Induction cooking - but what about woks?

[@tricotdiko1435]

“Now you’re cooking with Gauss!”

[@CptJistuce]

Bravo, sir!

[@NatesRandomVideo]

You win the comments section today. lol. Isn’t it Gauss though?

[@tricotdiko1435]

@@NatesRandomVideo Now that you mention it, yes. Fixed and thanks.

[@elisebrown5157]

Love it!

[@hyperlexis]

The new unit for induction woks is actually the Yan. Because the Yan can cook.

[@Dostwyn]

The purpose of this video: 1. Show that induction woks exist 2. Allow to make as many wok puns as possible

[@davidroddini1512]

Hey it woks for me 🤣

[@jacobroeland]

I think he succeeded on both counts. Must've put a lot of wok into it

[@WJCTechyman]

I think the pun rate in general was higher than most of his other videos. Although, I guess I wasn't paying attention to see if he had any alliterations in this video.

[@jcstalesoftrails9249]

Turn on closed captions for axtra fun! (Last few seconds of the video)

[@ericstoverink6579]

Are you sure that you don't have those reversed?

[@翛然-v3h]

In China, there have been high-power induction cooking designed specifically for woks for a long time. Because many shopping malls do not allow restaurants to use fire, induction cooking is the only option. A 3500W induction cooking for woks costs only $25 in China (including tax and shipping)

[@DahVoozel]

That might be also why there is an intentional, upfront temperature awknoledgement by the user. It feels like a "What temperature do you feel I safe for your oil?" Feature.

[@mattymerr701]

​​@@EphemeralTao except most kitchens that could support induction cooking already need and have a 220/240v high-power outlet in the US

[@timrosencrans7955]

⁠@@EphemeralTao that would be why every American kitchen already has 220. It’s what the stove is plugged into. A typical stove can draw over 12,000 W if the oven and burners are all on. Personally, I yanked my apartment stove for another cabinet and use a cheap induction cooktop for all my cooking with assistance from my instant pots and an electric griddle for pancakes and bacon where the large griddle surface Makes all the difference.

[@jurajvariny6034]

@@EphemeralTao not true, modern power supplies work both with 50 and 60 Hz. The difference between full-phase and half-phase is irrelevant too, as long as it's 220V, properly working circuit inside the appliance (no ground leaks) can't tell the difference.

[@riakata]

​@@EphemeralTaoyou can use a 20a circuit and a transformer to run one or just install a 240v outlet which do exist in the same ish form factor.

[@shakerson]

I love this channel and have for a while. I'm a private chef who just started cooking for a Chinese family who likes traditional meals. This product was basically designed for me and almost everything you called a flaw is a benefit to me. Thank you.

[@tomacco3k]

If you installed some solar panels on your roof you'd basically be wokin' on sunshine.

[@--Nath--]

For dinner though, you're usually wokking in the moonlight..

[@doubledarefan]

@@--Nath-- Unless you also have a battery bank, so you can save up those extra kWh's.

[@raygunsforronnie847]

The late night Chinese food restaurant, "Wokkin' After Midnight". Or closer to water, "A Wok On the Beach" (real place!). Suspicious ingredient - "We Wok Dog" noodles and hotdog stand.

[@whoever6458]

There are also solar cookers, even ovens, and my mom has a ton of them. There was a downside one summer when the cover of the big one my mom had got a hole in it and therefore it set the deck on fire, but that's more a problem of not having maintained it and kept it out of the sun when not in use.

[@AnnaVannieuwenhuyse]

@@whoever6458 My neighbour friend sliced my flower pots in half with his parabolic solar cooker.

[@insaneferret]

This company missed the golden opportunity to call it an e-wok

[@firstletterofthealphabet7308]

disney:

[@Shade_Tree_Mechanic]

​@@firstletterofthealphabet7308They'll make certain holes bigger if you don't Wok the line

[@borjeman]

They sure would like all of those copyright suits from Disney. /s

[@bepisenjoyer]

e-wok was taken...

[@stormythelowcountrykitty7147]

Oh no. Dad joke.

[@giga-chicken]

"It's similar to how wireless phone charging works" For anyone wondering: yes, putting your phone on an induction cooktop while its running will destroy it (very quickly, in fact). This is also true of coil, radiant, and gas cooktops.

[@JD2jr.]

What if I have it on low and only want to bring it up from low battery?

[@jakezanders6598]

Well, considering a phone charges with 3-5ish watts, and that burner is putting out several hundred watts on low, and a few thousand on high, it'll cook your phone in seconds no matter what setting it's on

[@JD2jr.]

@@jakezanders6598 ok what if iflip the switch on and off real quick? lol

[@john_barnett]

@@JD2jr. I tried it, it didn't work. (i was using gas)

[@MrSpirit99]

​@@JD2jr.That is what the induction unit does anyway

[@FSB5847]

Im a little late to the party so I doubt you will ever read this but, I work for a major appliance manufacturer as an electrical engineer. The timed shutoff feature you are describing around 11:00 is a mandated safety standard, there's unfortunately no way around that. Its a UL/CSA requirement for induction cooktops.

[@dud3655]

Is there a stated reason as to why?

[@crafty_matt]

@@dud3655 I'm no expert on UL regulation, but my assumption would be fire risk. If the wok is sitting there glowing red for hours unattended, there's a much higher chance that some nearby object could catch fire (or the induction circuitry itself could overheat and become a risk). I'm guessing "20 minutes" is probably based on some standard test for expected worst case scenario in a residential setting.

[@dud3655]

@@crafty_matt Fair, I was referencing the wrong thing then, I meant the device entering a pause mode when the wok is lifted, would work just as well for the device to turn off after like 20 seconds without being sure it is heating up the pan.

[@mujtabaalam5907]

​@@crafty_mattBut then why isn't it required for gas stoves, which can also be left heating a wok?

[@fervensmortis]

​@@mujtabaalam5907my guess is visibility. You can see when a gas stove is one. You can also hear it. Electric stoves can be harder to tell when they're hot

[@alexg3744]

I'm Chinese and I use wok for cooking an awful lot. The truth is for family use a regular induction cooktop coupled with a flat wok (yes these things exist) is quite enough. I've been using induction stoves for well over a decade now and I use it INSTEAD of a traditional gas stove whenever and wherever I can. It's efficient, it uses clean energy, it doesn't produce excessive heat, and most of all I don't have to worry about fire hazard or gas leakage. Also these things are incredibly cheap (at least in China). For a standalone cooktop it's usually no more than 50 US dollars (converted from Chinese Yuan). I currently work abroad and I took one with me, love it.

[@cydia2020]

Same here, I use my flat bottom wok for everything, even steaks, it's versatile and it works with an induction cooktop.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

I always thought flat bottomed woks would be heresy in the far east.

[@HiyuMarten]

@@MostlyPennyCatThey invented them

[@pafnutiytheartist]

Clean energy is only clean if you don't produce it by burning coal. And a lot of energy in china, unforunately, still is produced by burning coal.

[@ImAManMann]

Uhhhh do you mind shipping one to me?

[@glenng1555]

As an Asian I would like to add: 1) 5kW-6kW induction wok-compatible stoves are fairly common in East Asian countries at least for restaurant use. "Wok hei" is really not an issue at all with the power they offer. 2) For a typical stir-fry dish, a 20-minute default timer sounds quite plentiful, especially on a home cook scale.

[@lennart637]

I am pretty sure a 6kw induction element will bring the steel to a red glow maybe even melt it. At least the induction coil temper tools don't need more power

[@EnlightenedSavage]

5kw this is not. So the 20 minutes is going to be different.

[@wernerviehhauser94]

Yeah, but that kind of power draw would melt 9 out of 10 electrical installations in US :-)

[@wykpenguin]

@@EnlightenedSavage 1.5 kw it is. Still plenty hot enough for home cooking at heats up woks faster than the flame on a home burner.

[@wykpenguin]

@@wernerviehhauser94 it's 1.5kW which is lower than some hair dryers. So no, it doesn't.

[@vwestlife]

I'm hoping for a battery-powered one, so I can have a wok in the park.

[@Outworlder]

Get an appropriately sized power station and tada!

[@DavidCiani]

Bring one of those battery pack "generators" (Ecoflow, Jackery, etc.) with you and you are good to go.

[@Chamieiniibet]

A wok to remember

[@cedricpomerleau5586]

@@DavidCianiWell yes, but you’ll need the expensive 1000$+ models to run that kind of devices.

[@gluttonousmaximus9048]

@@DavidCiani PHEVs

[@keegan854]

We had a 37 hour power outage recently and did all of our cooking (toaster, kettle, microwave, Instant Pot) from V2L, along with running the fridges, some lights, box fan, etc. And all of that used only 18% of the car's battery. It's such a cool feature and I largely have you to thank for showing me how useful it could be.

[@cramesplays]

Crazy to think about how much energy is used by driving if you can run your entire life off 1/5th of the car battery!

