I've been using a Walmart CampChef high BTU outdoor stove with a wok ring. I might have to upgrade after your videos come out as my hand takes a lot of the heat. Im excited to check the results. Thank you Kenji
@@joeardanillo They turned out excellent, but I did add pickled Jalapeno's after I cooked them even though I used 3 chipotle peppers with adobo and a poblano it wasn't spicy enough🔥😬
The height, guard and the controls right where your hand is are pretty big improvements over the Eastman (one I have). The Eastman's control is by the propane tank which makes adjusting the burner less than ideal. Can't wait for your article and hopefully videos of each in action.
Hi Kenji. Enjoyed this review. Was wondering which Wok would work best with a glass top stove? I know cooking on the glass top with a Wok presents issues, but just wondering? I may go to the outside Webber Grill in Wok insert or the top of a homemade wood/brick wood pizza oven.
Kenji, do you have any recipes you think freeze or can be prepared in advance really well? I'll potentially have to cook almost exclusively my own food once university starts again (I'll hopefully be able to go online but we'll see) and know I won't have the energy to cook every single night, so I'm interested if you have any suggestions
Will the article cover tips for adapting recipes to an outdoor wok? Besides recipe times, I'm guessing you need tighter heat management, and more liquid in your sauces so they don't evaporate instantly or burn. Starches burn and stick to my wok on my stovetop, and I assume will only get worse on an outdoor one.
I think you are correct. the brightness along the edges affected the camera meter, so I darkened the entire filming. Since the food was in the shade, we have difficulty seeing the food cook. A continuous light on the wok would have combated the darkness.
It not the size of your BTUs but how you use them. I think I remember an article on SeriousEats.com about the velveting technique for proteins from a few years back and it pretty much revolutionized my wok experience. You can see it used often on School of Wok, Souped Up Recipes, Princess Kitchen Bamboo, and lots of other channels featuring Asian dishes. I don't think it is employed much in European cuisines.
I have (an earlier version of) this burner, and I've seared sous vide steaks on a cast iron pan with it. These days, I tend to use an outdoor propane stove rather than the wok burner. The reason is that cast iron heat saturates _very_ slowly, so until the steaks are on the pan, there's really no need for the heat output of wok burner. If you blast the cast iron pan with super heat right off the bat, you'll just cook/burn off any cure you built up on the pan. I've done this, and what you get is a very unhappy pan with a big grey spot of ash in the center that you have to cure again in order for it to be non-stick. If you really want to use a burner like this with cast iron, then keep the burner pretty low for a wok burner. Then put your steak on the pan, and only then turn up the heat to about medium. Of course, you'll need to use an oil with a high smoke point. I use avocado, grape, or peanut oil. One option for searing on a wok burner would be a carbon steel pan, but I've only just thought about trying that experiment.
I use the same burner Kenji uses in this video with my cast iron skillet and the extremely high heat gives my burgers and steaks the best crust I've ever had!
Mr Kenji-Alt: you said that you were testing the limits of your setup with 1.5lbs of beef. Is that limit a function of burner BTUs or wok size, or both? Will a 16” wok handle a significantly larger portion than a 14”er on the same burner?
@@lookwhoneedsahobbie I imagine because the pan and food being cooked's specific heat, starting temp, thermal conductivity, and density effect the heat flux density at the interface between pan and food and thus how fast you're changing the temp of the food.
Exactly. Temperature is a measure that’s specific to the exact pan you’re using and it’s only loosely related to how things will cook in it. A 2mm black carbón steel pan at 400F will behave very differently from a thick stainless steel pan at the same exact temperature. What matters is heat flux, and there’s not simple tool for home cooks to measure that, which is why it’s so important to pay attention to visual and audio cues when cooking in a pan like this. It tells you a lot more than a temperature reading can.
The sound the burner makes it awesome, must be great fun cooking on that! How expensive are they to run (as in how often would i need to replace the gas cannister if i cook on it twice a week)?
