Wok suggestions?

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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by XexoX »

unfortunately the Eastman wok has been discontinued. I can find a kit, with a burner, for $189 and up, but not just the wok.
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by mauichef »

I will call my local Gaspro tomorrow and see if they have any. Stand by buddy and keep 'em crossed!
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by XexoX »

mauichef wrote: Tue Jan 12, 2021 12:18 am I will call my local Gaspro tomorrow and see if they have any. Stand by buddy and keep 'em crossed!
You are a champ!
You can blame Mr. Suburban for my being here. :lol:
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by joanjet »

After having a wok some time ago and never having much success with it, a friend of mine informed me that restaurants don't just use woks on top of regular stovetop burners but have these gigantic burners specially designed for woks.

https://youtu.be/FQ1GzCnkGhg

You can see it in this video when he takes the wok off the flame around 2:30.

Since then I have always wondered what benefit there is to using a wok in a home kitchen over a regular pan, and have considered purchasing a standalone outdoor propane wok burner.
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by jbart65 »

Woks are still useful on regular burners, but it’s important to cook in batches, especially proteins.I’ve experimented enough with different pans to notice a difference.

Fortunately I have burners that reach 23,000 btu. My wok definitely outperforms other pans for stir fries on these burners.

Yes, it would be nice to have 30k or a 50k burner, but no need to go that far and 50k is illegal in most if not all residential codes
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by ChefKnivesToGo »

Does anyone remember an infomercial for hand hammered woks? It was done like a 30 minute show with a live audience. Pretty cheesy stuff but I remember them showing workers in China with hammers banging out flat disks of steel into shape.

“But wait, there’s more! You also get a SOS to clean your new hand hammer wok!” (I’m just making that up)
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by XexoX »

ChefKnivesToGo wrote: Tue Jan 12, 2021 7:46 am Does anyone remember an infomercial for hand hammered woks? It was done like a 30 minute show with a live audience. Pretty cheesy stuff but I remember them showing workers in China with hammers banging out flat disks of steel into shape.

“But wait, there’s more! You also get a SOS to clean your new hand hammer wok!” (I’m just making that up)
Yes. I do remember those commercials. Cheesy is being nice about them. Funny, I've never come across one at an estate sale or Goodwill.
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by JASinIL2006 »

Not the same Eastman wok I have, but Amazon has a "Town Food Service 22 Inch Steel Cantonese Style Wok" that looks pretty good.
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by gladius »

  • Are you looking for a new wok or suggestions on seasoning?
  • What wok do now have?
You definitely need to season a new wok. I have several woks and used the following traditional seasoning method and it works well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNPe5-swL-k

Try re-seasoning your existing wok using the above method. They are not hard to season.

For home use on a gas range I like a flat bottom 14 inch carbon steel pow wok. I do prefer the lighter thinner gauge as it is fast and responsive. The larger /heavier size I use on the Weber which delivers enough heat. That Taylor & Ng natural non-stick is really pre-seasoned, not having a non-stick coating and is a good choice.
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by ronnie_suburban »

Any thoughts on the advantages/disadvantages of hammered versus non-hammered?
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by gladius »

ronnie_suburban wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 1:53 pm Any thoughts on the advantages/disadvantages of hammered versus non-hammered?
---
Cosmetic mostly, either should work equally well.

The hammered woks look real nice though.

For $35 bucks this is a nice one <<:

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Or with traditional metal handle:

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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by ronnie_suburban »

gladius wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 3:04 pm
ronnie_suburban wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 1:53 pm Any thoughts on the advantages/disadvantages of hammered versus non-hammered?
Cosmetic mostly, either should work equally well.

The hammered woks look real nice though.
Yes, the hammered ones most certainly do look nice. Was wondering if there was a trade-off for that, like a substantially more difficult seasoning process or just more food-stick in general. I've already pulled the trigger on a non-hammered one at Wok Shop . . . 16-inch, flat bottom, carbon steel, with a metal side handle. It's this one. I'm hoping its weight doesn't impede response time.

I have a well-seasoned, lightweight carbon steel wok with a welded tubular handle that I bought at a shop in Chinatown (Chicago) many years ago, and the quick response is best thing about it. Gets hot fast, cools off fast. In fact, I like a lot about it but it's got a round bottom and even with the helper ring, it just doesn't get hot in the right places on any of my gas burners. The one burner that hits it in close to the right spot is low btu. So, I went with a flat bottom this time.

I also have the Made In wok that was linked to above. It's heavy, with a slower response time. On the plus side, the flat bottom does well on my burners. On the downside, it's not quite large enough for my everyday use and it has a somewhat annoying lip at the rim that gets in my way.
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by gladius »

ronnie_suburban wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 4:29 pm Yes, the hammered ones most certainly do look nice. Was wondering if there was a trade-off for that, like a substantially more difficult seasoning process or just more food-stick in general. I've already pulled the trigger on a non-hammered one at Wok Shop . . . 16-inch, flat bottom, carbon steel, with a metal side handle. It's this one. I'm hoping its weight doesn't impede response time.

