Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Question for experienced BGE Wok cookers

Duganboy
Duganboy Posts: 1,118
edited June 2012 in EggHead Forum
I have had a BGE for many years.  I have cooked in a wok on the stove for many years.  I have never cooked in a wok on the BGE.

I love the BGE for steaks, ribs, butts, chops, corn, et al and can see and taste the difference over a regular grill or the oven.

Can you see and taste the difference in wok cooking on the BGE, or is it just the fact of being outside and using the BGE?

Educate me.  TIA
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • FxLynch
    FxLynch Posts: 433
    It's actually the higher temp that makes it great for woking.  Unless you have a super powerful gas burner inside your house, when you throw the food in it instantly cools the wok then has to reheat it.  With a good fire on the Egg, the wok just stays super hot so you get the true woking experience.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • travisstrick
    travisstrick Posts: 5,002
    +1 for the above. The extreme heat form the egg produces much better wok hei. I'm sure Gary will chime in and explain it better.
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Duganboy
    Duganboy Posts: 1,118
    Ok, thanks Fx, that's one reason I hadn't considered.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • bigguy136
    bigguy136 Posts: 1,362
    I have my favorite wok recipes that I've tweaked over time being done on my stove. I have a Wolf cook top with a very large burner I would use with a lot of heat. Now on my egg, I'm changing the ratios. The higher temps on my egg are bringing out (sealing in) more flavors. I also like the mess is outside.

    Big Lake, Minnesota

    2X Large BGE, 1 Mini Max, Stokers, Adjustable Rig

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Richard Fl
    Richard Fl Posts: 8,297

    		You get to cook at a higher heat on BGE with the wok thus
    keeping the flavors sealed in the various items you are wokking.
    2 You keep the heat out of the kitchen, and IMHO here in
    Florida that is a great thing.
    3 Many of the dishes that I cook have meat in them that have
    been previously cooked on BGE and the smoke flavor is from that cook.
    4 Spatchcocked chicken is great as an ingredient for chicken
    fried rice. Pulled pork works in pork fried rice.
    5 Think of it as a different method to cook, like many of us
    use Dutch Ovens as a different vessel to cook in.
    6 Wok cooking opens up a whole new world of recipes, Thai,
    Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and the list goes on throughtout the
    Pacific.
    7 You can cook many side dishes faster and better flavor than
    a regular pan.
    8 It is fun. Let me know if I can be of more help! Been
    wokking for 30+ years. Let's Wok & Woll!
     
     Recipe Source

    Source: BGE Forum, Richard Fl,
    2012/06/24

    		  
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Duganboy
    Duganboy Posts: 1,118
    Richard Fl atz what I'm talking about!!!  Thanks for everyone who gave me their ideas.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Howdy_Doody
    Howdy_Doody Posts: 168
    edited June 2012
    I can't add much to what's already been said, except to give it a slightly different slant.  There are several elements that go into achieving what the Chinese call Wok Hai, or the essence of the wok. High heat, well seasoned wok, oil on hot wok, not overloaded, etc. etc.  The results are the difference between good Chinese food and great Chinese food.  I'm sure, from your own experiences at Chinese restaurants, that you have experienced the difference. Food is cooked fast and the nutrients are sealed and more fresh and flavorable.  

    I am no expert at all, but continue to strive to achieve Wok Hai.  Sometimes, I think I succeed, sometimes, not. I see so many examples that are not even close to what can (and should) be accomplished.  Some think that by just cooking on a wok, they are stir frying. I consider most of them sautéed, rather than stir fried.
    Dripping Springs, Texas
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Richard Fl
    Richard Fl Posts: 8,297
    Don't know if this qualifies but a great meal IMHO:

    http://www.greeneggers.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=1037654&catid=1
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Doc_Eggerton
    Doc_Eggerton Posts: 5,321
    edited June 2012
    It's actually the higher temp that makes it great for woking.  Unless you have a super powerful gas burner inside your house, when you throw the food in it instantly cools the wok then has to reheat it.  With a good fire on the Egg, the wok just stays super hot so you get the true woking experience.
    +1 redux, although this one was not done at atomic heat levels :-)

    XXL #82 out of the first 100, XLGE X 2, LBGE (gave this one to daughter 1.0) , MBGE (now in the hands of iloveagoodyoke daughter 2.0) and lots of toys

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,463
    High heat, well seasoned wok, oil on hot wok, not overloaded, etc. etc.  The results are the difference between good Chinese food and great Chinese food.  I'm sure, from your own experiences at Chinese restaurants, that you have experienced the difference. Food is cooked fast and the nutrients are sealed and more fresh and flavorable.
    I don't know if "chinese buffets" are common in other parts of the country, but they're quite common here.  And they suck, badly.  
    And the difference between wok cooking on an average stovetop, and the Egg, is just like eating at a buffet and eating at a real Chinese restaurant.  
    _____________

    Remember when teachers used to say 'You won't have a calculator everywhere you go'?  Well, we showed them.


    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories