Niki,

My problem with my steel wok is in using it with a conventional gas stove
burner with a ring of fire. The bottom of the wok at the center never gets
hot enough.

I have noticed that the wok stoves at Asian restaurants have only a single
large flame under the center of the wok. The flame then spreads over the
bottom by the curve of the wok with the hottest point at the center. Thus
cooked food can be pushed to the relatively cooler sides while cooking
sauces or other things in the middle.

I have been thinking of removing a burner ring from my stove, then lighting
the gas jet which points straight up. Has anyone tried it?

Best, Clarence

> wrote in message
...
> People in this group seem quite knowledgeable and I truly appreciate any
> help they've ever given me. I don't want to start world war 3 but I
> would really like to hear from those of you who have ever used one of
> the (I think are fairly new on the market) cast iron woks I have seen
> advertised on the internet lately. They are supposed to give superior
> cooking results! I have read that the chinese used this wok before they
> started using the hand hammered, high carbon steel ones. I've tried to
> read all of the customer reviews they had on them and 2 or 3 of them
> were very negative!!! These folks claim they love to cook with cast iron
> and own several different types of cast iron cookware but they came
> right out and said that the cast iron woks were terrible for stir
> frying!!! One man said his took too long to heat up and it stayed hot
> for too long after he was done cooking and the vegetables turned to
> mush!!! I don't see why they would if you remove them as soon as they're
> done cooking. I remove the food I cook in my carbon steel wok as soon as
> it's done and never have mush! I'm hoping those of you who have ever
> used them will give me your honest opinions! I have searched the area I
> live in high and low and I finally found a camping store that has just 1
> left in stock. It's only $30 but I hate to throw money away that could
> better be used on something else and while we're on the subject of woks,
> how about the aluminum anodized ones that cost anywhere from $50 to
> $150.What kind of results do they produce ???? All opinions and any
> advice is very much welcomed! Thanks again folks!!!!!
> Niki
>