I have a well-seasoned, lightweight carbon steel wok with a welded tubular handle that I bought at a shop in Chinatown (Chicago) many years ago, and the quick response is best thing about it. Gets hot fast, cools off fast. In fact, I like a lot about it but it's got a round bottom and even with the helper ring, it just doesn't get hot in the right places on any of my gas burners. The one burner that hits it in close to the right spot is low btu. So, I went with a flat bottom this time.

I also have the Made In wok that was linked to above. It's heavy, with a slower response time. On the plus side, the flat bottom does well on my burners. On the downside, it's not quite large enough for my everyday use and it has a somewhat annoying lip at the rim that gets in my way.
---
I don't think seasoning will be an issue hammered or non.

That looks like a good choice. The size dictates a side-handle would be helpful as filled it could be heavy.
The 14 gauge (~1.6mm) should respond well on the high BTU burner.

The 14 inch for my wife is the limit. The Joyce Chen is a 2mm and gets hot fast on my GE range 15,000 BTU burner.

Let us know how you like it and how well the seasoning process went.
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by mauichef »

XexoX wrote: Tue Jan 12, 2021 1:06 am
mauichef wrote: Tue Jan 12, 2021 12:18 am I will call my local Gaspro tomorrow and see if they have any. Stand by buddy and keep 'em crossed!
You are a champ!
Sorry bro'. No more. they have some others but twice the price.
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by gladius »

ronnie_suburban wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 4:29 pm Yes, the hammered ones most certainly do look nice...I've already pulled the trigger on a non-hammered one at Wok Shop . . . 16-inch, flat bottom, carbon steel, with a metal side handle. It's this one. I'm hoping its weight doesn't impede response time.
---
You inspired me Ronnie but...

Drats )()(*$#@
I went to order the Peking style hammered 14 inch flat bottom metal handle << I linked above but it is now out-of-stock! :(
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by XexoX »

mauichef wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 5:17 pm
XexoX wrote: Tue Jan 12, 2021 1:06 am
mauichef wrote: Tue Jan 12, 2021 12:18 am I will call my local Gaspro tomorrow and see if they have any. Stand by buddy and keep 'em crossed!
You are a champ!
Sorry bro'. No more. they have some others but twice the price.
Thanks for checking!
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by ronnie_suburban »

gladius wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 5:56 pm
ronnie_suburban wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 4:29 pm Yes, the hammered ones most certainly do look nice...I've already pulled the trigger on a non-hammered one at Wok Shop . . . 16-inch, flat bottom, carbon steel, with a metal side handle. It's this one. I'm hoping its weight doesn't impede response time.
---
You inspired me Ronnie but...

Drats )()(*$#@
I went to order the Peking style hammered 14 inch flat bottom metal handle << I linked above but it is now out-of-stock! :(
That sucks. Hopefully, it'll be back in stock soon. These days, it seems like it can go either way.
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by LaVieestBelle »

Woks are such a fun and sometimes frustrating topic. I keep researching.

I've had a cast iron one that was too thick and heavy to perform as I wished it would. I have a stainless one now that was free, so no complaints, but I know I could find something with far better performance. Carbon steel, specifically.

At work I have used a non-stick one. Though I am not really into nonstick, I was surprised at the ease of use and the lack of need to add more oil during the process. But I worry about banging it up because for me, wok technique means constantly hitting and scraping the pan with my metal tool. And I want to use higher temperatures.

The Kimball one (collaboration with Kuhn Rikon) mentioned earlier has been out of stock for a very long time at SLT and the Kimball website...not sure what the story is.

I would be interested in the Cook's Illustrated recommendation of the Taylor and Ng.... And though I do not always agree with them, I like some of the wok-shopping suggestions on the Cook's Illustrated YouTube piece on picking a wok. Light. Carbon steel. A long handle...

I particularly like Ronnie's purchase from the Wok Shop. That particular wok was recommended by Grace Young, who wrote Breath of a Wok. It might be my eventual wok purchase.

But the wok we all missed out on years back.... On the cover of Breath of a Wok there is a gorgeous hammered wok (though it looks handle-less). It was hand hammered by someone named Cen. It apparently became the cult wok! Started at $100...went to $149 at Williams Sonoma, where the store placed an order for them. Then production stopped. Now they sell on eBay for a huge fortune. I've seen sellers asking well over a thousand... One link about this wok and the story of the end of production... https://www.graceyoung.com/2016/12/mr-c ... of-an-era/

Unless I find the mysterious Cen wok at a garage sale someday, I might just go for Ronnie's choice...
Last edited by LaVieestBelle on Thu Jan 14, 2021 12:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by Jeff B »

LaVieestBelle wrote: Wed Jan 13, 2021 9:30 pm ...Unless I find the mysterious Cen wok at a garage sale someday, I might just go for Ronnie's choice...
I have basically the same one Ronnie has but they didn't have the metal helper handle as an option back then, I would rather have had that. I have the 14" flat bottom.

https://wokshop.stores.yahoo.net/castwokwsiha.html
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Re: Wok suggestions?

Post by XexoX »

Thank you Ms. Belle, that was an interesting read about Mr. Cen's woks. Too bad he didn't get an apprentice or three.

edited to correct comment wording.
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