A 20# propane tank has a total of around 400k BTUs in it, so at 160K BTU/hr, it’ll last around 2.5 hrs at full blast, or about long enough to make 50 batches of fried rice.
You can get the burner on Amazon for $100 bucks! I never cook inside the house now after getting it I probably go through a tank of propane every month
Um... I would cancel that order. As I mentioned in a few posts, I'm testing burners right now, and the one I'm cooking on here is definitely not the one I'm going to recommend...
I wish I could get something like this. I live in an apt where we don't have gas. I love stir fry and it's sooooo hard to make it on one of those ring stoves.
I live in an apartment I own 1.ZOKOP Portable Stainless Steel Gas Grill Single Square Burner BBQ Grill, Silver. 2.Ooni 3 Outdoor Pizza Oven 3.Masterbuilt Portable Smoker 4.A portable outdoor propane paella stand and pan. These all run on propane except for the pizza oven it uses wood chips You can buy the small tanks. Don't let living in a apartment stop you from cooking great food, as soon as Kenji is done testing these stir fry burners I'm buying one of them 👍😁👍
Get a propane burner like one of these (or even one of the cheap ones) and go to the parking lot, or a nearby park with a grilling area (assuming you live in the USA). Alternatively, use the blow torch technique that he showed in a previous video.
Whenever I made stir fry on the stove top I ended up with way too much "liquid" and ended up boiling the ingredients. Is that just too low of a heat from the stovetop? I usually added green beans, onions, and red/green pepper. Sometimes added soy sauce, other times premarinaded the beef with soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. I've also tried cooking the meat and the vegetables separately and together without success. Always ended up with too much liquid. Edit: thanks for all the responses everyone
For me personally, I just cook it longer. Not a perfect solution, but you work with what you got. Just put the meat in later when the sauce is closer to the consistency you want.
You’re probably trying to stir fry too much at once. Check out the Chinese cooking demystified RUclips channel. They manage to make amazing stir frys with a butane hot pot burner
Kenji, do you have any recommendations for how to modulate heat on this burner? I'm having trouble determining the best workflow to get wok hei from the intense heat without having my oil just immediately blow up into a five foot fireball. Would love to see a video where you explain the heat input as you react through the cook
You have your heat set too high if you pour oil in you pan and burst into flame. (Don't ask me how I know this). Whatever oil you're using, find out what the Smoke point (usually 400F/ 204 C & Flash point (usually, 600 F /315 C) of your oil is. To be consistent use an Infrared thermometer gun at first to measure your temperature. After a while you will know how low or high to adjust the heat.
He talks a bit about seasoning in his equipment sale video. But just do as much frying in that pan after the initial seasoning (with any regular vegetable oil that you already own) to build up many thin layers of cooked on oil. I did all my deep and shallow frying in it for maybe a week and had nice deep even black seasoning on the bottom and can fry rice and noodles without sticking now.
Can you provide a link for the burner you used? I’ve been wok cooking outside on a 200,000 BTU Bayou Classic burner but would like to try this one out. Seems much better with the height and the heat guard... Thanks!
Funny you should testing this now ..lol ..I'm been in the market for one .. been using a Turkey fryer burner.. Wok is not stable even with a ring .... obviously need to be extremely careful with that setup ...Chef Jerry
What about the CAMPAIGN we all threw money at... what, 6 yrs ago? Classic Chinese recipe on the marinade. Nice. Need to do these videos in late afternoon when sun is indirect, so we can actually see what you're doing. Finally... who is working on making a guitar-pedal interface for the gas line? Because, duh! Can't do it with your knees with a setup like this, but there needs to be an easy access to adjusting flame that is NOT with your hands!
Kenji! I need you to do a produce buying guide. Show us what to look for in common things like garlic, tomatoes, onions, and other fruits/veg. I'd love to know what a pro chef looks for in those things. Thanks for the awesome content!