[@kukuc96]

@@cramesplays Electric car batteries are BIG. A Chevy Bolt, which is a fairly small car, has a 60 kWh battery. Anyone can take a look at their electricity bill to check how long that will power their home. For me alone in an apartment (but working from home, so at home all the time, and with an electric stove) it's 6 days, and that's the average, with no power conserving attempts (which you would do in an emergency situation). I think for most households it would be several days to drain that.

[@keegan854]

@@cramesplays Well, we still cut down our electrical consumption a lot. V2L only outputs 120V so I couldn't run the whole-house air conditioner or the big oven/stove. I have a small window A/C that I could use but it would run down the battery a lot faster, so we made do without air conditioning (fortunately, severe storms here tend to bring cooler weather after them). But yes, driving uses a huge amount of energy, and any practical vehicle needs to store a huge amount of energy one way or another. The effective energy density of gasoline is crazy high because only about 20% of the combustion mass actually comes from the fuel -- the other 80% is from oxygen in the air. So that's why EVs need enormous battery packs costing tens of thousands of dollars to even get close on range. On the other hand, we don't lose power with altitude and could drive around in a vacuum, so that's nice ;)

[@TheFrugalMombot]

v2l? okay from reading comments i see that is an electric car battery. i didn’t know you could just buy those. did you have to build some sort of unit to be able to plug household items into it

[@FieroGT3400]

@@TheFrugalMombot I think he means connecting the car with its battery to an inverter and then to the house, or there abouts. not sure if its a supported feature or aftermarket rig. but would mostly work either way. i know some ev's just have inverter built in with 120/240vav outputs.

[@Niko2018]

As a Chinese who use proper induction wok all the time, the temperature setting help reduce smoke coming from the oil and food, keeping it at a specific temperature while using the maximum power level help reduce the smoke so it’s quite a health feature.

[@pherja]

Thanks for that info. I assumed there must be very wok specific techniques that all these extra controls work with.

[@TrackerSully]

I'm also in China and yeah, induction woks aren't new. Professional kitchens much prefer them here because getting the license to operate a fully electric kitchen vs gas/electric is SO MUCH EASIER. And about a third the cost in the permitting and installation side but, you lose some of that savings in the cost of the kitchen equipment. I help with company registration and permitting in China for foreign owned business... Can you tell?

[@NiepokonanyGolota]

How reliable it is for deep frying ("pass through oil")?

[@Niko2018]

@@NiepokonanyGolota Haven't used wok for deep frying in ages, only using air fryer nowadays. I suppose it will be pretty good since temperature can be controlled more precisely.

[@greenblack6552]

Ye, I know a lot of Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants that use induction woks exclusively.

[@sigrid714]

As someone who uses the Nuwave Wok on a regular basis to cook for my family of 3, I just want to say that the wok it comes with is actually a really good wok! The handle and wok are a single piece of metal so there are no rivets or welds to worry about the handle breaking off. You can also easily remove the silicone sleeve on the handle with some snips, and I highly recommend doing so because all it will do is just trap water and cause rust. The handle will never get hot enough to require the sleeve in the first place so the sleeve is completely unnecessary and does more harm than good. I haven't found seasoning the wok to be an issue at all. It will just be more uneven than on a gas wok burner. Swirling the wok around when heating it up is the key to a good stir fry (the nodules on the rim of the induction wok burner allow for smooth shifting of the wok but they may need to get broken in a bit). Get the sides to at least 300°F before starting to cook for best results. You can see where the heating element is in the video, so you want to swirl the wok so the sides get some of that heat. If you don't swirl the wok and just let the wok sit still while heating, the sides will not even be 120°F. I like to get the sides up to 300°F and the main area up to 500°F, and every few minutes, do another swirl to bring the sides back to 200-300°F. I mean, it's a wok, not a stock pot - Keeping things moving is a big part of wok cooking. This keeps everything nice and hot and I can sizzle 1lb of ground meat without any water pooling up. With regular use, it will get seasoned enough to do fried rice, eggs, or chow mein without anything sticking. Also, the wok is made of Nitrided Carbon steel, so it is very rust resistant and does not need to be oiled between uses. As for the "flimsiness", that may be a matter of preference but it's not necessarily a negative. You want it to be a bit light weight, because you'll be tossing stuff in and out so you want to be able to flip the wok (+ weight of food) with one hand.

[@hardwire666too]

I have 29 years in food and beverage. Rubber grips are put on equipment for grip to help prevent dropping. They are not an insulator from heat. Insulation is a by product. Cookware is designed expecting you to use proper heat insulation to grab things that are hot. Mitts, pads, tongs ect. If the rubber sleeve collects water, stuff a couple paper towels in it. 1) They will absorb any condensation 2) They should provided a temperature differential large enough to help prevent condensation from happening. 3) No fire to worry about burning them. Just to back up my point about rubber grips if it gets hot enough to severely burn you its typically hot enough to prevent the rubber from adhering to what it is meant to adhere to.

[@mhospada]

came here to say basically the exact same thing. Though I agree with the video about the controls (absurd and over-complicated) it works *so good* that I use it truly all the time. As you say, the wok contruction is actually a feature imo (though mine *does* have a weld, it seems to be a good one). I was initially concerned about the so-called "flimsiness" but I think better words would be "flexible" and "lightweight," as I've treated mine extremely rough for over a year and see no signs of deformation. The carbon steel is absurdly easy to care for, it can handle a lot more rough and tumble than a cast iron seasoning (because it basically re-seasons itself every time you cook).imo dishwashing is no problem, though for most dishes a quick rinse and wipe is all that's necessary. I don't think I would re-purchase this unit if mine broke (the controls truly are so stupid), but I would re-use the wok if I ever could convert over to a true range or got a different unit the same size.

[@user-qn9ku2fl2b]

"The handle will never get hot enough to require the sleeve in the first place" -- right, thats induction for you...

[@fintux]

So I guess you could season it in an oven when you remove the silicone sleeve from the handle first?

[@Jikkuryuu]

I was thinking the silicone handle was to prevent stray current, as incredibly unlikely as that would be. Non-slip makes more sense.

[@TheRWS96]

That is cool, i was at a restaurant with induction woks yesterday. I asked the owner about them and they said that they had been using them for years and that they are very happy with them.

[@6581punk]

Probably less of a fire hazard.

[@PabloEdvardo]

and they're also likely nothing like the one in the video, a commercial wok would have a much higher wattage and allow it to work similar to a gas wok

[@oplkfdhgk]

​@@PabloEdvardoi have seen some induction wok stoves that are made by metos. I think their best model is like 8kw. Should be plenty for a wok.

[@tommer9056]

These are fantastic, they heat up super quick and so much safer than a flame I loved working with them

[@RJDA.Dakota]

Maybe I should just go take a wok!

[@specialboy201]

As always, your captions are art. Please keep making content as long as you enjoy doing so. I certainly love watching it!

[@slaplapdog]

I started taking induction cooking seriously when I was contracted to install dedicated circuits for induction stove tops in a Vietnamese restaurant. Precise control and lowering the ambient kitchen temperatures were the reason they chose induction as an UPGRADE.

[@EB01]

I’m boosting engagement.

[@JuLeGe1989]

Me Too! ​@EB01

[@KairuHakubi]

you wouldn't happen to have expertise on how the circuits you installed stand up to what's going on in this countertop machine, would you?

[@0neDoomedSpaceMarine]

Ambient kitchen temperature must get really damn toasty when you've got a bunch of dudes cooking a whole mess of things on gas stoves all day long, especially in a hot summer. So I guess, if you can't stand the heat, either stay out of the kitchen or consider induction stovetops.

[@KurosakiYukigo]

The literal one second riff cutaway at "Wok this Way" is why I love your channel.

[@EilonwyWanderer]

All of the music & TV references were great! Wordplay connections and technology connections, two great tastes that taste great together...

[@cooperschwartz318]

yes

[@SteamWolf320]

I literally had the song stuck in my head before I saw the video.

[@mickblock]

Wokka Wokka Wokka!

[@kricku]

"Wok this way" Jailhouse Rock starts playing

[@soviut303]

I know a few people who work in a professional kitchen that switched from gas to induction who say the more reasonable temperature of the kitchen alone was worth it.

[@zacablaster]

Oh that's big. If the kitchen could not make me need to put corn starch in unmentionable placed I might switch

[@jackieknits61]

Rick Bayless a well-known chef and TV personality has switched all his restaurants to induction. He did it for green reasons, but he liked it so well he did the same in his home kitchen. His kitchen staff all love it too.

[@HA05GER]

​@@jackieknits61Michel roux jr did with his kitchens.

[@joncalon190]

less heat going into the exhaust, less air conditioning required to keep the staff in the kitchen from sweating into the food, less energy being burnt, seems to be a win-win all around.

[@NomadUniverse]

I'm a fan of 70s disco and Asian cooking, you can tell by the way I use my wok!

