Thinking about getting somebody in my family a wok for a holiday gift. But we have an electric stove, the kind with a glass top where the heating elements are below. I need help to decide whether pairing a wok and an electric stove makes any sense.
We have an electric stove and use a flat-bottomed wok all the time.
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I think everyone needs a stir fry pan of some sort, ie a wok, but the stove conditions are not optimal.
Suggestions…get a carbon steel flat bottom wok. I recommend the Yosukata woks, or a MadeIn wok. I won’t claim to be a know all, but I have more woks than I can admit including 2 beloved Cen Brothers woks.
It may be worth your time to go through the Wok Shop’s website, as well as to read this nice little review from Serious Eats. https://www.seriouseats.com/best-woks-5218113?utm_medium=con&displayPrice=no&utm_source=googlepaid&utm_medium=con&utm_content=CjwKCAiA3L_JBhAlEiwAlcWO51vOdhNw9ixNxS51_YrdpvPhxoabv2VIjc_848WKV4_VjbEHV1eBQBoCpo8QAvD_BwE&utm_campaign=commerce-dd-Woks_SeriousEats_Combined_CommSEM_DSA&utm_term=flat%20bottomed%20woks&kw=paidnoads&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=18425688425&gbraid=0AAAAACeazfCxBwtxMVSHGR8Lds_Npo4Pt&gclid=CjwKCAiA3L_JBhAlEiwAlcWO51vOdhNw9ixNxS51_YrdpvPhxoabv2VIjc_848WKV4_VjbEHV1eBQBoCpo8QAvD_BwE
Wok seasoning and care isn’t rocket science, treat it like cast iron…season it and don’t use soap on it, use it like you stole it.
You won’t get “wok hei” from an electric cooktop, ,but you should be able to turn out some decent stir fries.
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I mentioned this on another thread yesterday, but on a regular powered home stove, and especially an electric one, I’d skew to a large skillet over a wok, which gives a much larger floor space to get as hot as possible for some char and so you don’t have to batch cook in small quantities for a similar result.
I have a pretty strong gas stove, and I still skew to a skillet more often than my wok for stir-fries and noodles, though I love my flat-bottomed carbon steel wok.
There are some lovely carbon steel skillets / fry pans these days at various price points, which I would consider equivalent to my wok, just with a lot more floor space for heat to touch food.
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A second on flat bottom wok. Also I have a standard ceramic top electric stove and I can get the wok to 500f, higher i don’t care if the smoke detectors goes off. Still not hot enough to get everything to cook all at once, so I do things in stages…which isn’t the same. If you want wok hei, some people use a butane kitchen torch to get fire on the food while cooking. That’s a bit too much heat for home cooking for me. My mom also used a cast iron skillet, a Wagner chicken fryer on a electric coil stove. No wok hei but she’d give some stuff a little char when the pan was super hot at the start.
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It only makes sense based on the cook and how they will use the wok.
Does the recipient cook wok style?
Woks were developed based on cooking styles, the equipment has evolved to adapt to technology, i.e., dung, wood, petroleum fuel. Pan materials, ingredients.
There are pans and recipes adapted to current technology.
What do you think he wants to cook.