HEY KENJI, love your videos. i was wondering if you would make some videos on how to make yellowtail and white seabass. i just got back from a amazing fishing trip and have a lot of both. i know all the usual suspects, like salt grilled hamachi kama. or shiro miso grilled/baked. sashimi, etc. i wanted to ask if you had any out of the box suggestions. a video wouldnt hurt either. BTW. tonight i am making your miso glazed salmon with mitake mushroom. all the best. -Erik.
Hello! I really like your content and I think you deserve more viewers and I think you should get a new username on RUclips, don’t get me wrong I really think your name is cool but it’s maybe a little long to have as a username on RUclips. Therefore I think you should change your username to J. Kenji or any other name you’re comfortable with. People will put your name on their mind. Have a great day! Daniel
Some people seem to have sensitivity to it. Most people don’t. There’s no evidence that there is any kind of long-term negative health aspects to it. It’s a very common ingredient in not just Chinese cuisine, but also Japanese and basically any processed food in the US.
Хобби
Was this filmed on a LG smart fridge?
jk love you Kenji
glad to see that MSG is in the recipe.
Uncle Roger approved🤣
I love your channel kenji! Thanks for taking the time to show us simpletons how to cook!
His neighborhood must smell so good
An outdoor Wok burner, ok I’m interested. My wife is Lao and would totally love this. I’m definitely gonna look into these!!!👍🏻👍🏻
I've been using a Walmart CampChef high BTU outdoor stove with a wok ring. I might have to upgrade after your videos come out as my hand takes a lot of the heat. Im excited to check the results. Thank you Kenji
Love your vids Kenji, great learning always. I especially love how this was recorded in 2003.
Kenji I love your videos with how to cook. It motivated me to cook and try out you recipes.
Greetings from Poland/Holland
I'm making your black bean burgers tonight Kenji it's all prepped and ready can't wait until dinner time 👍
Enjoy. I made them last week and they were amazing!
Made them too a couple of weeks ago, really tasty!
@@joeardanillo They turned out excellent, but I did add pickled Jalapeno's after I cooked them even though I used 3 chipotle peppers with adobo and a poblano it wasn't spicy enough🔥😬
The height, guard and the controls right where your hand is are pretty big improvements over the Eastman (one I have). The Eastman's control is by the propane tank which makes adjusting the burner less than ideal.
Can't wait for your article and hopefully videos of each in action.
Great format and content, Kenji, you'll meet greater success
soon. Decade-long fan - KC
Really need to know how the burners also work for paella pans. That and leg height are more important to me than BTUs.
What is your streaming setup? Seems like it works really well, and I've been looking to get some equipment/software for it recently
wonderful video. Your cooking is working. You look so healthy. (good sign of good life)
Hi Kenji. Enjoyed this review. Was wondering which Wok would work best with a glass top stove? I know cooking on the glass top with a Wok presents issues, but just wondering? I may go to the outside Webber Grill in Wok insert or the top of a homemade wood/brick wood pizza oven.
Kenji! I subscribed to your RSS feed on Serious Eats. Eagerly awaiting your review of outdoor burners and woks. Thanks for all the great content.
I want to buy the wok burner but I don't have outdoor area in my house
If I do it in the kitchen, I am sure my wife is gonna kill me.
probably won't have to worry about it because you'll have burned your house down anyway
@@WaffleShortage R u Nostradamus?
My backyard is plenty big but my 2 dogs have created the tort from hell with unpredictable holes. No I'm not making a patio
Claire D My wife is unpredictable too!
@@suivzmoi No the problem is my wife knows my youtube password, I'll be dead body tomorrow.
Kenji, do you have any recipes you think freeze or can be prepared in advance really well? I'll potentially have to cook almost exclusively my own food once university starts again (I'll hopefully be able to go online but we'll see) and know I won't have the energy to cook every single night, so I'm interested if you have any suggestions
Will the article cover tips for adapting recipes to an outdoor wok? Besides recipe times, I'm guessing you need tighter heat management, and more liquid in your sauces so they don't evaporate instantly or burn. Starches burn and stick to my wok on my stovetop, and I assume will only get worse on an outdoor one.
