Anyone cook on a wok burner?

[NetWareHead]

I like to cook asian style food but I'm always frustrated by the result. It never comes out like from a restaurant. After doing alot of reading, I've realized it is because my stove does not have the BTUs necessary to properly cook on a wok. It makes sense to me; if you have ever seen the power of the burners used in a chinese kitchen you will know why. The dishes cook in 2-3 minutes whereas it takes me far longer on a "western" stove and the results in food quality are obvious.

Anyone own a burner like this and uses it to cook? Any recommendations? I'd like to purchase an outdoor wok burner. Burners like this put out so much power and heat that they cannot be safely used indoors. I don't have the money to modify my indoor kitchen to cook on one of these. Propane would most likely be the fuel of choice.

 

[jaedaliu]

Had a friend with a wok burner in the kitchen. I think it was an outdoor thingy they put on top of their stove with a propane tank in the kitchen.

What's your major issue with your cooking? time spent cooking? or is it the flavor? the texture? Have you tried heating your wok a lot, then tossing in your items? it won't be the speed of a professional kitchen, but you may be able to get the textures similar.

 

[lxskllr]

If I were to do it, I'd use wood or coal outside. Not for any practical reason, but the stove would be more interesting to look at, and manipulating solid fuel is more artful.

Edit:
Continuing the solid fuel theme... You could also use it as a forge, and do some smithing. I've always wanted to try blacksmithing.

 

[NetWareHead]

Had a friend with a wok burner in the kitchen. I think it was an outdoor thingy they put on top of their stove with a propane tank in the kitchen.

yeah this will just be too much of a mess indoors. Cooking with a high temp wok splatters everywhere. And I don't have the kitchen ventilation to safely handle cooking with that much heat, not to mention that amount of food odor produced.

What's your major issue with your cooking? time spent cooking? or is it the flavor? the texture? Have you tried heating your wok a lot, then tossing in your items? it won't be the speed of a professional kitchen, but you may be able to get the textures similar.

Its just not the same as from a chinese restaurant. The wok cools down too much even if the stove is set to full blast. As a result, any meat you are stir frying cooks at a lower temp than a proper stir fry temp. You get meat and veggies that are semi-"boiled" vs stir-fried.

 

[Imp]

I recall cooking shows featuring woks in "genuine" Asian kitchens. They used like a ladle full of oil for every dish.

 

[NetWareHead]

If I were to do it, I'd use wood or coal outside. Not for any practical reason, but the stove would be more interesting to look at, and manipulating solid fuel is more artful.

Edit:
Continuing the solid fuel theme... You could also use it as a forge, and do some smithing. I've always wanted to try blacksmithing.

Smithing is cool but not one of my immediate to-do projects. Besides, a forge requires charcoal not wood. Or if using coal, you need blacksmithing bituminous coal or coke; things which are hard to find here.

Using solid fuel is an idea and how its was done in the past in China. But its not exactly practical nor do I want to add time before a meal to build a fire. Wood takes time to come to cooking temp; even more so for coal. Some of the wok burners I've found so far can put out over 100K BTUs; the most powerful one I've looked at can put out 160K BTUs. You need a considerable amount of solid fuel plus possibly a blower to force that kind of heat. Additionally I'd like the heat to be concentrated towards the bottom of the wok, not directed to the entire pan; something which is easier to do with a gas jet than solid fuel.

As far as I'm concerned, solid fuel is for heating (or smithing). I like the convenience of natural gas/propane for cooking.

 

[Vdubchaos]

I was going to get a Cast Iron one for shits and giggles, but honestly we don't cook much Asian food and Cast Iron skillets already do everything we need and some.

And we have enough of them to keep 100s of generations of our families cooking.

:biggrin:

 

[dawp]

I have a portable butane stove similar to this one that get used whenever I cook in my wok. works pretty good. an electric stove doesn't work very good with a wok


http://www.amazon.com/Burton-Black-M...e+butane+stove

 

[MontyAC]

You might get something like this, outdoor wok with burner:

http://www.amazon.com/Eastman-Outdoo...+kahuna+burner

 

[NetWareHead]

I have a portable butane stove similar to this one that get used whenever I cook in my wok. works pretty good. an electric stove doesn't work very good with a wok


http://www.amazon.com/Burton-Black-M...e+butane+stove

Too small.

 

[slag]

I cook with my wok on the gas stove all the time with no problems. It gets plenty hot on the "extreme water boil" setting which is hotter than high. Good woks are made so that the direct heat is on the bottom and you can pull certain parts of the dish to the side where they stay warm but don't cook super fast. Direct heat goes on the bottom only, not all the way up the sides.

 

[NetWareHead]

You might get something like this, outdoor wok with burner:

http://www.amazon.com/Eastman-Outdoo...+kahuna+burner

Yep, something like this is what I'm looking at. That is one of the 3 models I am considering:

Eastman Outdoors Big Kahuna Burner http://redirect.anandtech.com/r?url...8-2&keywords=big+kahuna+burner&user=u00000687

King Kooker wok burner: http://www.amazon.com/King-Kooker-24...ef=pd_sbs_hg_2

Outdoor Stir Fry Powerflamer 13 inch propane burner: http://outdoorstirfry.com/?page_id=1176

 

[darkxshade]

If it doesn't taste like restaurant asian food there's a better way to go about it... while preparing the meal, keep adding msg until desired taste.

 

[jaedaliu]

If it doesn't taste like restaurant asian food there's a better way to go about it... while preparing the meal, keep adding msg until desired taste.

deep fry, too!

"marinate" your meat in cola.

use more oil.

Those are the generics I can think of.

 

[MontyAC]

This is what good Chinese food has:

Wok hei

Wok hei (simplified Chinese: 镬气; traditional Chinese: 鑊氣; Jyutping: wok6 hei3; romanization based on Cantonese; and when literally translated into English, can be read as "Wok thermal radiation".[2][8] The second character is qi in Mandarin, and thus wok hei is sometimes rendered as wok chi in Western cookbooks) is the flavour, tastes, and "essence" imparted by a hot wok on food during stir frying.[2][10] It is particularly important for Chinese dishes requiring high heat for fragrance such as char kuay teow and beef chow fun.
To impart wok hei, the food must be cooked in a seasoned wok over a high flame while being stirred and tossed quickly.[2] For this reason it requires cooking over an open flame rather than an electric stove. In practical terms, the flavour imparted by chemical compounds results from caramelization, Maillard reactions, and the partial combustion of oil that come from charring and searing of the food at very high heat in excess of 200 °C (392 °F).[8] Aside from flavour, there is also the texture of the cooked items and smell involved that describes wok hei.

 

[NetWareHead]

-snip-

And this is why is why I want a powerful burner.

 

[Howard]

Turkey burner outdoors

 

[NetWareHead]

Turkey burner outdoors

A turkey burner usually has a flat grate accommodating a large fry pot. Optimally, a curved rounded grate fitting a wok would be what I need.

I guess I could somehow mount a wok ring to a flat grate. But I don't have a turkey burner. If I am going to purchase anything, its going to be for a wok and preferably one of the 3 burners I quoted before.

 

[Howard]

A turkey burner usually has a flat grate accommodating a large fry pot. Optimally, a curved rounded grate fitting a wok would be what I need.

I guess I could somehow mount a wok ring to a flat grate. But I don't have a turkey burner. If I am going to purchase anything, its going to be for a wok and preferably one of the 3 burners I quoted before.

Yes, I understand you want to heat a wok. Just realize that what can work for you may not be sold specifically as a "wok burner".

 

[bbhaag]

Wow those wok burners pictured above aren't cheap. I had the same thought as Howard, but retrofitting a turkey fryer to accommodate a wok may be dangerous when you consider the heat and temperatures involved.

On a side note, I wonder if this is why my wifes Asian dishes always come out tasting a little "off". Not to say they taste bad but like you mentioned they don't have that restaurant quality taste to them.:hmm:

 

[Howard]

Wow those wok burners pictured above aren't cheap. I had the same thought as Howard, but retrofitting a turkey fryer to accommodate a wok may be dangerous when you consider the heat and temperatures involved.

On a side note, I wonder if this is why my wifes Asian dishes always come out tasting a little "off". Not to say they taste bad but like you mentioned they don't have that restaurant quality taste to them.:hmm:

I've been in places (including residential kitchens) where they've put together cinder block pits to hold the wok equipment. It really depends on how much time, money, and effort you want to put into it.

 

[bbhaag]

I've been in places (including residential kitchens) where they've put together cinder block pits to hold the wok equipment. It really depends on how much time, money, and effort you want to put into it.

That's why, like you, a turkey fryer popped into my head as a cheap alternative to try out and see if it makes a difference in the quality of the dish.

I actually have one in my garage that we've never used to fry a turkey with. The 30qt SS stock pot that it came with is now reserved for brewing beer so all the other parts are just sitting there taking up space. The cinder block pit to hold the equipment and house the burner isn't a bad idea either.

Well now you got me thinking this might be kind of cool to try at least once and see how it goes. The bigger question is how will my wife respond to cooking on a propane burner surrounded by cinder blocks with a wok sitting on top of them....:hmm:

 

[NetWareHead]

The bigger question is how will my wife respond to cooking on a propane burner surrounded by cinder blocks with a wok sitting on top of them....:hmm:

And outdoors...

 

[MontyAC]

Maybe something like this for indoor:

 

[MontyAC]

Imagine how fast food cooks with this much wok heat: