Okay, I've been using a wok for years now, but I have to ask this question. How
do you get the wok so hot that it performs like the ones in Chinese
restaraunts/take out places?

I go to a take out place where as you stand at the counter you can easily watch
the cooks. And their woks absolutely sizzle. I can't get that kind of heat
generated for mine. Oh, the food comes out okay, but it takes me a lot longer to
cook it than if I had the kind of heat I'd like. I have a seven or eight year
old gas stove. I turn it up as high as it will go. But I still think I'm a few
hundred degrees cooler that in that take out place.

So how do I get the heat I want?

On 2012-08-29, > wrote:

> I go to a take out place where as you stand at the counter you can easily watch
> the cooks. And their woks absolutely sizzle. I can't get that kind of heat
> generated for mine. Oh, the food comes out okay, but it takes me a lot longer to
> cook it than if I had the kind of heat I'd like. I have a seven or eight year
> old gas stove. I turn it up as high as it will go. But I still think I'm a few
> hundred degrees cooler that in that take out place.
>
> So how do I get the heat I want?

Buy a commercial kitchen wok burner. The restaurant one's have a huge
burner, plus a gas foot/knee pedal the cook activates to deliver a
literal blowtorch secondary flame for instant on/off mega heat.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-wok-range.htm

I use a cheapo turkey fryer burner that delivers amost 40K BTUs with
propane and turn it up full. I take the round 14" wok off the burner
when too hot with it's perpendicular wood covered handle. Works great
unless I over load it with, say, too much rice for refried.

nb

--
Definition of objectivism:
"Eff you! I got mine."
http://www.nongmoproject.org/

wrote:

> Okay, I've been using a wok for years now, but I have to ask this question. How
> do you get the wok so hot that it performs like the ones in Chinese
> restaraunts/take out places?

Install a restaurant-grade cooktop. You'll need at least 30,000 BTU.

> literal blowtorch secondary flame for instant on/off mega heat.

Here you can see one in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHRudxFOvcg


nb

--
Definition of objectivism:
"Eff you! I got mine."
http://www.nongmoproject.org/

On Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:58:00 -0400, wrote:

>Okay, I've been using a wok for years now, but I have to ask this question. How
>do you get the wok so hot that it performs like the ones in Chinese
>restaraunts/take out places?
>
>I go to a take out place where as you stand at the counter you can easily watch
>the cooks. And their woks absolutely sizzle. I can't get that kind of heat
>generated for mine. Oh, the food comes out okay, but it takes me a lot longer to
>cook it than if I had the kind of heat I'd like. I have a seven or eight year
>old gas stove. I turn it up as high as it will go. But I still think I'm a few
>hundred degrees cooler that in that take out place.
>
>So how do I get the heat I want?

I got one of these--- Scary hot!
http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-...B000291GBQ/ref

$50 -- 185000BTU [??--- but it is *way* more than 100K]

I use it to wok- to boil big buckets for corn or steam clams.
outdoor use only, if you value your life or your home.

Or you can spend a couple grand on the proper inside burner and
ventilation.

Jim

On Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:58:00 -0400, wrote:

>Okay, I've been using a wok for years now, but I have to ask this question. How
>do you get the wok so hot that it performs like the ones in Chinese
>restaraunts/take out places?
>
>I go to a take out place where as you stand at the counter you can easily watch
>the cooks. And their woks absolutely sizzle. I can't get that kind of heat
>generated for mine. Oh, the food comes out okay, but it takes me a lot longer to
>cook it than if I had the kind of heat I'd like. I have a seven or eight year
>old gas stove. I turn it up as high as it will go. But I still think I'm a few
>hundred degrees cooler that in that take out place.
>
>So how do I get the heat I want?

Build a fire in your Weber Kettle and sink the wok into the white hot
coals.
Janet US

On Aug 29, 3:15*pm, Michael OConnor > wrote:
> I worked in a Chinese restaurant in college, washing dishes, but I
> would watch those guys cook on the woks and the secret was the intense
> heat, along with the proper seasoning of those woks. *There is no
> telling the heat those run on, but the seasoning can take it with just
> a little bit of oil, and those things clean out perfectly with just
> some hot water and a towel. *I'm convinced that no matter how hard you
> try, if you do stir fry at home you will never approach what you can
> get from a Chinese restaurant.

I think you're right about. I've been wokking since the 70s and the
reality is that you cook with whatever means you have. I've never had
any problem with not having an intensely hot heat source - neither do
most Chinese cooks.

On Aug 29, 6:30*pm, dsi1 > wrote:
> On Aug 29, 3:15*pm, Michael OConnor > wrote:
>
> > I worked in a Chinese restaurant in college, washing dishes, but I
> > would watch those guys cook on the woks and the secret was the intense
> > heat, along with the proper seasoning of those woks. *There is no
> > telling the heat those run on, but the seasoning can take it with just
> > a little bit of oil, and those things clean out perfectly with just
> > some hot water and a towel. *I'm convinced that no matter how hard you
> > try, if you do stir fry at home you will never approach what you can
> > get from a Chinese restaurant.
>
> I think you're right about. I've been wokking since the 70s and the
> reality is that you cook with whatever means you have. I've never had
> any problem with not having an intensely hot heat source - neither do
> most Chinese cooks.

To obtain a reasonable facsimile of restaurant cooking on a home stove
burner:

Don't be stingy with the oil.

Heat till it starts to smoke.

Don't stirfry more than a fist sized amount of ingredients at a time,
to keep from cooling down the wok.

Don't cover the wok unless you are trying to steam the food.

Mix everything together after you add the oyster sauce or whatever.

Mix in "finishing" items at the end, after you turn the gas off, like
sesame oil or chili oil/

On 8/29/2012 9:21 PM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
> On Aug 29, 6:30 pm, dsi1 > wrote:
>> On Aug 29, 3:15 pm, Michael OConnor > wrote:
>>
>>> I worked in a Chinese restaurant in college, washing dishes, but I
>>> would watch those guys cook on the woks and the secret was the intense
>>> heat, along with the proper seasoning of those woks. There is no
>>> telling the heat those run on, but the seasoning can take it with just
>>> a little bit of oil, and those things clean out perfectly with just
>>> some hot water and a towel. I'm convinced that no matter how hard you
>>> try, if you do stir fry at home you will never approach what you can
>>> get from a Chinese restaurant.
>>
>> I think you're right about. I've been wokking since the 70s and the
>> reality is that you cook with whatever means you have. I've never had
>> any problem with not having an intensely hot heat source - neither do
>> most Chinese cooks.
>
> To obtain a reasonable facsimile of restaurant cooking on a home stove
> burner:
>
> Don't be stingy with the oil.
>
> Heat till it starts to smoke.
>
> Don't stirfry more than a fist sized amount of ingredients at a time,
> to keep from cooling down the wok.
>
> Don't cover the wok unless you are trying to steam the food.
>
> Mix everything together after you add the oyster sauce or whatever.
>
> Mix in "finishing" items at the end, after you turn the gas off, like
> sesame oil or chili oil/
>

Sounds reasonable to me. I don't skimp on the oil either. Wokking is
great because it's a fast way to prepare a dish. I like fast. It's
pretty much the reason I cook using high heat whether I'm using a wok or
not.

I cooked up some Chinese green vegetable this evening. Beats the heck
out of me what it was. They were cute little things. It was not bok choy
or ong choy. I asked my Chinese buddy what the veggie was and he said it
was some kind of choy. Tomorrow I'll cook up the other Chinese vegetable
I got. Not quite as cute but still very appealing. I don't have any idea
what the heck it is either. I told my friend that his neighbors probably
could have told us what the stuff is but they're both dead. Their name
was the Choys. :-)

On 8/29/2012 10:40 PM, Andy wrote:
> dsi1 > wrote:
>
>> On 8/29/2012 9:21 PM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
>>> On Aug 29, 6:30 pm, dsi1 > wrote:
>>>> On Aug 29, 3:15 pm, Michael OConnor > wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I worked in a Chinese restaurant in college, washing dishes, but I
>>>>> would watch those guys cook on the woks and the secret was the intense
>>>>> heat, along with the proper seasoning of those woks. There is no
>>>>> telling the heat those run on, but the seasoning can take it with just
>>>>> a little bit of oil, and those things clean out perfectly with just
>>>>> some hot water and a towel. I'm convinced that no matter how hard you
>>>>> try, if you do stir fry at home you will never approach what you can
>>>>> get from a Chinese restaurant.
>>>>
>>>> I think you're right about. I've been wokking since the 70s and the
>>>> reality is that you cook with whatever means you have. I've never had
>>>> any problem with not having an intensely hot heat source - neither do
>>>> most Chinese cooks.
>>>
>>> To obtain a reasonable facsimile of restaurant cooking on a home stove
>>> burner:
>>>
>>> Don't be stingy with the oil.
>>>
>>> Heat till it starts to smoke.
>>>
>>> Don't stirfry more than a fist sized amount of ingredients at a time,
>>> to keep from cooling down the wok.
>>>
>>> Don't cover the wok unless you are trying to steam the food.
>>>
>>> Mix everything together after you add the oyster sauce or whatever.
>>>
>>> Mix in "finishing" items at the end, after you turn the gas off, like
>>> sesame oil or chili oil/
>>>
>>
>> Sounds reasonable to me. I don't skimp on the oil either. Wokking is
>> great because it's a fast way to prepare a dish. I like fast. It's
>> pretty much the reason I cook using high heat whether I'm using a wok or
>> not.
>>
>> I cooked up some Chinese green vegetable this evening. Beats the heck
>> out of me what it was. They were cute little things. It was not bok choy
>> or ong choy. I asked my Chinese buddy what the veggie was and he said it
>> was some kind of choy. Tomorrow I'll cook up the other Chinese vegetable
>> I got. Not quite as cute but still very appealing. I don't have any idea
>> what the heck it is either. I told my friend that his neighbors probably
>> could have told us what the stuff is but they're both dead. Their name
>> was the Choys. :-)
>
>
> Ever heard of the cookbook..
>
> "101 Ways to Wok Your Dog"?
>
> Andy
>

That's pretty disgusting. OTOH, if the zombie apocalypse ever happens,
that black dog we got could be useful - as protein. Sorta like "A Boy
and His Dog" with a little twist. :-)

On 2012-08-30, Janet Bostwick > wrote:
>
> Build a fire in your Weber Kettle and sink the wok into the white hot
> coals.

True dat! Orientals were cooking with a wok over charcoal for
centuries before gas.

nb


--
Definition of objectivism:
"Eff you! I got mine."
http://www.nongmoproject.org/

dsi1 wrote:

> > "101 Ways to Wok Your Dog"?

> That's pretty disgusting.

What does dog taste like? I've never had the opportunity.

On 30/08/2012 10:54 AM, Jim Elbrecht wrote:
> On Wed, 29 Aug 2012 19:58:00 -0400, wrote:
>
>> Okay, I've been using a wok for years now, but I have to ask this question. How
>> do you get the wok so hot that it performs like the ones in Chinese
>> restaraunts/take out places?
>>
>> I go to a take out place where as you stand at the counter you can easily watch
>> the cooks. And their woks absolutely sizzle. I can't get that kind of heat
>> generated for mine. Oh, the food comes out okay, but it takes me a lot longer to
>> cook it than if I had the kind of heat I'd like. I have a seven or eight year
>> old gas stove. I turn it up as high as it will go. But I still think I'm a few
>> hundred degrees cooler that in that take out place.
>>
>> So how do I get the heat I want?
>
> I got one of these--- Scary hot!
> http://www.amazon.com/Bayou-Classic-...B000291GBQ/ref
>
> $50 -- 185000BTU [??--- but it is *way* more than 100K]
>
> I use it to wok- to boil big buckets for corn or steam clams.
> outdoor use only, if you value your life or your home.
>
> Or you can spend a couple grand on the proper inside burner and
> ventilation.
>
> Jim
>
We have one of those. Not exactly like the one shown but very similar.
We keep it outside for all the really spattery wok cooking. It was
called a "Cache Cooker" when we bought it at a barbeque place near here.

If you get something brave enough to rival those in Chinese restaurants,
you'd better ensure your entire kitchen is custom designed to enable
easy removal of fat spatter. For this reason, a lot of kitchens in Asian
countries are OUTSIDE the house.

--

Krypsis

On 30/08/2012 5:21 PM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
> On Aug 29, 6:30 pm, dsi1 > wrote:
>> On Aug 29, 3:15 pm, Michael OConnor > wrote:
>>
>>> I worked in a Chinese restaurant in college, washing dishes, but I
>>> would watch those guys cook on the woks and the secret was the intense
>>> heat, along with the proper seasoning of those woks. There is no
>>> telling the heat those run on, but the seasoning can take it with just
>>> a little bit of oil, and those things clean out perfectly with just
>>> some hot water and a towel. I'm convinced that no matter how hard you
>>> try, if you do stir fry at home you will never approach what you can
>>> get from a Chinese restaurant.
>>
>> I think you're right about. I've been wokking since the 70s and the
>> reality is that you cook with whatever means you have. I've never had
>> any problem with not having an intensely hot heat source - neither do
>> most Chinese cooks.
>
> To obtain a reasonable facsimile of restaurant cooking on a home stove
> burner:
>
> Don't be stingy with the oil.
>
> Heat till it starts to smoke.
>
> Don't stirfry more than a fist sized amount of ingredients at a time,
> to keep from cooling down the wok.
>
> Don't cover the wok unless you are trying to steam the food.

That's why you need to do this sort of cooking outside the house.
>
> Mix everything together after you add the oyster sauce or whatever.
>
> Mix in "finishing" items at the end, after you turn the gas off, like
> sesame oil or chili oil/
>
You missed one.

Keep stirring the wok contents all the time.

--

Krypsis

> wrote in message
...
> Okay, I've been using a wok for years now, but I have to ask this
> question. How
> do you get the wok so hot that it performs like the ones in Chinese
> restaraunts/take out places?
>
> I go to a take out place where as you stand at the counter you can easily
> watch
> the cooks. And their woks absolutely sizzle. I can't get that kind of heat
> generated for mine. Oh, the food comes out okay, but it takes me a lot
> longer to
> cook it than if I had the kind of heat I'd like. I have a seven or eight
> year
> old gas stove. I turn it up as high as it will go. But I still think I'm a
> few
> hundred degrees cooler that in that take out place.
>
> So how do I get the heat I want?

BTUs. The average stove only cranks out 9,000 or so maximum. Restaurant
stoves go up top 25,000. The stove's used in Chinese restaurants are in the
35,000 BTU range.

On 2012-08-30 12:26:31 +0000, notbob said:

> On 2012-08-30, Janet Bostwick > wrote:
>>
>> Build a fire in your Weber Kettle and sink the wok into the white hot
>> coals.
>
> True dat! Orientals were cooking with a wok over charcoal for
> centuries before gas.

They lived without refridgerators too. I'm not sure that underscores
these as a good/better systems. They also had vastly less control over
the heat that we do with modern systems.

The thing I find a bit problematic, as with the OP, is that with lower
heats and a wok you logically have to cook longer at lower heat. This
doesn't make the vegetables do what they do when at a Chinese
restaurant. That is, cooked well, but still plenty of crunch. Maybe
it's just a matter of more rapid transitions of ingredients or more
exacting ordering/removal of ingredients.

It's been a long while since I used a wok, since we've had an electric
burner for many years now. It's fun. Whenever people talk about
wok-specific burners it always intrigues me.

gtr wrote:

> The thing I find a bit problematic, as with the OP, is that with lower
> heats and a wok you logically have to cook longer at lower heat. This
> doesn't make the vegetables do what they do when at a Chinese
> restaurant. That is, cooked well, but still plenty of crunch. Maybe
> it's just a matter of more rapid transitions of ingredients or more
> exacting ordering/removal of ingredients.

Now I have an irresistible urge to get some Chinese food. (Or at least
what is called "Chinese" in suburbia.)

On Aug 30, 7:24*am, George M. Middius > wrote:
> dsi1 wrote:
> > > "101 Ways to Wok Your Dog"?
> > That's pretty disgusting.
>
> What does dog taste like? I've never had the opportunity.

Tastes like chicken...everyone knows that.

On Thursday, August 30, 2012 4:24:51 AM UTC-10, George M. Middius wrote:
> dsi1 wrote:
>
>
>
> > > "101 Ways to Wok Your Dog"?
>
>
>
> > That's pretty disgusting.
>
>
>
> What does dog taste like? I've never had the opportunity.

Some folks will serve dog here although I've never had it and that practice isn't so popular these days. My dad has tried it. He said it's ok. The local joke is that the black dog is the tastiest kind.

But too much of heat will burn it completely, so it wont be nice to eat.

notbob wrote:
>
> On 2012-08-30, Janet Bostwick > wrote:
> >
> > Build a fire in your Weber Kettle and sink the wok into the white hot
> > coals.
>
> True dat! Orientals were cooking with a wok over charcoal for
> centuries before gas.

I read once that woks were origionally used to conserve fuel as it was
scarce.

G.

On Wednesday, August 29, 2012 8:34:03 PM UTC-4, notbob wrote:
> Here you can see one in action:
>
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHRudxFOvcg


Wow - the fires of hell don't hold a candle....

I had a cheapo wok on a ring- waste of money with an elec. stove. The tools were good tho and I use em to this day - nice, shallow skimmer etc.

I bought one of those new miniature woks at TJ Maxx for $5.99 carbon
steel silicone covered handle ribbed sides and I love them. Went back
and bought a second one. Wash like a dream no rusting and when you put
them on a large burner they get hotter because the sides get heated.
They are fantastic. I do eggs in them, ramen noodles, steak chunks,
etc-they handle anything. I actually plan to buy another one (no
dishwasher and dont like to wash my few dishes every night.)

ps Panda Express just opened a new DRIVE THRU here we are all pretty
excited about :-)

On 2012-08-30 20:35:54 +0000, wilburgsmith said:

> But too much of heat will burn it completely, so it wont be nice to eat.

But? That sounds like it's back-referencing something unstated.

But right: "Too much heat" can do either: Too much in a short time, or
too little over a long time. One is singed and charred, the other is
mushy and sodden with oil.

Both aren't nice for very different reasons.

On Aug 30, 7:44*am, Krypsis > wrote:
> On 30/08/2012 5:21 PM, spamtrap1888 wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On Aug 29, 6:30 pm, dsi1 > wrote:
> >> On Aug 29, 3:15 pm, Michael OConnor > wrote:
>
> >>> I worked in a Chinese restaurant in college, washing dishes, but I
> >>> would watch those guys cook on the woks and the secret was the intense
> >>> heat, along with the proper seasoning of those woks. *There is no
> >>> telling the heat those run on, but the seasoning can take it with just
> >>> a little bit of oil, and those things clean out perfectly with just
> >>> some hot water and a towel. *I'm convinced that no matter how hard you
> >>> try, if you do stir fry at home you will never approach what you can
> >>> get from a Chinese restaurant.
>
> >> I think you're right about. I've been wokking since the 70s and the
> >> reality is that you cook with whatever means you have. I've never had
> >> any problem with not having an intensely hot heat source - neither do
> >> most Chinese cooks.
>
> > To obtain a reasonable facsimile of restaurant cooking on a home stove
> > burner:
>
> > Don't be stingy with the oil.
>
> > Heat till it starts to smoke.
>
> > Don't stirfry more than a fist sized amount of ingredients at a time,
> > to keep from cooling down the wok.
>
> > Don't cover the wok unless you are trying to steam the food.
>
> That's why you need to do this sort of cooking outside the house.
>
> > Mix everything together after you add the oyster sauce or whatever.
>
> > Mix in "finishing" items at the end, after you turn the gas off, like
> > sesame oil or chili oil/
>
> You missed one.
>
> Keep stirring the wok contents all the time.
>

I just remembered: put a little sugar in the marinade to help char the
meat.

On Aug 30, 1:51*pm, wilburgsmith
> wrote:
> But too much of heat will burn it completely, so it wont be nice to eat.
>

Continuous flipping will prevent that. You have to watch the food
carefully as it cooks, too.