Cool recipe, one thing of note though the uneven lighting made seeing the food/cooking difficult.
I think you are correct. the brightness along the edges affected the camera meter, so I darkened the entire filming. Since the food was in the shade, we have difficulty seeing the food cook. A continuous light on the wok would have combated the darkness.
It not the size of your BTUs but how you use them. I think I remember an article on SeriousEats.com about the velveting technique for proteins from a few years back and it pretty much revolutionized my wok experience. You can see it used often on School of Wok, Souped Up Recipes, Princess Kitchen Bamboo, and lots of other channels featuring Asian dishes. I don't think it is employed much in European cuisines.
I’d love to find a version of this burner that can also be used with a traditional pan for searing steaks.
What’s stopping you from using that and a traditional pan
I have (an earlier version of) this burner, and I've seared sous vide steaks on a cast iron pan with it. These days, I tend to use an outdoor propane stove rather than the wok burner. The reason is that cast iron heat saturates _very_ slowly, so until the steaks are on the pan, there's really no need for the heat output of wok burner. If you blast the cast iron pan with super heat right off the bat, you'll just cook/burn off any cure you built up on the pan. I've done this, and what you get is a very unhappy pan with a big grey spot of ash in the center that you have to cure again in order for it to be non-stick.
If you really want to use a burner like this with cast iron, then keep the burner pretty low for a wok burner. Then put your steak on the pan, and only then turn up the heat to about medium. Of course, you'll need to use an oil with a high smoke point. I use avocado, grape, or peanut oil.
One option for searing on a wok burner would be a carbon steel pan, but I've only just thought about trying that experiment.
Woks are pretty traditional, you know.
I use the same burner Kenji uses in this video with my cast iron skillet and the extremely high heat gives my burgers and steaks the best crust I've ever had!
Always great info and technique. Although, I couldn't see the food. You didn't walk to the sunlight like you regularly do.
Nice, I'm using the Bayou Classic SP10 for wok burner @ home
Love your video's..if possible make a video on your kitchen tour..I love your knives and other equipment you have in your kitchen :)
Kenji when is the box salt cellar gonna come out to buy
Mr Kenji-Alt: you said that you were testing the limits of your setup with 1.5lbs of beef. Is that limit a function of burner BTUs or wok size, or both? Will a 16” wok handle a significantly larger portion than a 14”er on the same burner?
I want one. Suggestion, do you have a cheap infrared thermometer? I'd love to see the comparisons with the temperatures you are getting on the wok.
Pan surface temperature is not a useful measure for cooking.
J. Kenji López-Alt how come?
@@lookwhoneedsahobbie because when the oil starts smoking 💨 it's hot enough
@@lookwhoneedsahobbie I imagine because the pan and food being cooked's specific heat, starting temp, thermal conductivity, and density effect the heat flux density at the interface between pan and food and thus how fast you're changing the temp of the food.
Exactly. Temperature is a measure that’s specific to the exact pan you’re using and it’s only loosely related to how things will cook in it. A 2mm black carbón steel pan at 400F will behave very differently from a thick stainless steel pan at the same exact temperature. What matters is heat flux, and there’s not simple tool for home cooks to measure that, which is why it’s so important to pay attention to visual and audio cues when cooking in a pan like this. It tells you a lot more than a temperature reading can.
The sound the burner makes it awesome, must be great fun cooking on that! How expensive are they to run (as in how often would i need to replace the gas cannister if i cook on it twice a week)?
A 20# propane tank has a total of around 400k BTUs in it, so at 160K BTU/hr, it’ll last around 2.5 hrs at full blast, or about long enough to make 50 batches of fried rice.
@@JKenjiLopezAlt Ah awesome, Thank you very much for replying. Really enjoy watching all your videos and have learnt a lot!
