Electric Wok yes no ?

Supercell

I've almost given up trying to do authentic stir fries on the hob at home. Its just too slow and the veggies are sodden through by the time they are done rather than warm but slightly crunchy like I could achieve with a hotter pan.

I take care to have the hob on for about five minutes just before to reach max temperature but its just not the same a gas or ring cooking .

I see Argos do an electric wok which seems to be ideal bar the fact it can't be shaken whilst cooking but will just have to adopt spatula usage to compensate.

Question is - do electric wok's in general come close to the real deal?, or if not, are they an acceptable compromise given that hob cooking is the only alternative?

Anyone have thoughts?

Gary ITR

I won one at my last golf outing.. haven't used it yet though

Krusty_Clown

Do you get gas to your house? Maybe change your electric hob for a gas hob?
it took me a long time to master using a wok, but the secret was to use a very high flame and cook everything at a very high temperature.. Very difficult to do with electric..

Mr Magnolia

Sounds like your hob is past it's best really. I've a gas hob myself so I'm not sure about this, but, surely if you leave your electric hob and pan heat up for long enough (until nearly smoking) it should avoid the sogginess of a slow cooking...???

county

i would say no,gas is so much better when cooking,you have complete control over the heat,electric takes too long to heat and to long the cool down

Mr Magnolia

county wrote:

i would say no,gas is so much better when cooking,you have complete control over the heat,electric takes too long to heat and to long the cool down

I agree totally but are the electric hobs as bad as the OP's?

Supercell

Thanks for the replies, I'm not sure that I've used the correct word for the cooking top , i'm referring to something like this > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Electric_stove.jpg

I've used these in a few places and stir fry cooking just doesnt seem to work properly on them at all

I'd love to use gas as it's perfect for stir frying (as you've posted above) but I live in a remote country area so gas isnt an option really.

Has anyone ever used an elctric one and how did the find it?, Onkle wanna flog your one to me if you don't use it ?

Alun

Longfield wrote:

I'd love to use gas as it's perfect for stir frying (as you've posted above) but I live in a remote country area so gas isnt an option really.

Annamoe isn't it? That's not remote

Anyway, the problem with electric hobs, especially those old-fashioned ones with the black 'rings' is that they are thermostatically controlled. Just at the point you think you've got the wok nice and hot, it decides to switch off, and if you, at that moment happen to chuck a load of cold meat into it, it cools the oil down and it then takes the thermostat and the ring with it's high thermal inertia quite a long time to get back up to heat again. More modern electric hobs, especially halogen ones, react a lot quicker, but you can't really beat gas.

I'd guess an electric wok would suffer from the same problem.

I've got a thing I bought while I lived in Holland, called a Wadjan, which is basically an Indonesian wok. Difference is that it's made out of cast iron, so it holds the heat a lot better and doesn't cool down when you put cold ingredients into it. It works quite well for stir fries, but I use it for a whole raft of different dishes. I've no idea if you can get something similar here.

Anyway, there's always bottled gas, even in the wildest reaches of Wicklow

Mr Magnolia

Alun wrote:

Anyway, there's always bottled gas, even in the wildest reaches of Wicklow

Was just about to suggest that. My parents use bottled gas and even the small bottle is decent value.

Supercell

Alun wrote:

Annamoe isn't it? That's not remote
Anyway, there's always bottled gas, even in the wildest reaches of Wicklow

Hehe, well by eircom terms I might as well be in outer Mongolia as far as broadband is concerned !

The place I live is stone built (see the webcam in my signature), the walls are several feet thick so putting a gas canister outside means drilling though several feet of stone.
The only place I know of with gas in a canister is my aunties and she has the canister for it outside in case it explodes (her words), is it safe to have the canister inside the kitchen instead of outside?

Mr Magnolia

Personally I wouldn't have it in the house. I sometimes smell a little gas at the back of my folks house, not near enough to worry but I wouldn't like it inside.

Supercell

I got the argos one today, tonight will give it a spin, looks sturdy enough and comes with a nice little recipie book too.

The Sweeper

Got a question - you say you leave the hob on for ages. Well the hob can be as hot as hell but if you put a cold wok onto it and then chuck veggies in that'll do naff all.

Is it possible for you to put a wok on your electric hob and heat it to the point where the oil is either smoking or nearly smoking?

If it is, you should have no problems making a proper stirfry. Also, add ingredients bit by bit - sealing meat a few spoonfuls at a time, as opposed to dumping a kilo of fridge-cold chicken pieces into your wok, will help it keep its heat.

I've rented plenty of houses and ended up cooking on plenty of hobs of various quality, and if it doesn't heat sufficiently to make oil smoke, I don't see how you can cook anything on it full stop because it won't be hot enough to boil water either...

rubadub

Minesajackdaniels wrote:

Well the hob can be as hot as hell but if you put a cold wok onto it and then chuck veggies in that'll do naff all.

Yes try this.

The bigger rings usually output more power, so even if the big ring looks too big for the wok try it on it. Sometimes 2 rings can be the same size but different power too, or one can be "fast heat".

I would be against getting another gadget to clutter up my kitchen.