cast iron wok

How to clean crust and restore cast iron wok

July 19, 2015 By Eleanor Hoh 4 Comments

Never fear if a little crust forms when cooking in your cast iron wok! Sometimes, when you use fermented ingredients like tamari or high sugar content like onions, they can form a little crust. If you don’t scrub off properly, 3 things happen:

the crust prevents heat getting to your food
the crust makes your wok smoky
the crust hardens and becomes thicker and thicker

Here’s my short, 2 1/2 min. video shows you how to scrape the crust off, wash it out and restore your cast iron wok, so easy.
Let me know in the comments if you’ve come across this and what you were cooking when it happened? If you try my method, did it work for you?

Tips For Using Wok on a Gas Stove

December 3, 2014 By Eleanor Hoh 8 Comments

You want SIZZLE not FIZZLE! I think I coined a new phrase.

A gas stove is ESSENTIAL for wok cooking because you need HIGH HEAT!
Electric stoves do NOT generate enough heat and because the round bottom cast iron wok shape only gets a small contact area, it won’t work!
However, now there’s an induction wok stove for those who are not able to use gas in their building!

Wok Stars, it’s a no brainer to use your wok on a gas stove, right? Well, I’ve got 3 tips below to help you succeed even more if you’ve got a residential gas stove and not my Iwatani portable butane gas stove which fits PERFECTLY with my 15″ cast iron wok.

Wok Stars, if you’re frustrated with your gas heat output, please take 2 photos like the ones below so I can help you figure it out!
1) take a photo from the front with your wok sitting on the gas burner you currently use
2) take a photo of your whole gas stove from above without wok so I can see the sizes of your burners and what kind of grid you have.

So, I asked two Wok Stars, Mary and Carla to take photos of their gas burners to illustrate their specific problems with their heat output and grid situation and below are my findings! Oh, notice how their cast iron woks have beautiful patina!

Mary's GE gas stove's grate allows her to set wok directly on the grate so heat is closer which is great! However, the bigger burner's flames are again wide apart and the smaller burner doesn't give out enough BTU and she's experiencing some soupiness in the bottom of her wok! So, Mary and many others end up buying my Iwatani portable butane gas stove. — Mary’s GE gas stove’s grate allows her to set wok directly on the grate so heat is closer which is great! However, the smaller burner doesn’t give out enough BTU and she’s experiencing some soupiness in the bottom of her wok!

This higher btu burner is wider so heat is not focused at base of Mary's wok where she needs it! — This higher btu burner is wider so heat is not focused at base of Mary’s wok where she needs it!

Viking Gas Stove with horizontal grate. Notice the middle burner is biggest with left burners at 12,000 btu and right burners at — Here’s Carla’s Viking Gas Stove with horizontal grate. Notice the middle burner is biggest with left front burner at 12,000 btu and right front burner at 6.000 btu.

This wok ring is too deep so Carla's wok is further away from the heat. To remedy this, I've suggested getting a shallower ring or a Viking wok attachment. — This wok ring is too deep so Carla’s wok is further away from the heat. To remedy this, I’ve suggested getting a shallower ring or a Viking wok attachment.

Lightweight, thin walled, round bottom cast iron wok sits on wok ring on top of Viking gas stove with horizontal iron grate. — Here’s Carla’s wok which sits on a wok ring on top of Viking gas stove with horizontal iron grate. We tried it without the grate but then the ring is not deep enough to balance the wok!

Viking manual with BTU output for burners. Carla was using the middle biggest burner which everyone automatically assumes bigger is better. However, the flames are leaping up sides of the wok and not focused at base where it's needed most! So, I always suggest using a smaller burner! However, Carla's right front is only 6,000 till Carla sent me manual and I see left front is 12,000! Twice as powerful than the left front burner, so that's what Carla should use! — Viking manual with BTU output for burners. Carla was using the middle biggest burner which everyone automatically assumes bigger is better. However, the flames are leaping up sides of the wok and not focused at base where it’s needed most! So, I suggest using a smaller burner! However, Carla’s right front burner is only 6,000 and I see left front is 12,000! Twice as powerful than the left front burner, so that’s what Carla should use!

