# I want a wok **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 5, 2010, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-wok/523719 "2010-01-05T04:16:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-wok/523719/21 "2010-01-05T21:22:57Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > … Might as well go skillet. … Or, even better (IMHO), a large (4 or 5 quart) [saucier](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=active&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&um=1&q=saucier+pan&sa=N&start=0&ndsp=20), 'specially if your working on a “flat top\*” electric stove (plus every well stocked pot drawer should have a saucier anyway!) That was a “they do exist” not an endorsement post. > [@levdrakon](#): > > … If you’re going to set the wok over a flat heating element or low flame and not physically toss the pan around, then a heavier cast iron wok makes sense to me. Having used a round bottom carbon steel wok with a fire ring on an old school coil 'lectric the first thing I noticed was no matter how hot I got the wok it just never recovered that heat once the cooking started. Cast iron does sound a lot better for electric stove-tops of any kind. CMC fnord! \*My Mom has had a flat top electric since they first came out, I always teased her with “I can make food on it, but there’s no way I can cook on it!”. When we moved … we got gas :). ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-wok/523719/22 "2010-01-05T22:09:30Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Or, even better (IMHO), a large (4 or 5 quart) [saucier](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&safe=active&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&um=1&q=saucier+pan&sa=N&start=0&ndsp=20), 'specially if your working on a “flat top\*” electric stove (plus every well stocked pot drawer should have a saucier anyway!) > That was a “they do exist” not an endorsement post.Having used a round bottom carbon steel wok with a fire ring on an old school coil 'lectric the first thing I noticed was no matter how hot I got the wok it just never recovered that heat once the cooking started. Cast iron does sound a lot better for electric stove-tops of any kind. > > CMC fnord! > \*My Mom has had a flat top electric since they first came out, I always teased her with “I can make food on it, but there’s no way I can cook on it!”. > When we moved … we got gas :). I’m jealous of the gas stove! At our last house we had a gas cooktop and I learned to love it. Then we moved to this place, 7 years ago, and have a traditional ceramic-spiral cooktop. It _could_ have had gas - the house directly opposite ours does - but for whatever reason, the builder didn’t run gas into our kitchen (the furnace / water heater are both gas so it coulda been done). I just got done scrubbing our cheapo new wok. The package did say the lacquer was food-grade, so why they insisted on the more involved cleaning process I don’t know, but I did the hot oil / scrub with steel wool step, followed by a thorough scrubbing with regular Brillo (soap-infused), then dried thoroughly, oiled it, and let it sit on the hot burner for 10 minutes per the package. I’ll repeat that step in a bit also per instructions, then most likely cook tonight’s dinner in it. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-wok/523719/23 "2010-01-05T23:38:30Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Then we moved to this place, 7 years ago, and have a traditional ceramic-spiral cooktop. It _could_ have had gas - the house directly opposite ours does - but for whatever reason, the builder didn’t run gas into our kitchen (the furnace / water heater are both gas so it coulda been done). It’s not a big deal to run gas to a kitchen in most homes, especially if there’s already gas in the house. The last couple houses I’ve lived in, I had it done, and it was ~$150 each time. Money well spent IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-wok/523719/24 "2010-01-05T23:51:37Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > It’s not a big deal to run gas to a kitchen in most homes, especially if there’s already gas in the house. The last couple houses I’ve lived in, I had it done, and it was ~$150 each time. Money well spent IMO. We might have it done if we ever get around to remodelling the kitchen (something we looked into a couple of years back and decided to hold off on). The contract who was looking things over said it might be a bit of a mess in the basement since the ceilings are finished between the furnace room and the area under the kitchen, so we were (at that point) going to stick with electric. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-wok/523719/25 "2010-01-05T23:55:32Z")
Whatever you cook in your wok should be served with the small pieces of bread commonly served at dinner. Why, you ask? Because… I love wok and roll. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-wok/523719/26 "2010-01-06T00:01:58Z")
You still too leetle a wok. Practice a crawl a leetle more, then you wok! ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-wok/523719/27 "2010-01-06T00:08:57Z")
Of course, if you use the pan to cook foods served in Cairo, then you can… Wok like an Egyptian. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-wok/523719/28 "2010-01-06T05:49:18Z")
I cook a lot of Chinese food – it’s my favorite ethnic cuisine. I have cooked in a lot of different woks, from the regular one with the ring to go around the burner, to electric woks, but for my money, by far the best is a wok-shaped frying pan which is coated with teflon. They only cost around $25 each, and on average last around ten years before they need to be replaced. The low cost means that you can buy four or five easily. Currently, I have four, and when I’m cooking, I can do fried rice in one, usually a vegetable stir-fry in another, ginger beef in the third one, and kung pao chicken in the fourth – all burners on the stove are on the go, all at once. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-a-wok/523719.md?page=1)