Vegetables – Should I get a thin, flat bottomed wok to stir fry large amounts of veggies on an electric stove

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Currently I stir fry veggies in a flat non-stick frying pan. It's OK but it doesn't have much volume so I can't cook a large amount of veggies unless I do so in batches, which I don't want to because I'm lazy. I want to throw in a bunch of veggies once, cook them, and be done. I understand that this may have a negative impact on flavour but I'm more interested in convenience.

To deal with this I want to get a wok, basically just to act as large frying pan. My first question is, will this be better than just using a big pot? My intuition is that the curved sides will mean more veggies touching lower, hotter parts of the container, and easier stirring. But maybe this is baloney.

I have an electric stove, and that's not going to change. So I'm going to get a flat-bottomed wok. My understanding is that the wok should get nice and hot and that this is more difficult on an electric stove. The woks I've seen have a wide variety of thicknesses. Should I be getting a really thin wok so that the wok heats up faster and transfers heat more quickly? Again, I'm primarily thinking of convenience. I don't want to stand around waiting for the wok to heat up. However I am fairly prone to burning the things I cook.

Similarly, should I aim for a wok made from a particular material?

Side note: I'm vegan and my wife is vegetarian, so we're not going to use this for meat at all.

Best Answer

There are several different choices you could make which would deliver a similar result:

  1. flat bottomed wok: woks have high sides, however the heat is only on the bottom, you need to stir the food in woks very often to ensure even cooking
  2. saute pan: basically a frying pan with higher sides, the heat is distributed across the pan but hottest in the center
  3. casserole dish: this is more of a pot than a frying pan, usually thick and often cast iron. It takes longer to heat up but the heat is generally very even. A benefit of these is that they can go into the oven, giving you more flexibility

I have all of these and I use them regularly, any of them will work for cooking large quantities of vegetables (provided you get one that's big enough). It's a matter of picking the one that suits your personal cooking style. If you are looking for something that takes less stirring then a wok is not for you.

As for materials it really is a matter of opinion. If you are a lazy cook or just busy a non-stick stainless or aluminum pan or wok heats up pretty quick and is easy to clean up afterwards, however if you tend to burn things you'll destroy your pan quickly in which case ceramic coated cast iron, plain cast iron or steel might be the way to go.

It sounds like a non-stick high-sided saute pan would be a good way to go, just keep the heat under control and don't be afraid to add a bit of water to the bottom to keep things from burning.

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