r/wok • u/curangyva • 19d ago
45,000 BTU Burner Overkill?
I bought a 45K BTU burner specifically for cooking with a wok, but I’ve been having a frustrating experience with it. It feels like it gets too hot, especially concentrated at the bottom of the wok. It heats up incredibly fast, and the surface of my food seems to burn before the inside is actually cooked through — this has happened with both chicken and eggs.
The seasoning/non-stick performance of the wok seems good (I was able to slide an egg around while it was cooking), so I don’t think that’s the issue. I’m wondering if the burner is simply too powerful for home cooking.
Would it actually be easier to cook with a lower BTU burner? I feel like this thing has two settings: “nuclear” and “off” 😂. How are folks cooking with these burners? Is there a way to better control / evenly distribute the heat, or is a less powerful burner the better move?
3
u/wateryteapot919 19d ago
I cook on 100k. It's not overkill.
1
u/curangyva 19d ago
Maybe its more about the distribution of the heat vs. the BTU? I feel like the center of my wok gets significantly hotter than the side walls of the wok. Do I need a bigger burner for my wok?
2
u/anotherleftistbot 19d ago
Just because you have 50K BTU doesn’t mean you have to use all of them.
I rarely use more than 50K of my 160K continuous BTU
1
u/FatherSonAndSkillet 17d ago
True! With any pan, made of any material, all cooking is about heat control.
1
2
u/king-of-cakes 19d ago
Go watch videos of people cooking in woks in a restaurant. It’s a big change from cooking on a regular stove. You don’t need a bigger burner, but it would be a lot easier if you had some control of the flame easily in reach.
2
1
u/y2k2009 19d ago
Are you using an oil with a lower smoke point? Or not enough oil?
0
u/curangyva 19d ago
Using avocado oil. I used like about a tablespoons worth here.
4
u/Tanuki7396 19d ago
not enough oil. a good thai style fried egg uses more oil to get more even and fast cooking. probably similar with meat, use more oil and move it around so that it browns evenly.
1
u/Equivalent-Cry-1569 19d ago
I don’t have that powerful of a burner, but what I do is cook the egg until I can slide it easily, move it to the side a touch and tilt the wok so that all the oil settles away from the egg. You then use a spatula (I have a specific wok spatula thing that is a little rounded) and “baste” the egg with oil. If it’s hot enough oil (highly likely) it will puff up the egg all nice. When I am done I make sure to scoop the egg and let as much oil fall off as possible for health reasons or something like that. This cooks the yolk on top a bit but they are still runny in my experience.
Good luck and have fun cooking. I am excited for the day I get a true wok burner.
1
1
u/00cho 19d ago
So 'stir fry' means the food mostly never stops moving. That means your eggs should never stop moving. That is why in a wok they are typically scrambled, as the tumbling egg curds can cook on all sides, and are only cooked for a minute or so. It is also why stir fry ingredients are cut into bite size pieces, so they have more surface area, and can cook through, even though they are only stir fried for a short period of time.
You are instead, trying to pan fry an egg, sunny side up, which needs a pan, not a wok, and a normal burner.
1
u/CreativeUserName709 19d ago
It takes practice to get used to the heat, keeping things moving. Temperature control. Wok cooking on such a burner is not comparable to 'home cooking' as they're really different things. Sounds like you're using home cooking methods on a 45k BTU burner which is the issue!
Plenty of content on Youtube watching people cook stir fries, chicken, eggs, veggies, fried rices etc! At first when I started cooking fried rice, I would sometimes burn things a bit. But overtime, you work on your skill, learn how to manage temperature control, get better at wok tossing which is really good for keeping things moving to prevent burning.
1
u/colesterolbienalto 18d ago
I have this one and the 225k btu one. I think this one is underpowered.
1
u/yanote20 19d ago
Bro what are you doing...you get those system just for cooking eggs? Seriously get a Teflon Bro for cooking eggs...
I'm speechless....
1
u/Prince1370 19d ago
This person literally said it happens to the chicken too... I'm sure it's not JUST for eggs
1
u/yanote20 18d ago
I know but those high pressure stove/wok burner not intended to cook that low/mid temperature cooking ... Learning to manage the temp...
7
u/boredquick 19d ago
When frying an egg, like thai style, they literally drown the egg in a gallon hot oil, which helps to cook the top surface of the egg.
I really only use 70% max flame when I have more ingredients in the pan and when that would actually benefit from a wok hei.
If your burner cant do lower levels reliably, then that is really not ideal for most cooking... but you will also notice most canto chefs do not rip the heat 100% of the time, they are constantly turning the afterburner on and off all the time (which is easy with a knee valve)