[@SpiceCh]

As someone who owns a flat-bottomed induction-compatible wok, I'd like to point out that you don't need a big kitchen gadget on the side to make stir-fry. It works like a charm with my induction stove top and gets hot in a matter of seconds without turning my kitchen into a sweatshop from an open gas flame.

[@TechnologyConnections]

Personally? I wouldn't think so, either! But cooking opinions are a remarkable inflexible part of the brain, and with so many people focused specifically on round bottoms, I wanted to put this out to the world :)

[@snerttt]

​@@TechnologyConnectionsif they ever make a full range with an induction wok. You GATTA get it and review it

[@guaposneeze]

It seems pretty easy to imagine a cheap passive steel "wok stand" you can stick on top of a flat induction cooktop to support a traditional round-bottom wok. The stand would get hot fast and then transfer heat to the wok about as fast as ye olde gas cooktop, which most people consider good enough anyway. And the cooktop would detect the stand when you do cool cinematic wok tossing for more than ten seconds, so it wouldn't instantly panic and turn off.

[@Anon-tj9fd]

@@TechnologyConnections A round bottom wok is ideal, yes, but most people settle on good enough, especially here in North America. Sure, there's no wok hei, but if I wanted that I could just buy takeout. People like to scream about wok hei on the internet, but the vast majority of people simply don't care and move on.

[@veggiet2009]

As someone who's only ever used a flat bottom wok, I gotta say I hate it, and really want to use a round bottom wok

[@Melchiahklan]

I've been a chef my whole working life. I remember using an induction wok about 20 years ago so they've been around for a good while my friends. I distinctly remember someone demonstrating how it won't burn a banknote that is placed in between the wok and induction surface and then fill the wok with water and boil. Love your videos!

[@jmiller007]

Yep. I'm no chef but my first introduction to induction cooking was a commercial induction wok again about 20 years ago.

[@theyesman91]

​@@jmiller007sure, but there were also dehydrators and sous vide machines in professional kitchens years ago as well, this is to say "these exist for a consumer market". A lot of people probably didn't know that before this video.

[@nathanlonghair]

Yeah my parents got their first one around 25 years ago I believe. They were definitely not common in Denmark back then, but they are now.

[@JasonHaines1974]

In keeping with the tone of this channel, I think you meant "I've been a chef my whole *woking* life"

[@TheFrugalMombot]

but weren’t those older ones for professional kitchens? these are pretty dang affordable. heck, i got a brand new one on ebay that had never been used and paid about $50 for it.

[@denisdrozdoff2926]

1. This episode was brought to you by "Too many small kitchen appliances". 2. I bet there's a digital thermostat on a chip IC somewhere and they were like "what features we will use? All of them."

[@0pyrophosphate0]

"Oh dope, there's a built-in timer, what can we use that for?"

[@MarekLewandowski_EE]

actually, no. I believe in China (or maybe was it Japan?) there's a formal requirement for portable heating devices that they need to have some basic safety features: temperature limitation and timer, so that they cannot cause a fire. For device used to heat oil (in a wok) the max temp limit is a very reasonable thing to have, the timer prevents oil from degrading and smoking up your apartment shall you forget about it (like after cooking you put the wok away on the heater and forget to turn it off).

[@Scudmaster11]

Small kitchen appliances

[@Goabnb94]

"Sorry, you wok needs to update. Care to create an account for your wok?"

[@seraphina985]

​@@MarekLewandowski_EEI was thinking that the temperature settimg could be set just bellow the smoke temperarure of your choosen oil. If for no other reason than exceeding that produces unpleasant flavours in addition to the smoke beinf highly combustable.

[@Bacon8t0r]

I own a regular flat induction cooktop, but i'm always open to learning about other woks of life.

[@jibjab7929]

Chinese-American home cook here - thanks for featuring this thing! I got one a few years back and I love it to death. Got used to the controls pretty quickly. Truthfully there can be a bit of mysticism around wok cooking, particularly around the elusive "wok hei", the flavor that comes with ultra high temp oil in wok cooking. But really, not that many Chinese home cooks are getting proper "wok hei" at home, especially not in cities. For that either you would have an outdoor wok oven, which a lot of country homes in China do, or the restaurant. You ain't getting it in a home range, gas or induction. And the QOL improvement of keeping the kitchen cool more than makes up for it. Sidenote, in my old apartment with a gas range I would try to "cheat" my way to wok hei by removing the little cap on the gas burner so it would shoot out just a straight jet of blue flame. DO NOT DO THIS. But girls would get a kick out of it!

[@Asummersdaydreamer14]

Your wok hei cheat method reminds me of what chef/ cookbook writer/ food KZbinr Kenji Lopez-Alt occasionally does. He uses a gas cooking range, but also uses a hand held kitchen torch as he is tossing the food. I have not mimicked the technique myself, but imo it mirrors what I see some street vendors do in their own setups. Btw I find his KZbin videos to be engaging and informative; he also has a dog, so would recommend! Also, one of his books is about cooking with woks lol

[@gluttonousmaximus9048]

锅气？Apparently it tempers meat stench?

[@Christophthegeek]

I think my dad did that with our gas range.

[@bobnewkirk7003]

I do the burner trick every time its bad weather outside. You don't get a lot of fine control on the burner, as too little or too much gas will force a relight, and you need a separate tool to light the gas but its pretty intuitive after you set it up. you can even buy stainless steel and cast iron "Wok Rings" that you can put on your stovetop so you can set a round bottom wok down as well. That all being said, if your just starting out get a flat bottom wok; it will get you 80% of the way there and skip a lot of headache.

[@Heike--]

In China countryside they cook on wood scraps or styrofoam, which do not get particularly hot.

[@mwalker9117]

Good to know induction technology is expanding to account for different woks of life.

[@JJVernig]

"You never wok alone"

[@the_undead]

As far as I can tell, far superior induction woks to this one have existed in Asia for over a decade at this point. And as far as I can tell in several places in China induction woks are all you can use because open flames are not allowed

[@TwoScoopsofDestroyer]

Fun fact: nuwave was named after their first product: the nuwave, a countertop convection oven that actually saw some commercial success. Possibly the first "Air Fryer" on the market.

[@XzTS-Roostro]

Not unless you count convection ovens. Use that circulation fan with a rimmed baking sheet and a wire rack on top and you've got an Air fryer.

[@joshsamuelson1793]

​@XzTS-Roostro my parents had a gas convection oven in the 80s.

[@Candesce]

​@@XzTS-Roostro isn't the point that it's a countertop (i.e. portable) induction oven? Which is what an airfryer is, basically.

[@XzTS-Roostro]

@@Candesce Countertop CONVECTION oven, actually. However, if you do go out purchasing a brand-new full-size wall-oven or range, you'll see some that'll claim to have "Air-Fryer" "Technology"/"Functionality". Those are really just convection ovens with a marketing upcharge and SHOULD come with a decent or sub-par wire basket.

[@melmoomlem7321]

Omfg I think my dad bought one from an infomercial back in the day and still has it... 😂

[@alexgray7329]

Induction furnaces are commonly used to melt metal in foundries. With enough power you can melt aluminum, iron, steel, brass, etc. we put a cast iron pan in one of our induction furnaces at my college to cook bacon. Worked perfectly.

[@jajssblue]

Thank you for the Wok through on this topic!

[@StickyBunFF]

😅

[@Katiethekitten]

Fantastic wordplay 😜

[@dahat1992]

Boooooo 😂

[@adamk.7177]

*le sigh*

[@gibransapta7244]

Ba dum tss

[@shmehfleh3115]

I got a switcheroo for you! I found an induction hot plate at a thrift a couple years ago, so I decided to experiment with it as a camp stove. I coupled it with an EBL 1000 watt battery pack to see how well it performed. Turns out it works really well off-grid! I can cook an entire meal using this setup and only drain about 30% of the battery. Then I use a solar panel to charge it back up, and I'm ready for the next meal. I never have to worry about running out of gas with this setup, or burning the crap out of myself or anything else on a hot stove. I could even cook inside my tent if I wanted to, though I can't imagine ever wanting to. This setup works so well, I've been using it in lieu of my butane stove ever since. The only time I need to break out the butane stove is if I didn't get enough sunlight to recharge the battery pack, and that's only happened once so far. The angry state the hot plate goes into when I remove the pan is great for saving energy. When I pick up the pan, the hot plate shuts off automatically. If I put it back down within a few seconds, it starts back up. Otherwise it assumes I'm done cooking and shuts down completely.

[@hugegamer5988]

For glamping it sounds great. It also sounds about 25x heavier than my jet boil.

[@dr.mcstuffins5977]

Can you post a video showing how you made it and you using it. This is super interesting. Thanks for the comment!

[@willabyuberton818]

That's so solarpunk, I love it.

[@WeAreChecking]

@@hugegamer5988as a base-camp solution it sounds excellent. Supposing fair weather of course

[@richlaue]

What is the output of your panels?

[@KevboKev]

I was actually very impressed with what your thermal camera found. A wok is supposed to work exactly as the thermal camera shows. The direct center of the wok is more of a medium temp, above that, the “next ring” is the high temp, and the outside ring is the low temp (you can throw wraps and things on the top ring to warm them through.

[@kevinquinn1993]

That's what I was thinking as well, but you stated it better than I could have done since I've never actually cooked with a wok myself, but I've watched it done in the restaurants quite a few times. By the way, Kevbo was my nickname among my coworkers when I was a mailman. (Now Retired) Haven't seen it elsewhere til I saw your comment. I think it is a cool moniker! (but my opinion may be biased) 😊 Subbed your channel by the way. God Bless You and your family! 😃

[@KevboKev]

@@kevinquinn1993 Hey, thank you so much! I really appreciate the gesture. Yeah, Kevbo is something that has lived with me for some time now. I agree that it's a cool moniker. :-)

[@dr.flinch6745]

Dude, I have been watching you for a pretty long while, and I’ve always loved either the intro or outro music, and as it turns out I’m on the phone with my doctors office and they have the same song playing when you get put on hold.

[@JTCF]

My mom's only grime with induction stoves is touch controls. And I agree. Just make it a rotary selector or something and it would be much more convenient, intuitive and intuitively safe to use.

[@simpson6700]

It's pretty easy to get used to

[@dw3403]

My only problem with it is boil overs that will cause the sensor to change settings. Other than that I love it.

[@BlackDroid003]

especially, if it's "on top" touch controls, like when your stove is independent of your oven, they have to put controls somewhere. but those are sometimes really annoying. sometimes too sensitive. And a drop of water or whatever can trigger the "over-boiling" feature and shut off the stove in the middle of cooking

[@zeroyon4562]

This is the biggest annoyance with ours. If you put a metal lid or utensil or water near the touch controls it causes an error and it shuts off. Otherwise it’s so much better than gas imo.

[@robertszynal4745]

I hate them too. My parents' Rangemaster cooker is induction with real dials and it's much nicer to use.

[@FocusDisorder]

As someone who cooks with woks all the time, most of your complaints don't really apply to wok cooking. You actively want the heat concentrated in one spot, 20m is basically fine for all stir fry tasks, the safety timer is long enough you can pick up the wok and toss the food normally, and as for temperature control, the standard wok setting is almost universally "as hot as humanly possible."

[@bigsmall246]

My problem with induction cookers is they tend to effectively have only 2 settings: on and off. All other settings like "power" and "temperature" only affect how much of the time its on or off (i.e. power cycle). So the soup is boiling 30% of the time and not boiling the rest of the time.

[@OutbackCatgirl]

​@@bigsmall246 bro out here making soup in a fucking wok lmao

[@tcphll]

I think another point is that a carbon steel wok might feel flimsy to somebody not used to them. They're not thick like a saute pan and might feel a bit "bendy" to someone not used the them. That doesn't mean it's cheap or low quality.

[@FocusDisorder]

@@bigsmall246 I mean, you might have a point about the width of the pulses being too wide, but almost everything variable is PWM these days. Analog is expensive.

[@AnnoyingNewsletters]

What's the advantage to woks over skillets? Is it something other than just a cultural convention?

[@MPusterla89]

Thanks for all the great induction content! It has been really helpful when we were weighing the option of switching an induction range when we redid our kitchen this year. After lamenting that there wasn't a gas line to the kitchen for two years and begrudgingly using the existing electric range, we took the plunge and finally went induction. It's fantastic! I'm very excited to show my guests how fast I can boil water for them. I'm an occasional wok cooker and we found a gas grill grate that accommodated the shape of the wok and allows us to still cook over open flame- just outside instead.

[@gregorypalmer661]

Exactly the same situation here - right down to the wok - and we installed our induction range just this past week. Couldn't be happier.

[@Kyle-nm1kh]

It really does seem safer

[@daa3417]

There’s a Japanplogy episode on rice cookers that was enlightening to me. Apparently they once had a competition between gas powered rice cookers and resistive electric ones. What eventually beat them both in the 80’s was vacuum flask inductive heating, using a bi-metallic pot (steel and aluminum) for even heating of the rice. That’s the tech still used in the best rice cookers to this day. They also use a ‘stepped’ coil like that wok heater uses.

[@chunk1978]

Induction cooking changed my life. I've lived in a very small apartment for years and never had room for even a small stove/range. Earlier this year I bought an induction cooktop that now resides on top of my microwave! I'm still impressed with its overall efficiency - how fast it heats up and how little power it requires, especially compared to a conventional stove.

[@chef_de_cuisine]

Same here, now I’m upgrading my burner to Vision Infinity Cooktop. Can’t wait!

[@thrillscience]

You had me at "round bottom."

[@EilonwyWanderer]

"Round-bottom grills, you make the wok-in' world go 'round!"

[@natelevy1040]

Shorty got them apple bottom pans, heat with the ferris metal... the whole meal simmers as you stir.

[@rokhamler3352]

Big Bottoms by Spinal Tap starts playing

[@minekush1138]

​@@natelevy1040 😂

[@JustOneAsbesto]

@@EilonwyWanderer I liked your joke, but that song is really disturbing. "I was just a skinny lad. Never knew no good from bad, but I knew life before I left the nursery. Left alone with Big Fat Fanny, she was such a naughty nanny. Heap big woman made a bad boy out of me." - Noted astrophysicist, Brian May.

[@TawnyFawny]

I hope it's been said before, but this channel's captions are the absolute best on YT. They're accurately spelled and timed, and I want to say how much I appreciate them!

[@benthurber5363]

Not to mention the extra layers of puns and jokes that you would otherwise miss out on: "Deliciously smooth jazz"

[@Heike--]

I feel sorry for all you people with hearing damage or listening comprehension issues.

[@raygunsforronnie847]

@@benthurber5363 This! Part of my little video hobby involves accessibility, and the caption work Alec does is really good, I think because he treats them as an integral part of his show. The outtakes at the end are the chef's kiss.

[@MechaHeretic]

I turn on the captions as soon as I see the patreon names pop up. I know there's a creative pun involved in the musical cue. My favorite so far has been "Unfathomably Smooth Jazz". I also highly appreciate the captions when I'm eating lunch. These videos are on constant rotation for my meal times (when alone), and the captions are always top notch.

[@andruloni]

@@Heike-- I feel sorry for people who miss out on jokes just because they hear good enough

[@othergeorgea]

@12:20 I love this guy more than anyone else on this platform

[@pietropisani7374]

I suppose the reason for a temperature set function is because wok is used tipically in frying based meals, and this can help avoiding fire or burning the oil

[@volvo09]

Yeah, only an experienced cook can manage not overheating the oil on a high heat setting. Most novices will get it to flash point, or at a minimum burn it with that much power.

[@TechnologyConnections]

Why force you to set a temperature, though? That's what I don't get. If you can set it above the flashpoint of whatever oil you're using (which you can), it's only a safety device for people proactive enough to set it correctly.

[@aspecreviews]

​@@TechnologyConnectionsI think ALL cooktops should be able to prevent or discourage users from reaching oil-igniting temperatures (or smoking the coating off their non-stick pans) by turning themselves down or refusing to increase the level of heat. I've had friends whose apartments burned down due to cooking mishaps, and something like 70 to 80% of house fires (NFPA, 2018) start in the kitchen due to improper temperature management.

[@verttikoo2052]

What is the temperature that the oil can take so that you don’t burn it?

[@williamaitken7533]

​@@TechnologyConnectionsdifferent frying techniques call for different heats. Aromatics may be fried at lower temps than meat for example. If you watch Chinese Cooking Demystified (I highly recommend them) you'll see that when they deep fry stuff they use a laser thermometer to check the oil heat. And they use a variety of heats. I think it's an odd feature because in the west we associate exact temps with baking or sous vide, and stove tops with low/medium/high.

[@timweydert3490]

"You should follow all manufacturer warnings and instructions" - First warning: Do not use indoors. Well darn it, this Technology Connections guy got me again didn't he?! I say to myself while cooking a steak on my car's engine in the garage.

[@driftertank]

If you've never wrapped a brisket in tinfoil and wire-tied it to your exhaust manifold while you race a hill climb and eat at the summit, you've never lived...

[@mikafoxx2717]

​@@driftertankCan't think of anything more American than that.

[@randomviewer3494]

​@@mikafoxx2717its missing the bald eagle and guns somewhere. Oh and if we go truly USA, blatant racism, cop abuse and worker abuse by big companies.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

@@driftertank Have you seen the Mythbusters episode where they cooked a gourmet Thanksgiving dinner on a road trip?

