Wok for my large egg

BGEGP

I'm thinking about getting a wok for my large egg. 
So you experts out there, what should I get, and where should I get it.

Thanks

fljoemon

I got a Wok from the Ceramic Grill Store. While you are there, get the Large Spider (for Large BGE) for setting the Wok on it.

Wok: http://shop.ceramicgrillstore.com/16-carbon-steel-wok-large-xl/

Large Spider: http://shop.ceramicgrillstore.com/large-spider-3-legs/

Another place people recommend is The Wok Shop (http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products/woks/wok-carbon-steel-steel-handles.html) 

Village Idiot

16 inch, carbon steel.  Handles or no handles, your choice.

BGEGP

I get a hand hammered wok? 

Village Idiot

BGEGP said:

I get a hand hammered wok? 

It won't make any difference in your cooks.  I have 4 woks, none are hammered.

BGEGP

Thank you sirs for the info.

Richard Fl

IMHO if you get a 14/16 for your large and have the dog ear handles, you can close the cover if you ever wish to use a bamboo steamer or get it low into the BGE.  I normally use a 14" with wood handle because I feel the handle gives me better control over the cook.  

Some Thoughts:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/1350599#Comment_1350599

SoCalWJS

I'm thinking of getting one also, but wondered if it was any better to get one of the cast iron ones from the wok shop.

 

Anybody ever compared Carbon Steel vs Cast Iron?

Village Idiot

Richard Fl said:

IMHO if you get a 14/16 for your large and have the dog ear handles, you can close the cover if you ever wish to use a bamboo steamer or get it low into the BGE.  I normally use a 14" with wood handle because I feel the handle gives me better control over the cook.  

Some Thoughts:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/1350599#Comment_1350599

Some of us disagree with Richard FL on the size ideal for the large.  If you really get into stir frying, you will want to have a very hot fire.  The larger wok (16") will somewhat abate the flames coming around the wok onto your hands and arms.  Also, you will obviously be able to put a bit more food in your wok as you cook.  I do have a 14" wok, but I use it on my medium BGE.  I believe Travis uses a 22" wok on his XL.

The 14" will work fine, but if you really get into stir frying (wok hei, etc.), I think you will outgrow it.

BGEGP

Has anybody used a cast iron wok?  I was looking at the wok shop website and discovered these.
http://www.wokshop.com/HTML/products/woks/wok-cast-iron.html

R2Egg2Q

I have a 14" CI wok from the Wok Shop that I've seasoned but not cooked on yet. I'll try to do a CI vs carbon steel test this weekend & report back.

BGEGP

Thanks,  I'll hold my order.

R2Egg2Q

I got a chance to do a little wokking for lunch today. Admittedly, I used my Tao cooker instead of firing up an Egg. The point was to compare performance using my cast iron wok to a carbon steel wok. Here's a shot of the CI wok from the Wok Shop:

and the chicken & shallots stir-fry I did (left side of the dish was from the CI wok, right side from a 16" carbon steel wok):


We really couldn't tell any difference in taste. Both sides were tasty. I found performance to be pretty similar.

Rather than rely upon my limited wok cooking experience, here's some excerpts from the Wok Buying Guide section of The Breath of a Wok by Grace Young

"Carbon steel and cast iron produce the best woks, especially for stir-frying."

"The great advantage of carbon steel is that it heats and cools down quickly, preventing overcooking once the wok is removed from the heat."

"Cast-iron woks are slower to heat than carbon-steel woks, but because cast iron retains heat well, it is excellent for stir-frying, braising, and slow cooking. Unlike carbon-steel pans, cast-iron pans do not respond quickly to heat adjustments. Less experienced stir-fry cooks often find that once the wok is removed from the heat, the food must be immediately transferred to a platter or it will continue to cook in the hot wok."

"Cast-iron woks manufactured in China are preferable to cast-iron woks made in America: they are much thinner and lighter in weight." Definitely light weight. Here's the weight on my 14" cast-iron from the Wok Shop:
"A Chinese-made cast-iron wok is fragile. If it is smacked against a hard surface, the wok will shatter."

If you think you might be rough on the wok, I'd say go carbon steel. Otherwise I don't think you can lose with either one.

BGEGP

Thanks for you report R2egg2Q!  That is what I needed to know. 
Thanks again

SmokinTiger81

I have the one from the wok shop and I think it is probalby the 14 inch.  I went with carbon steel after reading the Grace Young book.  Fits nicely on spider and gets really hot--which is why I have about one wok picture--goes too fast to take photos

JerkChicken

I love my 16" Carbon Steel from the Wok Shop. Had it for about 6 years now and I'm still cooking great meals on it. I use it mostly on my homemade turkey frier/wok burner creation, and occasionally on my LBGE. It fits the large egg perfectly and for family meals I couldn't imagine a smaller wok, the food wouldn't fit. Admittedly, larger portions don't cook as perfectly as small batches. 

michigan_jason

Let me preface this by saying I am just as serious as the next guy when it comes to egging, and I do so with passion.

HOWEVER....

I have to be honest with this wok thread, IMHO there is no better way to wok than over the burner used from a turkey deep fryer. I personally do not find it to be worth it to fire the egg up and use as much fuel as it takes to wok. With the turkey burner, it is simply turn on, instant heat (with my carbon steel wok) cook, and turn off. I can have family eat, and mess cleaned up before I could have gotten my egg up to cooking temps.

I know this is more of a thread for what size to use on the egg, but it is relevant because I would want you to consider the fact that you may not always be cooking on the egg. I would bet that if you tried to wok on a turkey burner, you may never wok on the egg at all. I don't find many benefits to using the egg other than being able to say "Hey, can you do this on your gasser?"

-KCCO