You can get the burner on Amazon for $100 bucks! I never cook inside the house now after getting it
I probably go through a tank of propane every month
Thankyou that is very helpful. I actually placed a order yesterday and cant wait to test it out😁
Um... I would cancel that order. As I mentioned in a few posts, I'm testing burners right now, and the one I'm cooking on here is definitely not the one I'm going to recommend...
I wish I could get something like this. I live in an apt where we don't have gas. I love stir fry and it's sooooo hard to make it on one of those ring stoves.
I live in an apartment I own
1.ZOKOP Portable Stainless Steel Gas Grill Single Square Burner BBQ Grill, Silver.
2.Ooni 3 Outdoor Pizza Oven
3.Masterbuilt Portable Smoker
4.A portable outdoor propane paella stand and pan.
These all run on propane except for the pizza oven it uses wood chips
You can buy the small tanks.
Don't let living in a apartment stop you from cooking great food, as soon as Kenji is done testing these stir fry burners I'm buying one of them
👍😁👍
@@dgdigital2659 Were not allowed to use gas grills in our apartments here.
@@jasongates6894 That's just wrong 😑 I'd move 😂
@@dgdigital2659 Unfortunately it's like that at every apartment in my state.
Get a propane burner like one of these (or even one of the cheap ones) and go to the parking lot, or a nearby park with a grilling area (assuming you live in the USA). Alternatively, use the blow torch technique that he showed in a previous video.
Whenever I made stir fry on the stove top I ended up with way too much "liquid" and ended up boiling the ingredients. Is that just too low of a heat from the stovetop? I usually added green beans, onions, and red/green pepper. Sometimes added soy sauce, other times premarinaded the beef with soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. I've also tried cooking the meat and the vegetables separately and together without success. Always ended up with too much liquid.
Edit: thanks for all the responses everyone
Yes
You need really high heat to properly stir fry.
For me personally, I just cook it longer. Not a perfect solution, but you work with what you got. Just put the meat in later when the sauce is closer to the consistency you want.
That pan has to be ripping hot the whole time. How long are you heating the wok pan for?
You’re probably trying to stir fry too much at once. Check out the Chinese cooking demystified RUclips channel. They manage to make amazing stir frys with a butane hot pot burner
@@modest_mind2526 usually until the oil starts to smoke
What is that wok burner model?
Kenji, do you have any recommendations for how to modulate heat on this burner? I'm having trouble determining the best workflow to get wok hei from the intense heat without having my oil just immediately blow up into a five foot fireball. Would love to see a video where you explain the heat input as you react through the cook
Would like to know this as well
You have your heat set too high if you pour oil in you pan and burst into flame. (Don't ask me how I know this). Whatever oil you're using, find out what the Smoke point (usually 400F/ 204 C & Flash point (usually, 600 F /315 C) of your oil is. To be consistent use an Infrared thermometer gun at first to measure your temperature. After a while you will know how low or high to adjust the heat.
you're the best cooking channel on youtube. when can i get the sequel to the food lab?
There is no sequel to food lab.
@@JKenjiLopezAlt shucks, i had heard rumors
would really like a video showing how you seasoned that wok.
He talks a bit about seasoning in his equipment sale video. But just do as much frying in that pan after the initial seasoning (with any regular vegetable oil that you already own) to build up many thin layers of cooked on oil. I did all my deep and shallow frying in it for maybe a week and had nice deep even black seasoning on the bottom and can fry rice and noodles without sticking now.
Hey Kenji, can you please tell us the brand/model of your wok? Is that a cast iron one? Thanks!
Carbon steel. 14 inch. 1.5-2mm thick is what you want.
I am in, a surreal, cosmic, trip. It all revolves around wok burners.
So glad how to basic finnaly uploaded
What does the baking soda do in the marinade?
Can you provide a link for the burner you used? I’ve been wok cooking outside on a 200,000 BTU Bayou Classic burner but would like to try this one out. Seems much better with the height and the heat guard... Thanks!
Outdoorstirfry.com
J. Kenji López-Alt Thank you! I purchased one this morning. Can’t wait to use it!
Grill set up tour? I might wanna get that type of set up
Funny you should testing this now ..lol ..I'm been in the market for one .. been using a Turkey fryer burner.. Wok is not stable even with a ring .... obviously need to be extremely careful with that setup ...Chef Jerry
Hey Kenji, where will the written article be? The stream broke up while you were talking about it.
He said it'd be published on seriouseats.com
What is the function of the baking soda in the meat marinade?
Tenderizes.
Using a microwave to blanch? I feel redeemed! I do that too because after trying it out I couldn't tell the difference from blanching.
Can you teach us how to prepare a brand new wok please?
think it worked!
When/how/where are you going to publish your results? I'd love to have this setup in my backyard.
Wow! It's steaming a lot! 😱
Smoking *
What’s the size of the wok Kenji?
The wok that was first used looks like the same wok I got from the Wok Shop.
What about the CAMPAIGN we all threw money at... what, 6 yrs ago?
Classic Chinese recipe on the marinade. Nice. Need to do these videos in late afternoon when sun is indirect, so we can actually see what you're doing.
Finally... who is working on making a guitar-pedal interface for the gas line? Because, duh! Can't do it with your knees with a setup like this, but there needs to be an easy access to adjusting flame that is NOT with your hands!
I think a good wok ring will help
Kenji! I need you to do a produce buying guide. Show us what to look for in common things like garlic, tomatoes, onions, and other fruits/veg. I'd love to know what a pro chef looks for in those things.
Thanks for the awesome content!
HEY KENJI, love your videos. i was wondering if you would make some videos on how to make yellowtail and white seabass. i just got back from a amazing fishing trip and have a lot of both. i know all the usual suspects, like salt grilled hamachi kama. or shiro miso grilled/baked. sashimi, etc. i wanted to ask if you had any out of the box suggestions. a video wouldnt hurt either. BTW. tonight i am making your miso glazed salmon with mitake mushroom. all the best. -Erik.
Why baking soda marinade?? How much??
Pretty sure that's a rocket engine man
god i love you
Rock and roll!
“Wok” and roll, c'mon! :)
The video quality ain’t good mate,it’s a bit grainy but the food looks 👍
Probably because of the stream
It was a live stream, it’s like that
Nice 5D
Why baking soda on the meat?
to tenderize it
Do mexican carnitas in that thing
See if u can make a nyc thin crust pizza in this
bruh. flame go brrrrrrrr
What is the reason for using baking soda in the marinade?
Since baking side promotes browning, it could be for that. Not sure about tenderizing, since that cut of meat is very tender to start.
It’s for tenderizing and moisture retention.
Nice Lokey commerical for that woke burner
This is making me dizzy.is it just me?
No Shabu, no thumbs up
Why i have a notification if i have NEVER seen any of your videos?
Same
Can you mount the camera on your chest instead? There are mounts for that.. I feel nauseous after watching your videos..
Hello!
I really like your content and I think you deserve more viewers and I think you should get a new username on RUclips, don’t get me wrong I really think your name is cool but it’s maybe a little long to have as a username on RUclips. Therefore I think you should change your username to J. Kenji or any other name you’re comfortable with. People will put your name on their mind.
Have a great day!
Daniel
I’m pretty good with my name as it is.
What a weird suggestion.
Isn't MSG bad for you. You're a man of science should know better
You should check out the actual science on MSG instead of racist tropes from the 60s.
Some people seem to have sensitivity to it. Most people don’t. There’s no evidence that there is any kind of long-term negative health aspects to it. It’s a very common ingredient in not just Chinese cuisine, but also Japanese and basically any processed food in the US.
@@JKenjiLopezAlt thank you for the science
@@suivzmoi I will have to MSG on those items