"cshenk" > wrote in message
...
> "Melba's Jammin'" wrote
> wrote:
>
>>> I have a nice skillet (probably too small) though.....
>>> but have wondered if maybe a wok is the better "tool"
>>> for me?
>
>>> Can someone give this neophyte cook some advice on the
>>> advantages of wok vs BIG skillet?
>>
>> The way I cook, there is no advantage, so I don't have a wok. I do my
>> stir fries in a skillet.
>
> Pretty much same here for all that I 'asian cook' a goodly bit. The
> minimal value added on a wok is removed by the storage space needed in my
> case.
We are talking apples and oranges here. A "real" wok is fired by a very hot
flame. This is not attainable on most stoves. If you go to a Chinese
restaurant and watch them cook, they use very high temperatures for a very
short period of time. The timing of the addition of ingredients and spices
is very critical. The common home stoves just can't do what the big burner
woks do, unless you get into Vulcan, Viking, Wolf, or Dacor stuff, and even
then I don't know how big an inside burner you can get.
I have an outside Camp Chef burner with a wok ring. When I want to really
cook something in a wok, that is what I use.
I just got a Bosch 5 burner rangetop with a 15,000 btu center burner. I
need to get the wok ring, and will try that inside. My outside Camp Chef is
60,000 btu, so you can see there's quite a difference.
Most indoor gas and electrics are lucky if they're 10,000.
Steve