[@Games_and_Music]

@@MonkeyJedi99 I was just gonna say, they uploaded that episode last week or so. I really like the idea of cooking a meal while you're on the road, but then there's traffic jams and whatnot, it could become a very stressful thing pretty quickly. Then again, you might have something to eat while in traffic, and get some surprised looks from the drivers around you when you pop the hood and take out some cooked potatoes and gravy.

[@ozbarnier8432]

Hi, European here, when my parent got an induction cooktop about a decade ago, it included a dedicated spot for a wok (with all the standard sewing you would expect from an induction cooktop), so those are not new at least here in Europe. I do concede it was a bit of a specialty item at the time, but it has since (at least in Europe) become way easier to find.

[@JamesSkemp]

0:36 I'm not sure why 'thud' was used for the captions (seemed more like a clang), but the rest, especially the end, was gold.

[@iamdarkyoshi]

To give it some credit, they didn't use hideous blue LEDs!

[@jb6748]

You should watch a video on the history of blue LEDs.

[@Owl90]

This is the most perfect 2am channel on youtube. And I mean that as a compliment.

[@the_undead]

As someone who will regularly consume hours of this guy every month. can very much confirm, amazing background audio to try and sleep to

[@elliottbradbury8849]

"If it's not dishwasher safe, I don't have room for it in my life" SO VALID, BESTIE. This rule has actually saved me so much money on novelty mugs XD

[@asandax6]

😮 That is too limiting. If it fits in the sink it can stay.

[@eac537]

so, like, do y'all not use knives? or do you just use dull knives? or what happens?

[@ThePunischer1000]

@@eac537 Knives don’t dull much when properly loaded in the dishwasher. And if they do they are incredibly quick and easy to sharpen in the kitchen.

[@elliottbradbury8849]

@@eac537 been washing knives in the dishwasher for almost 20 years and have never needed to sharpen one, I honestly have no idea what you're on about?

[@elliottbradbury8849]

@@asandax6 I have more than enough dishes to cook in and eat on. Dishes from before this rule tend to get used once and then sit in the sink for literal months, at some point it's probably a health hazard NOT to keep the rule. What I find "limiting" is the idea of dishes that are too delicate to withstand the dishwasher. What in the Victorian bass-ackwards way of thinking is it to throw away your time on a task a machine can do for you?

[@just_eirik]

Your videos scratches an itch that no other does! Thank you for making them!

[@martinstent5339]

12:20 "I'm wokking here" (Midnight Cowboy".

[@StefGeiger]

It is NOT as simple as “the pot has to be magnetic to work with induction”. While yes, all magnetic pots work with induction, not all induction-compatible pots are magnetic. There are multiple alloys of steel that aren’t magnetic at all but work perfectly well with an induction cooktop. Alec, I feel like this topic would make for a decent Connextras segment!

[@asandax6]

The magnetic test is just a sure fire way of knowing it'll work.

[@maxsmith8196]

@@asandax6 yes, but don't just throw out anything non-magnetic when moving to an induction stove. Testing on the stove itself is probably a better solution tbh..

[@RandomPersonOf2005]

Also a lot high quality stainless steel cookware is not made entirely made our of steel

[@danajohnson5993]

Glad someone pointed this out!

[@RandomPersonOf2005]

Usually there's copper sandwiched in the stainless steel pans

[@Stapler42]

On the non-stick debate, never use a teflon-style non stick wok because the temperatures required for wok cooking will cause the non stick coating to degrade and release polymer fumes. Breathing in coating fumes doesn't seem to cause a long-term health issue but you can get polymer fume fever which is temporary but not pleasant (birds are very susceptible to polymer fumes and it doesn't take much to be fatal, so if you have a bird don't use non-stick in general). It goes without saying that this degrading also ruins your wok so it will stop being non-stick.

[@wintermute5974]

Also on materials - cast iron woks are apparently mostly useless. They're far too heavy to comfortably toss things in and they're prone to cracking.

[@olivertwisted]

@@wintermute5974 Cast iron woks are the original woks and aren't meant to be tossed. The food is moved using a wok spatula. The advantage of cast iron woks are more heat retention if you're working with a large quantity of food and they hold their seasoning better. A cast iron wok can also have a flat "western bottom" and still be round on the inside since its shape is cast. I own both a cast iron and carbon steel wok. If I had to own only one, I'd keep the carbon steel, but the cast iron wok has a place.

[@olivernajera3077]

Yeah, every non stick wok i had would eventually start to peel

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

​@olivertwisted I only own a cast iron wok and I am looking to replace it with a carbon steel. It's awesome and a pain at the same time. 😂

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

​@@wintermute5974 no tossing neccesary. The longer preheat time needed that often gets skipped is why they Crack. You have to heat them for a bit on a lower heat and then crank it. I would assume trying to treat it like a carbon steel and heating quickly is what causes cracking. I've had mine way hotter than I should have and ive had mine for about 6 or so years

[@ZZ-sb8os]

I love that watching this channel means that I'll not only will I learn things, but that I'm guaranteed a chuckle or two at your great puns.

[@Tylendal242]

"Old" camping stove. Doesn't light it with a lighter or match. Doesn't have to pump the damn gas canister for a minute beforehand.

[@KevinSmith-ys3mh]

Yeah, you're thinking of his dad's camping stove- the Coleman white gasoline fueled ones from the 1960s. Could also do duty as a flamethrower and campfire starter! The propane / butane cannister ones of today don't have the 'fun' potential, but are much safer!

[@melmoomlem7321]

​@KevinSmith-ys3mh it's not like he doesn't have those old style ones as well 😂

[@caseysmith544]

@@KevinSmith-ys3mh Still a style for small multi fuel stoves or even small butane used for smaller backpacking or longer distance bicycle touring where having a bigger stove is impractical. Of course, now some modern super light stoves are really a micro mini Wood Buring backpack stove often used in places they know they will have wood/dry grass but can't have a fire on the ground as backpacking the trend is in some circles trying to stay under 15 pounds/7 kilograms but going as close as they can to 10 pounds/4.5 kilograms about as light as one can go or doing similar in run backpacking often trying to do trails over X miles usually for better trained runners 120 miles/193 kilometers like a 130 mile/209 kilometer or more event that requires at least one overnight stop.

[@JedidiahPeterson]

the power level selection is awesome for folks in sketchy rentals... I have TOTALLY lived places where I would still want the temp set to 450 but not be pulling 1500w through the only electric I have to draw from...

[@nate8088]

I was thinking the exact same thing. That or an inverter with limited output.

[@volvo09]

​@@nate8088 yeah, perfect for smaller inverters.

[@westonshakespear9031]

+1 on not wanting to pull 1400w in an apartment. Maybe just put the selection on the back near the plug for better ux

[@dustinbrueggemann1875]

@@westonshakespear9031 You could also lower the power when you're letting food keep warm at a low temp or only cooking a small amount. You can almost imagine it as a sort of "how full is the pan" setting. It affects the peak current in the coil, so it should be more efficient at lower powers.

[@yaddercamacho9714]

​@@westonshakespear9031 In theory, any power outlet should be made to withstand more than 1500W. But that implies that in the same circuit, you cannot be pulling more than that with the rice cooker or so on... So its almost as if asking for an exclusive outlet for that

[@zacharyhenderson2902]

Whenever I was a child, I saw one of those infomercials for an induction cooktop and saw the experiment where they cut a pan in half, cracked an egg in the middle and the part of the egg that was on the pan cooked while the rest of it remained completely raw. Ever since then, and possibly before, I've been in love with induction cooktops. It's a shame they don't work with copper pans.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

They do if you get one with an iron slug inside them

[@JoeStuffzAlt]

Stainless clad copper!

[@EphemeralTao]

Yeah, that's main reason I haven't switched to an induction cooktop, I'd have to replace nearly all of my pans. Only a couple of the cheap ones work with induction, while none of the really expensive ones will.

[@Goldfish_Vender]

isn't copper toxic? Why would you use copper pans?

[@drkastenbrot]

@@Goldfish_Vender even and rapid heat distribution. that being said, copper is quite soft and scratches more easily.

[@abalonesense]

Video: Good design, good execution, effective delivery, convincing display! Very good!

[@liamtahaney713]

Just got induction two weeks ago and it is incredible. It is so incredible. I cannot stress this enough. Life changing. Water boils so fast. My kitchen doesnt get hot. You cannot burn yourself. The air quality is appreciably better the control is amazing. Can keep things near my cooker without worrying about fire. It is so easy to clean. I really cannot stress enough how much an improvement it is.

[@ozthekeymaster]

Yes there are professional wok burners that produce multiple tens of thousands of BTUs.But home ranges don’t get close to that. Not close.

[@Guysm1l3y]

"air quality" You know how I know you're gobbling propaganda?

[@hithere7382]

@@Guysm1l3y It isn't propaganda. Burning things releases byproducts into the air and burning gas outside is fine (for a while) but in a confined space these byproducts become concentrated into the air you breathe. If humans didn't live very long this wouldn't be a problem but since people routinely live 80-90 years these days it's easy to see the health differences in people with electric vs gas stoves.

