Electric Wok?

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taxlady

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Does anyone here use, or has used, an electric wok? How well does it emulate a traditional wok? Do you recommend or recommend against using an electric wok?
 
I received an electric non-stick wok as a wedding gift in 1984. I kept it for a long time and it worked well, but it took up a lot of space, so I got rid of it. I use a sauté pan and I'm happy with the results. I have no desire to replicate Chinese takeout.
 
taxy, if you have the space for storing a wok (electric or not) - you could try it. I was not happy with a wok on an electric stove top. But then I didn't really know how to "wok" in the first place.
Woks are used very, very hot. They are not for actually cooking other than searing. If something needs to be cooked longer it is done ahead of time.
At the end of cooking, while making your sauce/gravy then yes, you are cooking longer to bring all to a boil.

Not an easy decision.
 
Food still cooks pretty quickly at 450F and below. 600F is not necessary.

Taxy, I believe there are newer woks with wider bases that are designed to be used on Western style stoves, including electric.
I have an enamelled, cast iron wok with a flat base. It works fine on an electric stove, but it works mostly like a frying pan. I'm not sure I want an electric wok. I have tried DH's actual wok on the stove, and just forget that nonsense. I may try it on the grill when the weather is appropriate.
 
I had one. Worked well enough.
It was just a sort of hollow electric element with a seperate wok that fitted exactly inside.
We had electric coil stovesat that time and couldn't get decent flat bottom woks. So this was better.
 
taxy, I'm not understanding exactly what you are looking for in a wok. They all 'work like a frying pan' when you add oil and heat. The rounded bottom (or almost a tiny flat area of some) section is for heat to sear, you scoop and move the foods around so as not to scorch. An actual frying pan, over high heat, can be used if you tilt and flatten alternately.
 
I had one 25 years ago and it was terrible. You are soooo much better off getting a carbon steel wok for your stovetop or bbq grill.
 
taxy, I'm not understanding exactly what you are looking for in a wok. They all 'work like a frying pan' when you add oil and heat. The rounded bottom (or almost a tiny flat area of some) section is for heat to sear, you scoop and move the foods around so as not to scorch. An actual frying pan, over high heat, can be used if you tilt and flatten alternately.
I agree.

I don’t use a wok often enough to justify the storage space in my tiny kitchen.

My 9” cast iron skillet is the workhorse of the kitchen. It’s great on top of the stove and in the oven. I’ve used it to stir fry, make pizza, cornbread, cakes, roast chicken, cook steaks, French fries, pancakes, etc.
 
As already noted they don't get hot enough to really stir fry. But that's not all you really do with a wok. They're good for steaming in your bamboo baskets were for soup or for the many braises. Since a good Chinese meal has a number of different dishes served with it that aren't all stir fries, they're not useless and that can free your stove for other things
 
taxy, I'm not understanding exactly what you are looking for in a wok. They all 'work like a frying pan' when you add oil and heat. The rounded bottom (or almost a tiny flat area of some) section is for heat to sear, you scoop and move the foods around so as not to scorch. An actual frying pan, over high heat, can be used if you tilt and flatten alternately.
The rounded bottom allows you to have a deeper puddle of oil with much less oil.

Are you saying that I should just tilt a regular frying pan / skillet to get that puddle of oil? I don't think that will work very well on an electric stove.

What do you mean by flatten?
 
As most have said, an electric wok will not get hot enough to do Chinese style, high temp stir fry, to get that so called wok hay, but that is not necessary in all foods cooked in woks; in fact, only a small percentage, unless you are cooking that particular style of Chinese food all the time, which of course, you aren't. But woks are great pans for other things - I have 5 woks in my bunch of pans! I actually considered getting a commercial range with a "wok hole", and 5 burners, back when I got my range, but they didn't come with a convection oven, which I wanted. The heat under that wok hole was up to 80,000 btu/hr, while my range burners are "only" 20,000 btu. Years later I also got a Big Kahuna Burner - a propane powered 60k burner, for outside, which gives the most intense "wok hay", and when I first started cooking on it, I understood why the intense heat did this - a small circular area in the wok was like a nonstick area, with the oil just vaporizing, and the food would not stick! Even those 20k burners on my stove don't quite do that, especially in the 20" wok, I use on that. The highest heat burners I heard about on an Entrée To Asia show in a Hong Kong restaurant, in which one of those burners had a 120k burner! They said that this basically vaporized the metal from the bottom of the wok, and they had to replace it every month. Remember that, if you ever want to get that kind of range. :ROFLMAO:

Back when I was still cooking on electric, CI or Calphalon sauté pans were my favorite pans for Chinese (and many things, for that matter), as flat bottomed woks don't have enough contact, to heat up enough, and as soon as the food is added, it cools quickly. But they can be used for many things, as an electric wok could be - deep frying, steaming, as well as many others. Two of my woks are non-stick - not for high heat cooking but great for tossing veggies in, especially starting with a lot of greens, which reduce to a small amount. I often just reach over and toss something occasionally, then continue continue whatever I'm doing, usually cutting up things! And I've found them very useful for making a lot of Mexican, and similar sauces, when cooking down on med-high - the splattering is kept mostly within the pan, since the sauce is kept in a smaller area, but with a lot of pan to catch the splatter. I also got a domed wok splatter screen for 14" woks. Another thing that I use my 14" NS for is steaming, as using my well seasoned CS wok for this tends to remove the seasoning. Another thing an electric could be used for.