COOKING TIPS FOR GAS STOVE OWNERS:
Residential gas stoves are typically 7,000 to 10,000 btu which is still a bit low for wok cooking.
If you have an electric flat glass cooktop or coil, you won’t be successful. I’ve laid out all the reasons why here.
1) USE SMALLER BURNER
You may get better results using a smaller (lower btu) burner on your stove because the higher btu burners have the gas jets spaced wider apart so the heat is on the sides of the wok and not focused at the bottom where you need the heat most.
2) SET WOK DIRECTLY ON GRID
You can set your wok directly on the metal grid of your gas stove. Depending on the type of grid, the wok may wobble a bit. That’s OK because when you stir fry you should be using your left hand in the wok mitt to steady the wok (lefties reverse it).
If the wobble bothers you, check with your stove manufacturer for a “wok attachment” especially designed to handle the wok.
Another alternative is to buy an inexpensive wok ring from your Asian market but it makes your wok further away from the flame. Best is to flip the ring so the wider diameter is at the top and the smaller at the bottom, this allows your wok to sit closer to the heat.
3) HIGH HEAT FOR OPTIMUM RESULTS
Remember, high heat is ESSENTIAL so the closer you are to the heat, the more success you will have with stir frying.

This Iwatani, 12,000 BTU portable gas burner is PERFECT for the 15 1/2 " cast iron wok. The heat is focused at the base where it's needed most. I leave it sitting on top of my electric coil burner all the time so it's convenient so I end up using it for cooking most everything. This helps to build patina faster. — This Iwatani, 12,000 BTU portable gas burner is PERFECT for the 15 1/2 ” cast iron wok. The heat is focused at the base where it’s needed most. I leave it sitting on top of my electric coil burner all the time so it’s convenient and I end up using it for cooking most everything. This helps to build patina faster.

If you’re like Mary and tried all the above and still getting soupy veggies and not enough sear with your meats, a simple solution is to purchase my Iwatani portable gas stove which is 12,000 btu! Yes, Mary is treating herself to one, once you get spoiled with this high heat, you cannot go back to using mediocre heat!
The stove comes in a handy briefcase so you’re completely mobile and can cook outdoors or take it camping, boating or visit friends to show off your wok skills! Click here for more details or to order your Iwatani Stove!

Cast Iron Wok Is Key To Success!

November 1, 2014 By Eleanor Hoh 1 Comment

I love weekends when hubby is the Wok Star and his wok of choice is my cast iron wok! He refuses to use anything else after his experience with a friend’s flat bottom carbon steel wok on their residential gas stove during a hurricane. He ended up literally throwing his hands in the air and turning it over to me!

Breakfast is usually a toss between fried egg or an omelet filled with goodies. Lately, the latter because he claims you need bread to sop up the squishy yolk. Since we both cut back eating starchy carbs like bread, potatoes, rice, I didn’t have any bread in the house. My solution? I suggested laying his fried egg on top of my version of Huevos Rancheros and let the yolks ooze with the lentils, umm!
It’s a joint effort in the kitchen in the weekends. Hubby likes to be the wok master (as most guys do!) and today he fried 3 eggs all in one go with coconut oil, smells amazing! So, boo to all the naysayers who poo pooed when I said you can fry more than one egg in a wok! We’ve done four eggs. He loves this cast iron wok because when the eggs are ready, they come away easily from the wok, no sticking, no mess, no frustrations. The yolks are intact and always a success.

I usually make the sides to go with his omelet or fried egg. My version of Huevos Rancheros with lentils (ready cooked) slathered with a spicy Cajun spice seasoning, chopped tomatoes and scallions and reheated. You can make loads of variations with different veggies to add to the lentils. A little spinach salad with chopped jicama, chayote and mini sweet peppers tossed with my homemade vinaigrette was a nice crunchy contrast to the soft lentils.
I think I’ve converted him, yay cause I heard him murmuring ‘umm’ quite a few times. It just shows, if you can make it tasty, the perception you need bread to sop up the yolk can be dashed.
If you want your partner to make you breakfast, give them the right tools so they’ll be confident, have fun and succeed in cooking and that my friend is a cast iron wok and a gas stove setup, enough said!

cast iron wok

Footer