[@davidegaruti2582]

​@@Guysm1l3ylook man , is simple : Gas stove = makes smell Induction stove = no smell If you feel smells , there is somenthing in the air .

[@davidegaruti2582]

​@@ozthekeymasteryes , professional f1 cars have thousends of horse powers more than an ebike , Guess wich one is more usable by pepole for most of their daily uses ?

[@radbaron]

Pretty much EVERY Canadian household bought a wok during the 80's because of the TV show "Wok With Yan" Most woks came with an adapter ring that held the wok just above the element on a regular stove, or you could take a chance and let it sit on top of the gas burner holders. Watching Stephen Yan cook was a marvel, and the puns were truly magnificent. Each show he wore a cook's apron with a different pun: Wok & Roll Wokking My Baby Back Home Danger, Yan at Wok Wok Around the Clock Wok the Heck You Are Wok You Eat Wok Goes up Must Come Down Wok's New, Pussycat? Wokkey Night in Canada Stuck Between a Wok and a Hard Place Raiders of The Lost Wok Eat Your Wok Out Moon Wok Wok Your Butts Off Jailhouse Wok Superior Wokmanship Wok-A-Doodle-Doo Wok Before You Run Wok Me Amadeus Wok up Little Susie Wok Don't Run Don't Wok The Boat

[@John_Locke_108]

😂😂😂😂 I just posted a comment about us buying a wok in the 80's. We watched his show all the time. But we lived in New England and watched it PBS.

[@PhotonBeast]

There's also the other Yan - Martin Yan of Yan Can Cook. Also Canadian I believe.

[@1337billybob]

Was this Yan can cook? As in if Yan can cook so can you! Sign off? Chinese cooking demystified often discuss the heating temps of home cooks vs restaurants. So home cooks use a relatively low heat much like America household compared to restaurants here too. Restaurant cooks like Kenji Lopez reviewed outside wok burners and he recommend were 80k BTUs at least not 30k. Then there is a street vendor in Hong Kong who has been grandfathered in with a permit to use kerosene in a KZbin episode hosted by Lucas Sin.

[@CraftAero]

Stephen Yan's "Wok with Yan" is often confused with Martin Yan's "Yan Can Cook". In fact, I had to look it up before commenting.

[@BliffleSplick]

Hello fellow canuck!

[@antoniomafera1378]

i like your channel cause its like if PBS was slightly unhinged

[@Sasuhinagirl1]

Yesssssss

[@pineapplebob06]

I worked in the kitchen of a Boston's Pizza in the 2000s, place was built in 2004, and we used induction woks for cooking the pasta dishes. These things have been around a long time in commercial settings but as far as I am aware they just never really caught on over a gas burner as that was the only place I had ever seen them used in the many kitchens I was in over the years.

[@EricLS]

I appreciate that all the puns are properly spelled in the captions so I can enjoy them while my daughter sleeps on my chest.

[@ollie6606]

Jon Kung has a great video on this specific wok! I've been using it for a year now as well and it works great honestly, definitely would recommend it if you can afford it

[@thesqueedler]

I saw that nuwave induction wok a few months ago. I'm really glad you bought one and tried it so I wouldn't have to. I bought an induction cooktop to use at the office to make mulled wine for our holiday party. I had to do a lot of explaining to our admin as to why it's safe to have it in an office environment. But, when our daughter and two kids had to move out of their house and into a hotel for an emergency remodel due to flooding, that cooktop + a Pioneer Woman dutch oven meant they didn't have to eat out all the time and it saved them a lot of money, and the kids had better meals.

[@ak983625]

For last 20 years I’ve been woking maybe monthly with the same $20 wok pot on the same coil top. Perfect. 7 setting about right. Pot has just a touch of flatness as not to need the ring.

[@DeviantOllam]

I am loving the Mister Delicious shirt. 😊👍🍴

[@EkiToji]

I mean who doesn't like Rax?

[@CorruptNova]

Huh, small world.

[@wobblysauce]

@@EkiToji woooo easy there tiger.

[@GraceV.Alopex]

same >

[@EduardoEscarez]

"Rax, you can eat here"

[@MichaelSteeves]

I replaced my propane stove in my small camper with an induction cooktop (non-wok). What a difference! No longer does the smoke detector go off every time I cook without the exhaust fan. The one thing I don't like is that if you use both burners, the power of each is cut in half. Still, induction + cast iron is amazing!

[@mikgus]

Do you run it on battery?

[@JustOneAsbesto]

And you don't even need a dishwasher.

[@dw3403]

The sharing of wattage is helping to stop fires in wiring. Imagine what a built in in a real kitchen would be like.

[@Outworlder]

@@dw3403it's probably because it's plugged into a circuit that doesn't support all the power it would otherwise need.

[@dw3403]

@Outworlder Right. A built in would have a higher breaker put in the box for that wattage.

[@BuddyBouncer]

An open Letter to The Editor: As someone that spent 2 years working in a Thai-style kitchen that lives in an apartment, this is welcome news. Flat-bottom "woks" just don't cook the same way, even when it's made of the same material. The gradient of heat is the key function of the cooking vessel. I've seen a few comments that they're good enough, and I agree, but it just isn't the same. I've lived in places with all sorts of ranges, and learned their ins and outs, and that wok burner just calls to my soul. I can go from raw, prepped food, to cleaned-up and eating in ten minutes. What I'm most curious about is the durability of the induction surface. Wok-cooking can be pretty forceful, and there is a LOT of sliding in a pull-push-pull motion - the tossing you so deftly demonstrated - if you're interested in practicing this basic skill, a wok is a great trainer. Just drop a sponge in your cold wok and try to flip it over. That's it. Doesn't waste food or make a mess, and you can do it anywhere you don't feel shame. During live-cooking though, you want to maintain contact with the ring to keep the motion consistent, and I suspect that could be an issue over time. Do you know what material the contact surface is? Speaking of sponges, you don't need to put your wok in the dishwasher. A standard stainless-steel scrubbie costs like maybe $2 and can be found in basically any supermarket. All you should need to do is add a drop of dish soap + a cup or two of water to the hot wok immediately after completing the cooking process, use your cooking tool to apply pressure to the scrubbie and have at it. Dump and rinse in the sink, towel dry. Double-check the outside, as you don't have the jet burner blasting it, so it could collect a buildup. I don't know about you, but if this cookware is used more than a couple of times a week, running it through the machine is just wasteful considering that cleanup literally takes maybe two minutes. This process has been approved by my local health department several times, as that restaurant is still in operation a decade later. To address the material's flimsy feel - it's mold-formed sheet steel. Eventually the transition between the handle and the bowl will fail. It will happen at the worst possible time, but you will know it's imminent when the metal at the base of the handle begins to fracture. Replacements are super cheap; if you have a specialty Asian market in your area, you can usually find something potentially better than that silly little guy that came with the unit. If not, Amazon should have something similar. It's effectively the same, but the handle doesn't have the silicone grip, which is just for comfort. As you saw in the thermal images, the handle doesn't generally get hot even through dissipation throughout the metal (this is also true for the jet burners, depending on how the vents are designed) - and if it does, a kitchen towel is all you need. The settings are interesting. Wok-cooking is generally very fast. You prep EVERYTHING beforehand, because a difference of seconds can affect the result. I assume the wattage effects the rate at which the set temp is achieved/reactions to the programmed stages. It allows you to replicate the very delicate nature of a wok burner, but there isn't a concise way to explain it. They have the right idea, but unless there's something in the instruction booklet, they did a poor job of deploying it. Not to mention the power savings vs an electric range. I'm slightly concerned that the outlet interface isn't a 3-prong though, especially with the different wattage settings, that seems a little unsafe. Would have preferred to see a grounded plug. That and the price tag... at least it comes with a free wok? Pretty sure that IKEA induction top didn't come with cookware. It's neat. I want to like it. I want to play with one. But I don't have $200 so I just get to be kinda jelly. P.S.: I would be more than happy to offer you more precise thoughts, simple things to try with it, techniques, and some basic recipes to practice with. You did purchase a tool you are unfamiliar with, and it is a skill that can be learned realtively quickly. It would be an honor to be part of that process.

[@ZacharyBittner]

Good comment, although he doesn't seem like someone who really cooks to any technical skill based on the comments he made in the video lol

[@BuddyBouncer]

​@@ZacharyBittnerJust a friendly offer to teach him how to wok, so that he can run 😉

[@dacharyzoo]

This wok really doesn't need a ground. It is not the wattage that determines if a ground is needed, it is how the appliance is constructed. For small appliances it is often cheaper to double insulate them so any single fault does not result in a ground fault. Plastic is cheaper than wire.

[@corpsiecorpsie_the_original]

With induction cooking, you have to rely more on your wok shovel and less on the normal flipping with the wok. You can protect induction cooktops by placing heat safe material between the cooktop and the cookware.

