On 6/1/2010 7:46 PM, isw wrote:
> In >,
> > wrote:
>
>> isw wrote:
>>
>>> In >,
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Steve wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I have an electric stove, wondering if I'd be just as well off with
>>>>> an electric wok rather than a stovetop model. Are the wattages high
>>>>> enough on electric woks?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> If you're talking about the "stand-alone" woks i.e. appliances that
>>>> have their own heating elements/thermostats and power cables and can
>>>> [allegedly] be used on the counter-top, they're not as good as other
>>>> woks, IMHO.
>>>>
>>>> I have one of those stand-alone electric woks - a Kenwood, which IIRC
>>>> is made in the USA. The heat therefrom goes up to "more than hot
>>>> enough"
>>>
>>> It's not how hot you can get it when it's empty -- it's how hot you
>>> can *keep it* after you toss the meat in; the steam carries away a
>>> HUGE amount of heat. And that's where an electric wok simply cannot
>>> keep up with a gas one.
>>
>> That's what I meant when I said, (which you chose to snip)
>>
>> "The heat therefrom goes up to "more than hot enough" -
>> but it is not "constant" heat as the thermostat keeps kicking in and
>> out, so the heat varies"
>
> I cut it because it didn't matter. An electric wok, with the temperature
> dialed all the way up to "nuclear fusion", might get that hot when
> empty, but will still cool down a lot when you put food in it, and it
> will not recover until nearly all the water has been cooked out of the
> food (unless you cook in very small batches).
>
> Electric skillets and woks draw about 1,500 watts (about the maximum you
> can get out of a US electrical outlet), which is equivalent to about 85
> BTU per minute. The entire circuit that supplies an electric cooktop is
> probably 220 volts at 30 amps, or 6,600 watts. Which is still only about
> 375 BTU/minute. And that's if you could somehow use all four burners at
> once to heat your wok.
>
> An "ordinary" domestic gas stove will have a burner or two capable of,
> maybe 9,000 BTU. Professional cookstoves might be capable of about
> double that. A wok ring in a decent Chinese restaurant can probably do
> something north of 65,000 BTU.
>
> And that's why the Chinese dishes you cook at home, good though they
> might be, cannot be the same as what you get in a good Chinese
> restaurant, even if the owner gave you his secret recipe.

Oddly enough, I've found that a home electric range with a burner output
of about 2500W works fine. My guess the reason is that you're cooking
smaller portions. Of course it wouldn't work in a commercial setting.

>
> Isaac