention has had to be paid to certain bureaucratic affairs with the Chinese government regarding my business have kept me busy recently. That has now been resolved and it's time to move on to dealing with new wok. It needs deep cleaning to remove the machine oil it is coated in both inside and out then carefully seasoned before being put into service. But it's more complex. A 36cm wok is too large for my everyday needs. I live alone. Also, I can't use a round-bottomed wok on a stand alone induction cooker which I sometimes require, so I also bought a 34cm flat bottomed fellow for those needs. It too is cast iron and non-coated. It too needs the same attention. So the next couple of days, I'm going to be having fun dealing with that.