Experience wokking on an induction cooktop?
We're about to switch out a really old electric cooktop in a house we just bought and are deciding between gas and induction. My wife being a keen wokker (she is of Chinese heritage), her main concern is how a wok would perform since it has a really small surface area at the bottom. Does anyone have experience with this? We're aware of special concave induction cooktops, but I believe they're more expensive.
It's a biggish decision and hard to make confidently without experience. I'm going to go out on a limb and also ask if anyone would be willing to let us try out in their kitchen (in exchange for an authentically cooked Chinese dish!).
Mar 2, 2019
Parent Replies
If you are considering gas, check out a BlueStar cooktop - solid, basic, no digital crap, not even a clock or timer, but you can remove the open burner to accommodate a wok. Great stability, exposure to heat source, designed for wok. We went through 2 GE's in the last 25 years, granted we worked them hard - this is a lifetime appliance. Very pleased.
Get gas. Definitely gas. In my opinion an induction cooktop is not suitable for wok cooking or any other kind of serious or creative cooking. I've used induction in vacation rentals (if you want to try one, take a long weekend at Sea Ranch or similar vacation spots where you can rent houses.) I think induction cooktops are popular in rentals because they are easy to keep clean, they have a sleek look, and they don't have any moving parts or components that can be lost or broken. But they are not good for cooks. I have found them difficult to use for anything more complicated than boiling water or heating up a can of soup. When I'm cooking I like to see the flame so I know how high or low the heat is. I also like to be able to use a variety of cookware of my choosing, not just the kind that works with induction.