I've been missing out all these years, making crappy stir-fry in a skillet on the electric stove. Always turned out more like a soup because I couldn't cook the veggies hot & fast like necessary.

I finally broke down and bought a wok and used it on my turkey fryer... WOW, amazing!!!

I couldn't find a quality wok at a decent price locally and shipping was always killer. Finally scored a Towne food service equipment cheapo wok from Amazon warehouse deals for $17 delivered (Prime). The handle is crappy just like the reviews said but $17 sure beats $40+ for wok plus shipping from one of the legit wok suppliers... I'll put a real handle on when it gets bad enough to need it.

That being said, IMHO carbon steel is carbon steel, it doesn't matter who made the wok, any wok is better than no wok...

And heavy-duty isn't always better. Light-weight is key to being able to easily "flip" the food in the wok.

You are cooking out doors I assume?

Inside asian cooking is better done as "chop suey" or "curry" where slow cooking is more acceptable.


You do need a lot of heat and a good venting system to do it inside.

Yes, outdoors for sure!!

I'm sure any high output outdoor gas burner will work but a high-pressure turkey fryer burner is the closest thing I've found to a real wok burner as seen in a Chinese restaurant. I can get the flame up high enough that I get the oil to "flash" while I'm flipping the food, just like you see with a real wok burner. I have a hard time believing that could be done with just any gas burner. I'm also a noob so I can't be certain of that. The added benefit to the turkey fryer is it's just simply versatile; I can on it, I cook down tomato sauce on it, I deep-fry on it, I now stir-fry on it... I think its a tool that everybody should have considering they are dime a dozen (relatively speaking). I actually have 2, I picked the 2nd one up free a few months back, it even came with a propane tank...

Outdoor wok is fun. You can get it really hot and let it flame up.  

High energy cooking.

A wok needs a lot of BTU's to be utilized properly.  Good for you, OP.  

I've never tried using a wok for this reason.  I've thought about using one over charcoal.

Is that something that could be used over the side burner on a gas grill? Or a Kamado style cooker? (Not BGE but one of the metal type ones)

I lucked out and got like a $100 caphalon wok from a female friend cause it gave her bad memories from when she was formerly married to her crazy Philippino husband, like he would make her wake up at like 2am to make her food.

Yes, no, maybe?

It depends... how high is the output of your side-burner?

A 10 psi turkey fryer (lower grade "high-pressure" burner) normally outputs 40-70,000 BTU
A 20 psi turkey fryer (real- deal high-pressure) can put out 185,000 BTU according to Bayou Classic's website.

Can your side-burner at least get close to that?

I cook with my low-end turkey fryer maxed out; I guess I'm probably around 55,000 BTU. Yes, there is a lot of waste heat when cooking that high, but you have to cook high to get the heat needed into the wok.



The issue I have with most of the high-end, name-brand stuff is they are non-stick, or fancy smancy, which is exactly what you DON'T want with stir-frying. The high heat plus Teflon non-stick will be a health issue. If it's not a non-stick wok then what is it that demands such a premium price? Stainless is also undesirable; it has a lower heat transfer rate (bad for high-heat cooking) and tends to stick food a bit more easily. Plain carbon steel is what you want in a wok, and there is no reason a carbon steel wok should be expensive, its just carbon steel stamped/spun into a very easily manufactured shape, with a handle or 2 riveted on...

I use my wok on my charcoal grill. Get a good chimney of charcoal going, then put the wok right on top of the chimney. Works fantastic.

I figured charcoal would work but I wasn't positive so I stay mute on that one.

That being said, last night was stir-fry night again... YUM

I'm learning a bit more as I go... I found a website that dealt with proper marinade/prep of your protein (chicken in my case). Use salt, pepper, soy-sauce, sugar, and corn-starch to get a better stir-fried protein. The suger & starch help with browning; I think it over-did it though because I had trouble with burning before the chicken was cooked all the way. I backed the heat way down and cooked it slower and was able to successfully turn out a good product.

The veggies though: all-out blast furnace on my turkey fryer. Nice charred/browned spots on otherwise crisp veggies!!!


Note: I'm running hot enough on my flame that I can't keep seasoning on the bottom of the wok. It all burns off (even with higher heat oils) so I have to be sure to clean immediately and re-oil to protect it. The inside of the wok is developing this wonderfully browned/blackened seasoning like you typically only get from years of use...

did it once...

turned out great---just a fyi--have ALL your ingredients ready, know proper cook times (when to add shit)  and once started, you are committed pretty much. And that your meal will be done in about 30 seconds...

Alton's recipe for Pad Thai

This ^^^^

I spend several hours prepping all the ingredients, have them all in bowls, set them all outside on a small table and have everything I need in arms reach before I even light the fire. Once the fire is lit there won't be much time to do anything else other than shake/toss the food and throw things into the wok...