What size wok for a family of 6?

[Mr_Dove]

I'm shopping for a wok but traditional woks are pretty small. I generally cook for at least 6 and I try to cook enough to have some leftovers.

12 and 14" woks are completely too small as I've cooked with them before and they don't do it.

My local restaurant supply has woks up to 28".

I intend to cook over charcoal in my 22" Weber Kettle. That should give me alot more heat than trying to cook on my puny cooktop.

I'm leaning towards either a 20" or 22" but I'm interested in people's comments.

 

[Andy M.]

Either of the larger ones will do as long as you can provide the heat. A larger wok will require more heat to get the same results.

 

[thymeless]

The commonly available woks are 14 inches in diameter. This fits reasonably on US home equipment. However, US equipment is not capable of supplying the heat to use a wok that size with much in it. Any bigger than that interferes strongly with neighboring burners.

You'll need to cook in small batches to get the texture, flavor and proper done-ness. So it doesn't matter how many you're cooking for, it just takes more small batches to recombine them for final heating just prior to service.

If you have a a high output outdoor stove, you can cook better on that in a wok than indoors on your home stove.

Something from these guys would do a good job.

Outdoor Stir Fry Stove - Home - Outdoor Cooking.

and a 14 is big enough to cook for 6 if you have the heat.

 

[TATTRAT]

the BTU's required to really get a wok ripping hot are not normally available in residential type scenarios.