[@nickyoung9108]

The moment I see the title, first thought is those exist?! Good. Second thought though is "wok hei": the infusion of the smoky taste into the food from the smoke of the stir frying process. And that would, presumably, require actual fire. Sadly, if that is your preferred taste of food, I don't think induction wok "works". Stir frying yes, "wok hei" no.

[@lee_-_]

16:00 On cleaning carbon steel: The second you’re done cooking, just dump some water in it until boiling, (optionally lightly scrape the remaining stuck bits) and empty it out. Leave the pan off the burner/inductor. After that you can come back to it later with soap, but it will be SO much easier. Bonus round, Seasoning: Oven seasoning doesn’t always get the pan hot enough for it to work properly. It’s amazing how cheap blow torches are though. Cookware maintenance has never been so fun!

[@tactical-daddy]

So a few things the default 20 min timer is a non issue for a wok (not necessarily saying this one is ok) but if it is taking you longer than 20 minutes to stir fry something, you're doing it wrong. As far as dishwasher safe and all, a properly seasoned wok, like cast iron shouldn't be in the dishwasher, you just wipe it out with a damp cloth and that's it.

[@DarinMcGrew]

Yep. When my family cooked holiday meals with a wok, we spent more than an hour cutting, slicing, dicing, and otherwise preparing all the ingredients. But the actual wok use was less than 20 minutes for the entire meal, which included multiple dishes. And seasoned cookware (carbon steel, cast iron, whatever) should never be put in the dishwasher.

[@DSDSDS1235]

A timer being there is not a problem, it defaulting to 20 minutes is also not a problem. The problem is not being able to change that default. It may a good default setting for the use case of making one singular stir fry with carb and protein and all that all in one, and that one course is your whole meal. But that is neither the only nor the primary use case of wok cooking, and to be unable to fit it to the use case of say making multiple sides or making a soup in a wok without interruption is just unnecessary.

[@messyhair42]

I did not expect to be greeted by the prying eyes of Mr. Delicious today

[@jb31842]

It's Labor Day weekend as I type this. I briefly had the thought: Is this a sign that I should drive to Chicagoland this weekend and get some RAX instead of the chores and errands I was planning on knocking out?

[@douglasbrown4893]

Dickety -Dee!

[@Venture8234]

I guffawed seeing him

[@russellgeisthardt9828]

Someone needs to summon @vlogbrothers

[@billythekid-bestservant1]

I love people using woks. It's so satifying. It also gives you so much space for cooking your food. You won't have to worry about cramped space since you just throw the ingredients into the wok.

[@assero000]

You have no idea how much I appreciate the closed captions For one, it makes it possible to watch in the shower and not miss out on what's going on But also the nifty jokes at the very end!

[@RoamingAdhocrat]

I have the opposite problem. I'm very shortsighted - without glasses the captions are unreadable with the phone more than a handspan from my face. In the shower I can use a bluetooth speaker and listen along while the phone sits safely on a nice dry shelf

[@justinsayin3979]

Alec's hard work on the close captions also makes the machine translations into other languages _much_ better.

[@Sunday_Woodward]

I love how this dude pours all his smug fury and passion into rebutting ‘but sometimes’ comments.

[@wruehl]

As a long time NuWave user the power limit is actually really helpful when you are powering the unit via a solar generator of vehicle based inverter. The power setting simply limits the peak power the unit CAN draw. I love Moka Pot coffee on my induction cooktop, as soon and the coffee goodness starts to flow I set the temp to just over boiling and BAM! Super good espresso every time. Omelets on my induction cooktop? They will bring a tear to the eye, they are that good. For outdoor cooking these things have taken over for me. Thank you for TONS of awesome content.

[@patrickkeller2193]

5:20 another benefit of induction: the plate doesn't need to transfer the heat, so it can be made of heat resistant material, which means it's often even less hot than the bottom of the pot.

[@WrongDemographic]

Bought a cheap induction one-hob unit as an experiment. 2KW, just plugs into a standard socket. Absolutely fantastic bit of kit. Faster and more controllable than my gas hob. And I use a flat bottomed wok on it.

[@supershadic530]

0:52 I’m sorry, I don’t understand the point of the joke.

[@akulkis]

You don't have to be camping to use it.

[@Lyoishi]

One of the big complaints of switching to electric range/stovetops from previous videos is "if there is a power outage I can't cook" and camp stoves are only $30-100 and solve that problem while providing more benefits.

[@supershadic530]

@@Lyoishi I feel like I should’ve been able to put that together, and I feel super stupid now. Thanks!

[@scaraby100]

I was searching for that comment, thanks!

[@jraustralia]

I was lost and thought it was some 'gaslighting' comment.

[@larmondoflairallen4705]

Round bottomed woks, you make the wok-n' world go round....

[@DahVoozel]

And we're off to the races.

[@cougarhunter33]

Get on your rickshaw and ride

[@t_k_o_l]

got an induction cooktop partly because of your recommendation, couldn’t be happier with it. it takes 32 seconds to boil a liter of water (given i use hot running water from the tap, which is like 55-60 Celsius). we never had gas, i used to have a radiant cooktop before, so the temperature control precision is so much better in comparison. p.s. also it really scratches my nerdy itch whenever I think about the way it works with the electrons running about instead of “hot thing make the other thing hot”. thank you Alec

[@MichaelSteeves]

I've got the same car as you, Ioniq 5. After years of wondering if a generator might be a good idea for our infrequent outages, a $100 V2L adaptor will fill that need without all the hassles of a generator.

[@jaymzx0]

And you can plug your induction wok into it.

[@gluttonousmaximus9048]

Too bad this only works in American suburbs where you own a garage. No way it works in the European/Asian apartment complex

[@jamesisaac7684]

​@@gluttonousmaximus9048you think ALL asians live in apartments? Many have their own homes and a place to keep their cars.

[@Richardincancale]

16:20 The temperature steps sound ideal for solder paste soldering of circuit boards, provided they are parabolic in form!

[@velocitasfortis]

The issue you're going to run into with finding an induction-compatible wok that has a place in your kitchen, are the criteria you have. Dishwasher-safe = stainless or aluminum. Stainless is terrible for wok cooking, because it's possibly the stickiest cooking surface in the world, while aluminum obviously can't be used with induction without wrapping it in iron. Woks are thin carbon steel (and yes, quite flimsy, outside of commercial applications), because carbon steel takes a season very well, while the thin sheet metal transfer heat more rapidly than thicker material. Owning a wok is like owning a cast iron skillet - it is what it is because nothing else is the same, and if you want to use it you have to care for it. I have both, and yeah, the care required does limit how often I use them (the wok gets more use, because you can't make certain dishes without one). I can't fault you for your requirements, because I completely understand. However, the they are diametrically-opposed to what a wok is. Woks just require hand-cleaning, same as cast iron.

[@coolbugfacts1234]

Induction with temperature control will make non-stick cookware obsolete. You can set your stainless pan to exactly the right temperature so that it's non-stick. Normally that requires a lot of skill and finesse, but if you can set your pan to exactly 320 F, it will be completely non-stick.

[@tkjho]

I grew up in HK, work needed to maintain a wok is minimal, far far less than what youtube videos lead you to believe. After wokking, my mom just put a cup or 2 of water in the wok and let it sit while having supper. After supper, brush off whatever gravy or bits of burnt food with a bristle brush and dish soap, rinse well, wipe the water off and let it air dry.

[@gluttonousmaximus9048]

@@coolbugfacts1234 Non-stick woks won't be made obsolete by this tech. They CAN be made obsolete by just adding one step to normal stir-frying - pre-heating a small amount of oil and adding cold oil on top

[@dw3403]

Heat the pan before you put your oil in. It doesn't take a lot of time with a stainless pan and induction. If you are using sugar or honey in your marinade. You will get sticking.

[@DSDSDS1235]

ban boo brush to the work for maybe 5 seconds, but it does involve washing away residue under running water

[@silaspc01]

Your subtitles caught every little pun. This kind of attention to detail is very much appreciated. This comment boosts engagement. :)

[@jayceedaily]

My restaurant has been using this type of induction stove for woks for over 2 years. Commercial wok induction can be up to 7000 watts. I love that it does nit heat up the kitchen as much as a traditional burner

[@Reaperman4711]

I really like the induction cookware. I don't cook on induction, but cheap pans get SO much nicer with a thick induction disc inside them. 🍳

[@T3sl4]

Speaking as an engineer who's designed induction systems before -- one of the big downsides of the technology is how local the heating is (but, ironically, also not local enough; it's not like you can weld with it, not so easily like an arcwelder I mean). You get heat where there's coil, and almost nothing where there's nothing. As well, there's also a geometric effect where tight curvature, or counter-direction wires, act to cancel out the magnetic field, which is why the middle of the spiral doesn't heat as much (or they skip putting wire there entirely, specifically because it's not doing much there). To paraphrase Ford -- you can heat anything you want, as long as it's a flat plane. Or, only spherical of given radius. Any other shape... yep, you need a whole different coil, and support/frame/shell. (The power supply will be the same, give or take minor changes to settings, or component values. But despite the complexity, that part isn't actually much cost!) It's a capital investment to support other shapes of things -- or you need an oversized coil, throwing off a big enough magnetic field that can reach any odd shape, and you just accept the uneven heating (closer points heat stronger) and lower efficiency (lots of coil for less pan). In industrial applications, it's great because you're mostly doing thousands (or millions) of one or a few kinds of parts, and that's about it. Downside, it might be a couple ten kilobucks to make a new one for the next sized part in your production lineup, and so on. Of course, that's a one-off coil design, and a production item like a cooker won't be that expensive; but on the other hand, you can only make so many shapes for so many pots and pans before you're overspecializing and costs rise rapidly (which is to say, you simply won't see odd shapes on the cost-restricted consumer market). (For cultural and practical reasons, flat and sphere make the most sense, so, there you have them.)

