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Best Woks and Outdoor Wok Burners


jemartin

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wokshop.thumb.jpeg.98045a86e14053e045a61a9dd4bb6758.jpeg

And here is the page for the flat bottom version, with the same description and picture as the round bottom wok. Note that when you select a wok size it will tell you how much it weighs.

Monterey Bay area

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So, they illustrate their round bottom woks with an image and a description of a flat-bottomed wok. Seems like they've really got themselves sorted out.

 

Whatever, I still say the wok isn't suitable for a high-BTU burner. You really need a long-handled Beijing-style wok for that.

...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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23 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

Whatever, I still say the wok isn't suitable for a high-BTU burner. You really need a long-handled Beijing-style wok for that.

 

Could you please share the reason(s) why this is so?

Monterey Bay area

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Quite simply. How are you going to be able to toss food with that wok over a very high flame without wearing an asbestos suit?  How are you going to hold it?  What the OP is/was looking for is a professional type set up. That is an amateur, domestic wok of average quality. Nothing special.

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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Personally, I don't toss the food by yanking the wok backwards - instead I use the spatula and ladle. But what do I know - I'm just an amateur.

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Monterey Bay area

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Yes. But that is a commercial kitchen and those guys hands are scarred and burnt. I have been in hundreds of commercial kitchens across China and seen them - the hands and the woks. I've even cooked in them. I've even been in the kitchen in the video!

 

The OP is looking for high heat in a domestic setting (something I've already pointed out Chinese people almost never aim for).

 

You will note those guys in the video do toss by yanking the wok backwards. And splashing oil over their calloused incinerated hands. A long handle wok makes a lot of sense in a domestic set up and are also used in many industrial kitchens, too.

The handle-less wok may be the "original", but the  Model T Ford was the original mass produced car. I don't see many people queuing up for those today.

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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...your dancing child with his Chinese suit.

 

The Kitchen Scale Manifesto

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I highly recommend the pow single handled woks from the Wok Shop.  I have many woks, most of them schlepped back from China and much more expensive, but I return time and again to my Wok Shop wok as my favorite to use day to day.  They are incredible bargains.

 

Incidentally, the single handled wok is more of a northern style (and also frequently used in Taiwan), and the short dual handled woks more from the south and east and Sichuan.  I have both, but the single handled wok is much easier to use, particularly on a western burner.  Chinese professional burners do a much better job of aiming the heat at the bottom of the wok, but the western burners have much more distributed heat, and will heat your handles to the point at which they can't be handled with a dishtowel and require serious heat protection for your hands.  

 

 

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On ‎7‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 10:38 AM, IEATRIO said:

I have both, but the single handled wok is much easier to use, particularly on a western burner.  Chinese professional burners do a much better job of aiming the heat at the bottom of the wok, but the western burners have much more distributed heat, and will heat your handles to the point at which they can't be handled with a dishtowel and require serious heat protection for your hands.   

 

 

Western burners that are purpose-built for woks included?

 

 I notice outdoorstirfry.com seems to have several wok burners at decent looking prices.  Does anyone on this website have experience buying from this company? Are they a reputable business with good products? Or do you have alternative wok burner suggestions?

 

edit -- found another source for the 65000 btu Kahuna burner purchase so I don't need help with the burner question anymore.

Edited by jemartin (log)
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  • 2 weeks later...
On ‎7‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 11:35 PM, liuzhou said:

You will note those guys in the video do toss by yanking the wok backwards. And splashing oil over their calloused incinerated hands. A long handle wok makes a lot of sense in a domestic set up and are also used in many industrial kitchens, too.

 

Thanks for the tip.  Maybe I should find some gloves to wear instead of just using a dish cloth then to protect hands from oil (even if I get a Pow Wok with a handle)?

 

Edit:  I think someone earlier mentioned Korin as a high quality wok maker and a reputable company which makes woks that would give me good wok hei, but I don't see the post anymore on here.  Just wondering if you guys can confirm this wok would be a good choice for making restaurant-style Chinese food over a 65000 BTU burner (or something similar) to get good wok hei with the pow wok tossing cooking style for stir frying:

http://www.korin.com/TK-301-07-36?sc=28&category=17780105

 

I was just concerned if it might be the wrong choice because it says it's "iron" instead of the usual silver colored carbon steel that these pow woks are usually made of.  Not sure if that's a problem.

Edited by jemartin (log)
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  • 8 months later...

I recently bought one of these rocket stoves for bikepacking.

I'm anxious to see how it works as a wok burner.

31JHRdDZ85L.jpg

 

 

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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