# Outdoor wok-ing



## K-Fed (Oct 8, 2012)

I'm looking to piece together a good outdoor burner/wok setup and was wondering if anyone here has any insight on such a thing. Any input and or conversation is welcome


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## knyfeknerd (Oct 8, 2012)

Turkey fryer propane base and a wok base thingy from the Asian market works great.


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## Zwiefel (Oct 8, 2012)

It's pretty much impossible to have too many BTU's. Typical home burner is about 8-12k...typical restaurant burner is 30-45k. Wok burner in pro kitchens are 60-120k! Go big on the heat source...that's the only advice I can offer.


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## Dave Martell (Oct 8, 2012)

I've got a Bayou Classic high pressure burner with a Lodge Cast Iron wok (flat bottom outside & round inside) that I use outdoors and this set up rocks.


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## Dave Martell (Oct 8, 2012)

Check these out...

http://importfood.com/thaigasburner.html


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## Zwiefel (Oct 8, 2012)

That looks like a good rig!

You have any photos of that wok Dave? You've piqued my interest...


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## stereo.pete (Oct 9, 2012)

Oh the fun I could have with a 60-120k BTU burner :hungry:


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## Dave Martell (Oct 9, 2012)

Zwiefel said:


> That looks like a good rig!
> 
> You have any photos of that wok Dave? You've piqued my interest...




The Lodge one I have? No I don't, never shot pictures of it.

I think that you might be asking about the street vendor Thai one though? If so I don't have that...


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## Zwiefel (Oct 9, 2012)

Sorry, was referring to your lodge with the flat and round bottom.


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## mhlee (Oct 9, 2012)

I know they exist for sure. My friend's mom (bless her soul) had one in her backyard and she cooked messy and strong smelling dishes on it. She cooked on it one time when I was there. It was a propane wok burner. She also had a cast iron wok.


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## Dave Martell (Oct 9, 2012)

Zwiefel said:


> Sorry, was referring to your lodge with the flat and round bottom.




I wish I had some pictures, I'll shoot some next time I'm out there with the flame going. 

In case you'd like to check out the wok it's this one...
https://secure.lodgemfg.com/storefront/product1_new.asp?menu=prologic&idProduct=3983

I realize that's it's not handy to handle but if you can see yourself woking without moving the vessel this one will fit the bill nicely. Funny but it's the only pre-seasoned Lodge that I've bought that actually looks great - it's pitch black inside and out. The skillets I bought at the same time, well, they're not so pretty and they've been seasoned like 5 times each. My opinion is that the pre-seasoning they do is crap.


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## Zwiefel (Oct 9, 2012)

"pre-seasoned?" Never heard of such a thing...seems....weird...


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## Miles (Oct 9, 2012)

I don't think Lodge sells anything without preseasoning any longer. It all comes preseasoned. It is a bit strange, agreed. I much prefer to season my own cookware. I guess the oven self clean cycle is tailor made for those who prefer to season their own.


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## tgraypots (Oct 9, 2012)

Dave Martell said:


> I've got a Bayou Classic high pressure burner with a Lodge Cast Iron wok (flat bottom outside & round inside) that I use outdoors and this set up rocks.


I have a Bayou Classic patio stove with two burners and the same wok. I have yet to try them together, but gave up up on the wok indoors, preferring a carbon steel flat bottom for that. With loads of common and firebrick stacked up around here, I've also thought of making a fire ring for a carbon steel round bottom I've enjoyed since 1976, and cooking over a wood flame. All that said, the set-up Dave linked to looks pretty awesome to me.


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## ayeung74 (Oct 9, 2012)

a lot of my family cooks in the backyard using an outdoor burner and set up, especially for stir frying and cooking fish. Their set up don't use the flat bottom propane burners because it causes the wok to wobble around and become too unsteady. True wok cooking uses burners with cradles or a ring that the wok can set in and use high pressure burners that make flames 10 inches high. My family, as well as my aunts and uncles, were all in the restaurant business, so I grew up in restaurant kitchens. Don't get me wrong, low pressure burners can get hot too, but if it's slightly windy outside you will lost much of the heat in the wind unless you have some sort of wind guard (which can get in the way with your cooking). The high pressure burners keep the heat directed to the bottom of the work--it's is my personal preference.

Also, in regards to the type of wok to use, I agree with many others that cast iron work is great to cook on, but I think my preference would be to use carbon steel woks. For one thing, it's much lighter to handle and easier to maintain than wok (unless you use it daily). And carbon steel woks are cheaper too. FWIW, most Asian restaurants use carbon steel woks with handles because cast iron is too heavy to hold and toss the food as is the method when cooking with a wok. If you use it frequently, it gets a real nice patina and nothing sticks to it.


