Only the flat center of the bottom can heat. And you lose the ability to pick the wok up and flip without also losing heat. I’ve lived with both gas and induction - currently have induction. Like everything else everyone here is saying about induction, it’s true in theory but in practice there are compromises, and woks are one of them.
You dont lose either in my experience. I use a electric flat top, which also just heats the bottom of the wok.
The flat bottom isn’t isolated from the rest of the pan. It radiates the heat out over the carbon steel very rapidly. I wasent exaggerating when I said oil smokes in 30 seconds. The sides are always searing hot, and I can flip food with no issue. I get the exact char and smoke flavor I expect from a wok with it.
I would guess your wok isn’t carbon steel if you’re having problems with induction heat. The material seems key to making a flat bottom wok work.
Okay. I guess I’m confused about the difference in context. The method of heating just the bottom of the wok differs, but thats all either does. Induction should if anything be more effective than resistive heat.
Youre saying you have a flat bottom, carbon steel wok you use on a full size inductive range and it doesnt heat in a comperable way?
I can’t compare anything to resistive heat because I haven’t used it in about 30 years. I have zero thoughts on resistive.
I just think induction is far from ideal for woks because it’s only able to act on the very flat bottom of the wok and doesn’t permit much movement, flipping and such which is expected when you’re cooking with a wok.
I’m still confused man. If the bottom of the pan is hot, it heats up the rest of the pan. Thats just how metal and heat works.
I’m telling you that I have a wok and a heating element that only gets the bottom of the wok hot, but then because of metal and you know, physics, the rest of the wok is also scorching hot. I move it around, I flip things with it, it adds that exact wok char and smoke to my food.
Do you have a carbon steel wok you have used with your induction stove? It sounds like you just think it won’t work, instead of actually trying it.
Yes I have a steel wok I’ve used with my induction stove. I’ve owned it for about 35 years and have used it on quite a variety of stoves.
Let me make it easy for you. Take your wok outside and set it up with a propane torch heating the fuck out of one square inch of the bottom. And try to cook on it.
By your logic it should “heat up the rest of the pan” right? So where’s the problem! This is extending the issue to an extreme but it’s the same point.
Obviously if you have to rely on conduction to spread heat to the rest of the pan, you’re going to burn some food before some parts of the pan are even warm. This isn’t hard to understand.
A gas burner licks the entire wok with flame continually and you get high, even heat everywhere. End of story.
An induction stove can’t act on metal that isn’t directly touching it. What you are doing is rotating your food through the one hot spot you have. Maybe it eventually works but wok cooking is about high heat for a short time and you’re not getting the best results you could be.
Okay, so I think we are disagreeing around the edges here.
Its fully possible that I’m not getting the 100% ideal wok experience, but all I know is that I put my wok on the burner and I have smoking oil in 30 seconds and everything I toss in hisses and sears insanely well. Liquids start to instantly boil. Food cooks fast as hell, the whole pan is dangerous as fuck to touch, and I need my vent fan on max speed to handle the searing smoke.
If thats not as good as a gas wok, well fuck me mate, I don’t think I need it.
Sure, but you dont need a dedicated induction wok element. The flat bottomed woks are insanely good and work on any stove.
Only the flat center of the bottom can heat. And you lose the ability to pick the wok up and flip without also losing heat. I’ve lived with both gas and induction - currently have induction. Like everything else everyone here is saying about induction, it’s true in theory but in practice there are compromises, and woks are one of them.
You dont lose either in my experience. I use a electric flat top, which also just heats the bottom of the wok.
The flat bottom isn’t isolated from the rest of the pan. It radiates the heat out over the carbon steel very rapidly. I wasent exaggerating when I said oil smokes in 30 seconds. The sides are always searing hot, and I can flip food with no issue. I get the exact char and smoke flavor I expect from a wok with it.
I would guess your wok isn’t carbon steel if you’re having problems with induction heat. The material seems key to making a flat bottom wok work.
I’m speaking only about induction. Sounds like you are using resistive electric.
Okay. I guess I’m confused about the difference in context. The method of heating just the bottom of the wok differs, but thats all either does. Induction should if anything be more effective than resistive heat.
Youre saying you have a flat bottom, carbon steel wok you use on a full size inductive range and it doesnt heat in a comperable way?
I can’t compare anything to resistive heat because I haven’t used it in about 30 years. I have zero thoughts on resistive.
I just think induction is far from ideal for woks because it’s only able to act on the very flat bottom of the wok and doesn’t permit much movement, flipping and such which is expected when you’re cooking with a wok.
I’m still confused man. If the bottom of the pan is hot, it heats up the rest of the pan. Thats just how metal and heat works.
I’m telling you that I have a wok and a heating element that only gets the bottom of the wok hot, but then because of metal and you know, physics, the rest of the wok is also scorching hot. I move it around, I flip things with it, it adds that exact wok char and smoke to my food.
Do you have a carbon steel wok you have used with your induction stove? It sounds like you just think it won’t work, instead of actually trying it.
Yes I have a steel wok I’ve used with my induction stove. I’ve owned it for about 35 years and have used it on quite a variety of stoves.
Let me make it easy for you. Take your wok outside and set it up with a propane torch heating the fuck out of one square inch of the bottom. And try to cook on it.
By your logic it should “heat up the rest of the pan” right? So where’s the problem! This is extending the issue to an extreme but it’s the same point.
Obviously if you have to rely on conduction to spread heat to the rest of the pan, you’re going to burn some food before some parts of the pan are even warm. This isn’t hard to understand.
A gas burner licks the entire wok with flame continually and you get high, even heat everywhere. End of story.
An induction stove can’t act on metal that isn’t directly touching it. What you are doing is rotating your food through the one hot spot you have. Maybe it eventually works but wok cooking is about high heat for a short time and you’re not getting the best results you could be.
Okay, so I think we are disagreeing around the edges here.
Its fully possible that I’m not getting the 100% ideal wok experience, but all I know is that I put my wok on the burner and I have smoking oil in 30 seconds and everything I toss in hisses and sears insanely well. Liquids start to instantly boil. Food cooks fast as hell, the whole pan is dangerous as fuck to touch, and I need my vent fan on max speed to handle the searing smoke.
If thats not as good as a gas wok, well fuck me mate, I don’t think I need it.