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Wok Recommendations for an electric stove

post #1 of 16
11/1/07 at 5:11pm
Thread Starter 
I am unfamiliar with electric stove cooking, and all my woks are from Indonesia and made for gas (round bottom).

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a good, easy to clean, sturdy, wok for Asian cooking?

Many thanks.
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post #2 of 16
11/1/07 at 6:12pm
yours must be the wonderful and I am sure seasoned. There is a ring that sits over the electric burner that the round bottom sits in. They usually come with the wok, but you might find an Asian store that would sell them alone.

Good luck,
Nan
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post #3 of 16
11/1/07 at 6:18pm
For an electric stove, I wouldn't worry about it. It won't get hot enough to do the job you expect it do.
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post #4 of 16
11/1/07 at 6:30pm
The round foot is made to flip upside down to put the wok closer to the element. It becomes difficult to use a wok with electric. I had to do it once. I ended up getting a bunch of those rings and keep a few elements at different temps and just moved the wok from burner to burner. The elements just didn't heat and cool as rapidly as I needed.
Have fun cooking.
pan
oh, to try to get the most out of the high element cover the air holes with foil
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post #5 of 16
11/1/07 at 7:10pm
you are right phatch, electric sucks, but that all some of us have access to. And some things really need a wok.Panini, I like the idea of using two burners (different temps), I have a new range now and does get hot enough, sometimes too hot, but using two burners, I could go back and forth.
Nan
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post #6 of 16
11/1/07 at 7:18pm
Thread Starter 
I really hate electric, and I am considering bringing in gas, but fundamentally, gas is prohibitively expensive in an electric community.

My Indonesian woks are seasoned, but they are also now in the possession of my daughter and she really doesn't want to give them up (seasoned for 35 years, too :D)

So, generally I am getting the impression that woks for electric are not suggested.

What pot/pan is recommended then for Asian food?
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post #7 of 16
11/1/07 at 7:54pm
propane is always an option for an electric community. Burns hotter so don't let an appliance dealer tell you any gas range is convertible.
Tanks tend to be ugly but could be hidden or fenced.
Pan
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post #8 of 16
11/1/07 at 8:18pm
Thread Starter 
Yes, I am familiar with propane (lived in NM where it is very common). If I go for conversion, I may see how expensive the Bosch stove is (gas upper burners; electric oven). It was highly recommended to me by a professional baker.

Thanks, pan!
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post #9 of 16
11/2/07 at 6:27am
Hi Singlecook,

Where I live, electric is the only way to go so wok cooking is difficult. I tried and tried and the result is always a little too soggy (not enough heat).

My solution: being an avid camper, I got into the habit of using my wok during camping because of the propane burner I use. Now when I wok at home, I take out the propane camping stove.

I purchased a new portable propane burner recently to give private cooking classes, works better. I tried a single portable butane burner but it did not heat as well as propane.

I think you can reclaim your woks now!!

Luc H.
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post #10 of 16
11/2/07 at 6:41am
So where do you live? If you can, take a trip down to Chinatown or the local Asian grocer. I have two flat bottomed woks. They work OK, but the round bottom is really needed for proper stir frying.
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post #11 of 16
11/2/07 at 7:32am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for this suggestion, but as I mentioned here and elsewhere, my darling daughter and SIL, are more than reluctant to return my wok(s).

I may try it your way.

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post #12 of 16
11/2/07 at 7:34am
Thread Starter 
I live in an area sans Chinatown, but the next time I visit NYC, I might go down to Canal Street and see if they have any good alternatives to what I'd like; if not, I'll try some other solutions.

Many thanks, here and there. :)

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post #13 of 16
11/2/07 at 7:56am
Definitely. :) Careful though about the sizes, it's easy to get carried away and get one that's too large for your stove. Ask me how I know. ;)
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post #14 of 16
11/2/07 at 12:07pm
For in-home stir fry, I use a 12 inch stainless steel saute pan. I do have a gas stove, but it only reaches 14000 BTU and that's not enough for good stir frying in a wok. I have a 3 burner propane stove, each burner at 30,000 BTU. That's what I set up for when I want to get serious about wok cooking. I have a hand hammered carbon steel one that I like a lot and a Cast Iron one. They both cook excellently on the high output propane.

I have a teflon coated flat bottomed anodized aluminum wok too received as a gift. It's awful as a wok. Not a bad steamer/deep fryer but I really should donate it to goodwill or recycle it.

Jeff Smith spoke highly of the wok as a popcorn popper too. As I've mostly used air poppers for the last few decades, I've never tried a wok for popcorn. Makes sense in how it heats and stays cooler up the sides.

Phil
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post #15 of 16
11/3/07 at 3:43pm
I'm stuck with an electric stove, and a glasstop one at that. My woking is pretty tame. I have bought a Bodum cast-iron flat-bottom wok which has a ceramic coating like the French stuff. Shop around on the web and it's about $50; at Williams-Sonoma it's more like $80.

You could buy a propane burner for a turkey fryer rig and use a regular wok and get pretty good results. They come from 50,000 to maybe 75,000 BTU, which ought to rock your wok. Just remember to use it out on the patio. :suprise:

Mike :rolleyes:
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post #16 of 16
11/3/07 at 4:01pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks, MikeLM, this looks like the ticket. It has good reviews; it is available for about USD60.00 and isn't bad looking either. And although many have suggested propane, I think I'll forgo that until I am more settled and the weather is warm again.
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