Can induction electric cook-top simulate wok hay

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Last updated Mar 25 2019, this Serious Eats article proffers the WokMon to approximate wok hei.

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  1. This is a type of wok ring or burner, right?

  2. I know electric cooktops are measured in kW, not BTU. Can you TRY to achieve wok hei on them?

  3. If my priority is wok hei, better to buy a gas stove or electric cook top?

Best Answer

I have wokked on Induction cook tops. Because they are so effective at transferring heat it works quite well! But there are a few things to consider:
1. you need a flat bottomed wok, which means it is slightly harder to stir
2. You cannot lift the wok above the cooktop which means you can not "flip" the
food.

So you have to manually stir.

And you can't just calculate the kW to BTU, because induction cooktops heat the pan directly the per-watt efficincy is much higher. In my experience a domestic induction cooktop at full power (2000watt ish) is better than a domestic wok burner but not nearly as hot as a specialized wok burner.