Another wok that is good for many things, and can be used for high heat cooking, even if the heat source isn't real high, is the Cast Iron. This is used a lot in rural China, as it is put on coals, and heats well, and even with lower heat, it will heat up after a time, and all the heat doesn't instantly transfer to all the food, like with a carbon steel wok, which also happens on an electric range, with that small contact area. What I use it mostly for, however, is for cooking Thai curries - reducing the coconut milk to get it oily, and a little caramelized, then frying the curry paste. High heat not necessary, and could probably be done in an electric wok, unless there are hot spots. I learned about this watching shows of Entrée To Asia, and others in SE Asia, in which similar dishes were usually cooked I clay or CI woks, not the carbon steel.

Indian food isn't normally thought of as wok cooked, but it is frequently, though not at the high temps of some Chinese SF. Their name for it (if I remember correctly) is kadhai, and an electric wok could probably be used for those, easily. Many of those curries and other similar dishes benefit from the broad surface, for reducing the liquid, and starting to heat the oil and spices in that small base, works better, compared to the broad area in a skillet or sauté pan.

Can you tell I like my woks? lol
 
Since we don't use oil and fry anymore, we steam, and the electric wok would work fine.
@thymeless we also use ours with a bamboo steamer for making stuffed buns. Usually, a mushroom and greens filling seasoned with garlic and soy sauce inside a whole wheat bun.
 
As most have said, an electric wok will not get hot enough to do Chinese style, high temp stir fry, to get that so called wok hay, but that is not necessary in all foods cooked in woks; in fact, only a small percentage, unless you are cooking that particular style of Chinese food all the time, which of course, you aren't. But woks are great pans for other things - I have 5 woks in my bunch of pans! I actually considered getting a commercial range with a "wok hole", and 5 burners, back when I got my range, but they didn't come with a convection oven, which I wanted. The heat under that wok hole was up to 80,000 btu/hr, while my range burners are "only" 20,000 btu. Years later I also got a Big Kahuna Burner - a propane powered 60k burner, for outside, which gives the most intense "wok hay", and when I first started cooking on it, I understood why the intense heat did this - a small circular area in the wok was like a nonstick area, with the oil just vaporizing, and the food would not stick! Even those 20k burners on my stove don't quite do that, especially in the 20" wok, I use on that. The highest heat burners I heard about on an Entrée To Asia show in a Hong Kong restaurant, in which one of those burners had a 120k burner! They said that this basically vaporized the metal from the bottom of the wok, and they had to replace it every month. Remember that, if you ever want to get that kind of range. :ROFLMAO:

Back when I was still cooking on electric, CI or Calphalon sauté pans were my favorite pans for Chinese (and many things, for that matter), as flat bottomed woks don't have enough contact, to heat up enough, and as soon as the food is added, it cools quickly. But they can be used for many things, as an electric wok could be - deep frying, steaming, as well as many others. Two of my woks are non-stick - not for high heat cooking but great for tossing veggies in, especially starting with a lot of greens, which reduce to a small amount. I often just reach over and toss something occasionally, then continue continue whatever I'm doing, usually cutting up things! And I've found them very useful for making a lot of Mexican, and similar sauces, when cooking down on med-high - the splattering is kept mostly within the pan, since the sauce is kept in a smaller area, but with a lot of pan to catch the splatter. I also got a domed wok splatter screen for 14" woks. Another thing that I use my 14" NS for is steaming, as using my well seasoned CS wok for this tends to remove the seasoning. Another thing an electric could be used for.

Another wok that is good for many things, and can be used for high heat cooking, even if the heat source isn't real high, is the Cast Iron. This is used a lot in rural China, as it is put on coals, and heats well, and even with lower heat, it will heat up after a time, and all the heat doesn't instantly transfer to all the food, like with a carbon steel wok, which also happens on an electric range, with that small contact area. What I use it mostly for, however, is for cooking Thai curries - reducing the coconut milk to get it oily, and a little caramelized, then frying the curry paste. High heat not necessary, and could probably be done in an electric wok, unless there are hot spots. I learned about this watching shows of Entrée To Asia, and others in SE Asia, in which similar dishes were usually cooked I clay or CI woks, not the carbon steel.

Indian food isn't normally thought of as wok cooked, but it is frequently, though not at the high temps of some Chinese SF. Their name for it (if I remember correctly) is kadhai, and an electric wok could probably be used for those, easily. Many of those curries and other similar dishes benefit from the broad surface, for reducing the liquid, and starting to heat the oil and spices in that small base, works better, compared to the broad area in a skillet or sauté pan.

Can you tell I like my woks? lol
That is very useful info. I knew a fair bit of that, but hadn't actually listed it in my mind. Those are some of the reasons I am interested in finding out more about electric woks.
 
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