Desirable but not a prerequisite. Still possible to have a nice meal without one.
Anyway, I think Andrew and I are done being argumentative. Or at least I think I’ve summarised my view sufficiently in that first statement 
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Kph 
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Probably closer to Billion. China, India (kadhai), SE Asia. But why let that interfere with an argument.
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I don’t use a wok, so I can’t weigh in, but here’s how restaurant chefs think about using electric.
Hi Alexander,
Beyond a few rounds, you’ll find that the payoffs get less and less with these discussions.
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The article is a bit doom and gloomy, although does hint there may be equally effective electrics available… but that does mean places will eventually need to purchase new gear. If you look above in this thread you’ll find video links on a commercial induction wok station that appears to be pretty darn impressive.
Also curious about what the future in these locales will be for wood fired smokers, grills, and pizza ovens. Just as gas fans feel electric is inferior, wood fans feel the same way about gas. Up here I can heat my home with wood, but don’t think that is possible anymore in SoCal.
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In Los Angeles, CA the construction of new wood burning oven is not permitted.
When Nancy Silverton was planning Pizzeria Mozza, she had to look for a long time to find a restaurant that already had a wood oven.
How is culinary professionals explaining the effects of a ban on new gas lines “gloomy and doomy” as opposed to stating facts?
My feeling is because there is little to no discussion about the valid electric alternatives. Not unlike the argument that “I can’t drive to the supermarket anymore when gasoline is no longer available”.
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I remember watching a TV program about a top chef in Italy who cooked on a wood-fired cast iron stove. He managed heat by moving pots and pans around on the cook top. The point it that a competent cook can adapt to whatever heat source is available.
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Yes… if there is more heat than needed, not so much when there is less.
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I think I know what you mean, but your example may be too extreme to the point of scaring people. What can be done vs what should be done are different. Some people are scared to use induction cooking, the last convincing argument is: If Bobby there can cook his meal using Arizona sun, what are you complaining?
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True, but remember that heat and temperature are not the same thing. If one heat source is not as hot as another, you can often achieve the same results by simply increasing the cooking time.
Yeah… but your post was about heat on wood, and moving pans to manage it.
As I noted, the point of my post was that a competent cook can adapt to the heat source at hand. The fact the example I used was of a person cooking over wood is beside that point.
Hi Andrew,
I don’t obtain anything close to Wok hei in my home kitchen, but I still use my two woks very frequently - in fact my 2 woks (and my 4 sauter pans) are my most used pans/pots in my kitchen.
I’ve grown to love the wok shape for tossing and jumping food, mixing fried rice dishes, noodle dishes and pasta dishes around. I prefer a wok for these dishes over my sauter pans these days.
I often also prepare the noodles and the pasta in my wok - is the wok ideal for this, NO, but it still works great for it and it saves me having to wash another pan.
You are corrent that to obtain anything close to Wok hei on a regular home stovetop, you really should use a regular frying pan or a sauter pan instead of a wok since it has a wider surface area to sear with.
But I simply love the shape of the wok for tossing/jumping vegetables and for it’s versatility - that’s why I use my 2 woks so often these days - woks are so darn practical and convenient to cook in.
I’ve compared the noodle stir fry dishes I get at my local chinese restaurants in Copenhagen - and I’m lucky, because I find that my own home made dishes gives me almost or in fact sometimes matches the taste of restaurant stir fry dishes I can get in the local chinese restaurants in Copenhagen.
Either my tastebuds are poor or they chinese restaurants don’t make true wok hei wok food - either way, I’m happy since I can make stir fry at home - without the Wok hei, that according to my tastebuds matches the stir fry I can buy out in the city. And I get to perfectly determine what vegetables I put in MY stir fry, you can’t do that at a restaurant - and people often overlook this important detail in my view.
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Not when that is the only option you addressed. If there are other methods you wish to comment on, perhaps mention them. Moving pans to manage less than sufficient heat ain’t one of them.
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Hi Claus,
Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
I imagine many of the improvements you find in the dishes you make at home are because you’re making them specifically to your taste. You might also be more discerning and selective about the ingredients you source for your dishes than local restaurants. And of course you take great care in the preparation and cooking itself.
FWIW I love stir-frying in my Agnelli saltapasta (https://www.amazon.it/Pentole-Agnelli-ALMC111BPIC36-Alluminio-Induzione/dp/B00QMNC9K8/), which I snagged from Amazon UK for about £18 two years ago. Its light weight makes tossing food much easier, and the aluminum surface is far more non-stick than SS frying pans I’ve used for similar tasks. Its relatively small flat surface area gets rip-roaring hot on my induction cooktop, while the flared sidewalls diffuse the heat somewhat. It also works extremely well for tossing portions of pasta, particularly cacio e pepe, carbonara, and other emulsion-based pasta sauces.
When I argued that there’s no inherent advantage to having a wok for this type of cooking on a standard cooktop, it’s because alternatives like this are easily and (relatively) cheaply available.
Cheers,
Andrew
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I am not interested in a debate. But I will point out that the purpose of moving pans on a wood-fired cooktop is the avoid excessive heat.
Hi Andrew,
I agree. That Agnelli Saltapasta pan looks very interesting indeed - I might have to buy the 36 cm version. Do you own the 36 cm version of it ?
Do you think it will beat my Demeyere Apollo 32 cm PLY wok for heating speed up and down and for how screamingly hot it can get ?
I really love my Demeyere Apollo wok. It also can get screamingly hot very fast.
The Agnellig Saltapasta pan you own looks somewhat similar to a combo (or Fusion as Ray would call it) between a wok and a saucier. I love my sauciers, not only the smaller sizes for sauces but also the larger sizes for pasta dishes and noodle dishes - my sauciers are almost used as often in my kitchen as my sauter pans these says.
I can see the argument in favour for that a saucier might in fact be better suited for home use than an actual wok.
I think many people just use a wok, because it’s popular in asian culture, covenient, big sized to feed a whole family and you see it often in street food videos - and most people probaly don’t even know what a larger saucier is and what it can be used for.
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