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## ayeung74 (Oct 9, 2012)

that's a nice little setup, although a bit expensive.


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## K-Fed (Oct 9, 2012)

Seeing as I don't have a problem spending a little coin on a good wok burner ( I love stir frying and love a good wok hey ) has anyone had a chance to use the Rambo series of wok burners? This time of year I work 7 days a week between two jobs in the kitchen and it would be killer to have a good setup to blast out quick meals seeing as I have next to no free time. I also have a fascination with wok cooking and have toyed with the idea of taking a part time job in a Thai/Chinese kitchen just to learn some solid technique.


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## Dave Martell (Oct 9, 2012)

I just came across this company, they've got some nice looking stuff.

http://www.auscrown.com/page/shop/browse/a/category/e/wokburners


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## K-Fed (Oct 9, 2012)

That's exactly the ones I was talking about. A little pricey but if I can invest 250 bones in a knife without blinking, is investing in the means to cook what I prepare so far fetched? I think I'm really just waiting for one of you guys to tell me to go for it lol.


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## Dave Martell (Oct 9, 2012)

Go for it! :lol2:


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## GlassEye (Oct 9, 2012)

Go for it.

I am going to install a pro kitchen wok burner in my home someday, because one can never have enough firepower.


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## K-Fed (Oct 10, 2012)

Just emailed the company about the availability of their top end model theyre out of stock atm. About having one in a home kitchen... I wouldn't care if I lived in a shack as long as it could support a good hood vent system and commercial style kitchen seeing as that's where I spend most of my time even on my days off.


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## slowtyper (Oct 10, 2012)

I'm so jealous...wish I had an awesome setup like this outside!


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## ayeung74 (Oct 10, 2012)

Dave Martell said:


> I just came across this company, they've got some nice looking stuff.
> 
> http://www.auscrown.com/page/shop/browse/a/category/e/wokburners



I have used these types of burners and they are alot of fun to cook with...It always amazes me how fast they can boil water.


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## K-Fed (Oct 14, 2012)

So a little update... Had to order a wok because I couldn't find one locally but got one in and it is a beauty. Here she is as new fresh out of the box.







and after a good scrub down and grape seed oil seasoning session.


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## Dave Martell (Oct 14, 2012)

Nice looking wok


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## knyfeknerd (Oct 14, 2012)

she's a beauty


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## GlassEye (Oct 14, 2012)

Looks good, do you have a wok burner yet?


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## K-Fed (Oct 14, 2012)

I've got one on the way. It's from fleebay. The burner itself looks great ( claimed 100k btu max ) but I think I'll probably be changing out the fittings.


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## Kyle (Oct 14, 2012)

Where did you get the wok?


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## K-Fed (Oct 14, 2012)

http://m.webstaurantstore.com/search/Wok.html?searchType=products&page=2 was where I picked up the wok.


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## Pabloz (Oct 16, 2012)

Around here we call it DISKO. I was first exposed when I had my landscaping company in El Paso and had a crew of three brothers from Juarez that would "hace tuna dicada" where they would basically make a Mexican stir fry with nopales, cebolla, ajo, jalapeno y bistec and serve with pico de gallo y cilantro on corn tortillas by the kilo. The wok aka "disko" was an old disk from a farm harrow with the center hole welded shut. Then they would stand it up on cinder blocks and make a fire from scrap wood from the job site y hace lonche.

MUCH more rustic than this:

http://www.disc-it.com/

PZ


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## K-Fed (Oct 16, 2012)

Got the new burner in and set up... Seems like it should do the trick.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X28-ZWlwpos&feature=youtu.be


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## K-Fed (Oct 21, 2012)

I've been doing a good bit of cooking in the wok since I've gotten it. I wish I would have bought such a setup a couple years ago when I first started looking around for outdoor wok-ing stuff. It really is a blast, not to mention the food is great. Nothing against chinese take out places but I've gotten much better results on my own then I've ever had at any place around here. Any way pics or it didn't happen right....

The first thing I made in the wok was a little egg fried rice for breakfast. Turned out great with no noticeable sticking issues.







Next was a little pad thai. I learned on this one that the burner gets way too hot to crank it up with nothing in the wok and ended up blasting off the season in the wok and the rice noodles stuck a little. No biggie. just cleaned and re-seasoned it the next evening.






and lastly made a little szechuan chicken stir-fry.






Anyone have any recipes that you would like to share? I'm open to just about anything even if it doesn't involve traditional chinese/thai ingredients or flavors.


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## makanouchi (Nov 19, 2012)

Most Asian markets will have a wok type burner, the more btu the better.


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