Today we will tell our readers about such a kitchen device as a WOK burner. What is this, not everyone knows, although probably many have seen. We will find out why almost all modern stoves and cooking surfaces, the level of which are above average, are equipped with such a burner, and we will also find out if there are differences in them and whether these nuances are important in practice.
What is wok?
So, wok burner - what is it? To understand this concept, you need to find out the sources of its origin. The word wok is a borrowing from the English language, where it came from Asia, where a wok is called a deep pan with a convex bottom. This oriental kitchen utensil is the main helper in cooking traditional Asian cuisine. We used such a frying pan in this region two thousand years ago, with very diverse methods. In a wok, you can fry food, stew it, cook for a couple and even smoke.
The pan with a convex bottom was heated on an open fire, while the flame covered not only its bottom, but also the side walls. Due to this, food was prepared an order of magnitude faster and using less fat. By a similar analogy, a modern WOK burner has been created. What it is becomes clear if you look at it in working condition. Such a burner gives out not one row of flame, but several (two or three, depending on the model).
Oriental restaurant at home
Asian, or as it is also called Chinese, cuisine quickly entered the lives of Europeans and Americans and firmly established in their diet. And if at first, in order to enjoy exotic spicy dishes, people had to visit themed restaurants, now you can cook them yourself. To do this with ordinary dishes and on a traditional gas or electric stove does not work. Such household appliances are not able to give the desired heating temperature, the pieces of food will not fry quickly and evenly, respectively, and they will not have the original “oriental” taste.
If the kitchen has a modern hob and a WOK burner is included in its basic configuration, then cooking dishes from oriental cuisine becomes quite real. In addition, this option on the stove makes it possible to significantly expand the culinary possibilities. Even familiar and everyday dishes prepared in new conditions will get a different, more intense taste.
The new taste of long-familiar dishes
According to the manufacturers, the gas panel with a WOK burner is more functional and easy to use than conventional models. The double burner is capable of generating more heat than the largest hotplate for express heating, with the flame covering a large area of the cookware. Due to this feature, food is subjected to better heat treatment, and its cooking time is reduced by an average of 20%.
However, there are several rules that, provided they are followed, will make it possible to cook well when using a gas hob with a WOK burner. Their observance will help to avoid burning foods in a pan, and will also provide an opportunity to diversify homemade food, make it tastier and healthier.
First of all, during cooking on a turbo burner, you need to constantly stir the dish in the dishes. Also, the food should be cut into slices of the same size. If they are different, then some products may not be prepared, because the time for their heat treatment is quite short. Frying in a wok at the WOK burner helps to make a delicious and golden crust on meat slices and vegetables quickly and practically without the use of oil. So products retain more beneficial trace elements, vitamins, their taste is not distorted and not replaced by the tastes of other ingredients, together they complement each other.
What are WOK burners?
In fact, a large number of varieties of such burners are not. Therefore, it will not be necessary to understand for a long time what this WOK burner is. First of all, it is worth distinguishing them by what kind of power source is on the stove where this device is installed. Perhaps someone will be surprised, but the WOK burner can be not only on a gas stove, but also on an electric one. Their operating principle is fundamentally different.
A burner that draws energy from natural gas is a traditional-shaped, but significantly modernized burner. The flame can be arranged in two or three rows, there are also nuances in controlling the burning power of the fire.
Now let's understand what a WOK burner in electric stoves is. Visually, it is a small electric stove, the dimensions of which involve cooking with one wok. But there is also a professional household appliance from this category, which we will talk about a little further.
Changing things
Those who have the opportunity to install a gas-fired stove in their apartment or house are in a better position than residents of households equipped with only electricity. The range of household appliances available to them (in terms of performance) is practically unlimited.
The question of what is a WOK burner in gas stoves contains the most comprehensive answer. Manufacturers offer consumers many options for stoves. They differ among themselves by the power issued by the burners, the location of the burners and their functionality.
The level of heating of the cookware and its contents depends on what the flame control system is, as well as on how many circuits are contained in the burner. As we have said, there can be two or three. By type of control, this can be a mono-burner, which is regulated by one switch, but there are also such models of stoves equipped with a WOK-burner, where each circuit has an autonomous gas supply system and this indicator can be changed depending on the current need.
Most often, such a burner is located in the center of the hob, sometimes manufacturers deviate from the traditional design and move the WOK burner closer to the left or right side of the panel.
Source of power
Gas stoves that give out fire for cooking are a more traditional technique, if we consider it precisely as an energy source for using wok - dishes with a curved bottom. Very often, the hob in them is equipped with additional rings that help change the level of the arrangement of the dishes or use pans and pans with a flat bottom. This makes the stove more functional and versatile. A double burner can also be used as a WOK quick heating burner. By far not everyone knows that this is a device for cooking Asian food, using a large burner of your choice.
Electric stoves are panels with a certain diameter of the hole. This fact makes such a technique fairly unified. There are also professional stoves in which you can change the heating temperature; they provide for several operating modes, including turbo-heating.
Separately about induction
Panels with induction surfaces are a special category of cookers. They are ordinary, with a flat heated burner, but there are also models with a WOK system. A distinctive feature of such devices is the principle of their work. All of them are not compatible with ordinary kitchen utensils, for them it is necessary to select dishes, the bottom of which is equipped with ferromagnets. In addition, the size of pots and pans must correspond to the diameter of the burner, otherwise the stove will not turn on. During operation of the device, an electromagnetic field is activated, which with the help of induced eddy currents heats the dishes.
The cost of such a stove is considerable, especially for those models that are made by large manufacturers of household appliances (Miele, Sirman, Electrolux). But there are also more budget cookers, for example, an induction burner WOK HJ013-A5XK from the Ukrainian company KIY-V Trade. Other inexpensive brands include such brands as Gefest, Hendi, Saro.
Which cookware is suitable for a stove with a turbo burner?
As we already said, initially the WOK burner was intended exclusively for pans with a convex bottom and high sides. This is a traditional form of wok, dishes for cooking oriental dishes. However, modern gas stoves equipped with a two- or three-circuit burner can also successfully use conventional pots and pans.
If the plans include the purchase of cookware with a convex bottom, then it is worth buying rings that will provide wok stability during cooking. It does not hurt to pay attention to what metal it is made of. It is better if it is cast iron or carbon steel. Meat and eggs can stick to a simple stainless steel, but aluminum begins to release toxic substances at very high heating temperatures.
WOK burner pans differ in the height of the sides and the level of their inclination, as well as in the diameter, which can be 15, 30, 40, 50 or 76 cm. If the wok or pan is not sized for the deepened burner on the electric stove, it’s just “ drown "in the hole.
Reviews
Cookers with turbo hobs appeared on sale relatively recently. For 5-10 years, they managed to acquire both loyal fans and opponents who consider such technology an excess and a waste of money. Supporters of a healthy diet appreciated its convenience, as well as those who like to cook oriental dishes, because on a regular stove it is simply impossible to do something similar. However, not all models of burners give out the power declared by the manufacturer, which has become a cause of disappointment for users.