[@Vegemeister1]

I think I recall reading somewhere that the state-of-the-art induction stoves are going to something like AESA, with a large number of low-ish power drive amps and coils, each with its own load matching feedback and temperature sensor.

[@Owen_loves_Butters]

0:53 The irony of this is that it's no more dangerous than running a standard gas stove indoors. Who thought that would be a good idea??

[@ReneSeckler]

I'd almost say "Damn november is early this year" but that intro was pretty high effort 😁

[@mad1316]

you can also buy "adapters" for non-compatible cookwear (which are basically just metal circles to sit between the cooktop and pan)

[@garethbaus5471]

Those are less efficient and could potentially introduce lag in the heating.

[@electronerd]

​@@garethbaus5471sure, you've basically turned your induction stove into a conventional electric stove at that point

[@erinfinn2273]

Yes, but the option to turn an induction coil into a radiative/resistive adjacent surface, if it is needed, is a good thing. You just need to treat it like one.

[@electronerd]

@@erinfinn2273 oh yeah I agree

[@gregorypalmer661]

We bought one in order to avoid junking/donating our 50 year old Corning Ware. Saved the day and works just fine.

[@wesleyberg686]

At 4:03 you mention that the induction stove works like a wireless charger for a phone!!! My dad just got an induction stove, I am going to run and put my phone on it. I'll report back with how fast it charges.

[@wesleyberg686]

Update: Not good.

[@madbruv]

... hmmm ​@@wesleyberg686

[@dojelnotmyrealname4018]

Yeah that... A wireless charger is meant to charge to 5 volts. Not about 200.

[@nolanthiessen895]

​​@@dojelnotmyrealname4018 what you're saying is its 40x better? Charge my phone in 2 minutes? Great!

[@renakunisaki]

It'll not so much charge as char.

[@mihaiionita3919]

I love your channel and have been watching for a long while. I'd love to see you dive into washing machines and different detergents: solid, liquid, pods, and how to add the detergent (in the tray vs on the laundry directly), various wash programs, etc

[@Karadoxical]

A positive about induction stoves I really love is how much easier it is to maintain the glass tops. I put round silicone baking mats over all my burners and cook on top of those. So even though I cook primarily with heavy cast iron, I don't have a single scratch on my glass top after four years. I also don't get things burned onto the top. I just remove the silicone mat, rinse, done. Love it!

[@superalvin7208]

That’s clever!

[@Stryford1]

We've been using parchment paper on our induction range and it definitely keeps the top from getting scratched and is much easier to clean, but I may have to look into buying silicone baking mats so we don't have to waste paper.

[@Un1234l]

Very very ingenious

[@tomppeli.]

That's actually quite a neat an idea

[@I.C.Weiner]

I wonder how much affect the silicone mat would have on the heating performance and efficiency of the cooktop. Parchment paper would probably be almost unmeasurable but magnetic fields drop power quite quickly with distance.

[@little_britain]

I have a carbon steel wok with a small (7" diameter) flat on the bottom, and it works very well on my induction cooktop.

[@achimhaun2726]

Considering we have 230V at 16A to play with here in the EU, even a 250€ freestanding unit is 1000x better than a gas stove with "wok burner" in the middle

[@logitech4873]

We have 400v 32A too if we really want to get serious :)

[@ImAManMann]

We have that available in the US ... if you wire up your house properly... ie most dryers are 220/240

@@ImAManMann Well, in Germany you have 230V by default, but you also have and 400V three-phase-power for eg the kitchen. So US is 120V/240V, and Germany is 230V / 400V-three-phase-power.

[@oliverer3]

​@@ImAManMann Most kitchens here have a 3-phase 400V 16 or 32A outlet specifically for the oven/cooktop. Gives you a healthy 22kW to play with if you're brave enough.

[@Guysm1l3y]

Nobody cares, yuro.

[@OscelotTheCat]

Oh I know this style of wok. KZbinr Jon Kung uses it regularly. They also did a video comparing it to a newer induction wok, and going over pros and cons from the perspective of a chef if you’re at all curious Alec. As I recall, they brought up a lot of the same points you did. Anyway, neat video! It’s cool seeing more on how it works.

[@codedGiraffe]

6:30 You can actually get an induction heat diffuser plate that allows cookware that doesn’t work on induction to still be able to heat up. You stick the plate between the burner and the cookware and it turns into essentially a traditional electric burner

[@mytimetravellingdog]

I've heard bad things about these. both not great and can damage the hob apparently. I was going to buy one and there were loads of negative reviews with issues with them.

[@feha92]

@@mytimetravellingdog I think it is a question of need. It is an additional thing in an already full kitchen, more energy-inefficient than getting stuff made from the right materials in the first place, an additional burning hazard for your hands (and likely legs as it should be separate and thus possible to knock down), and likely able to scratch the surface it is on (just like the pan). But for people who need to use stuff made of the wrong materials with induction stoves for whatever reason, it is also pretty much the only way to achieve it, and is simpler than actually getting a separate stove for those times. I have no idea how you think it could damage the hob (I assume this is another word for knob?) though. Most induction stoves don't have any hobs, and instead use touch controls. And even if they have a hob, it is located in the user-friendly area well away from the heating zones.

[@jennysquibb7440]

I have had really poor experience with these. They seldom get hot enough and work more like a heat tamer plate used on old gas stoves. They just don’t conduct and re-radiate the heat well enough. I have had better luck putting a cast iron griddle down and putting a pot on that after a long preheat than using an induction interface disk.

[@SkepticalCaveman]

​@@jennysquibb7440there are different designs if the discs. Maybe there are cast iron ones too.

[@reverse_engineered]

I've tried a couple and they were awful. They weren't flat enough to make good contact with the pot or pan - even a pot full of water. The plate got so hot as to blue and warp despite the huge heat sink on top of it. I also had a terrible time trying to find one large enough for a typical dutch oven or frying pan. IIRC they were mostly 9-10" at most and many pots and pans here are 12". I eventually upgraded to a new set of pots and pans that were induction capable and the difference was astounding. I'll never go back. Frying oil within seconds!

[@Stryford1]

We love our induction range. We replaced the gas range with an induction range almost 2 years ago and never once looked back. I'm glad the home builder had installed a 240v outlet in addition to the gas line.

[@glujaz]

I have one issue with these appliances, and it's not even the technology... He mentioned the touch control on the IKEA stuff ? This is a standard in Europe. You can NOT find a stove with real physical buttons, and I HATE that ! I love cooking on induction, but I hate having to use tactile buttons, and it's so sad not to find some with physical buttons... That was my rant, sorry for my caps lock 😂

[@Stryford1]

@@glujaz We got used to ours without the physical buttons. Maybe it's the way they designed the layout that made it easy to use, or maybe it's because our old gas range had both dials and touch buttons (for the oven) so we were already used to it.

[@ntsecrets]

My dad has a flat induction cooktop you can set the temp in deg F with and he loves it and can talk to you for hours about it.

[@slaterpenna2797]

That seems like a great application for induction! One of the big complaints I always see is "what if I break the glass?" That goes out the window with a flat top.

[@mondo_burrito]

Metric is not hard.

[@RobertJarecki]

​@mondo_burrito The only reason we don't use metric, even though many of us know and it *_is_* easier is because the *_Metric Maniacs_* of the world are so pushy and obnoxious.

@@mondo_burrito Celsius is a bit of a silly unit. Kelvin is a bit better, because it has a more proper 0. But honestly, you want to pick a temperature unit, so that the constant k in the universal gas law p*V = n * k * T naturally becomes 1. Ie you'll re-define temperature to be: T := p*V / n. That'll give you unit of Joule / degree-of-freedom (or Joule per mol, perhaps). Of course, either choice would give you an absolutely crazy unit, so you'd probably pick some nice power of ten of that unit.

[@dw3403]

I have that option and have not used it yet. I do have a warning for you though. Do not use a battery operated temperature problem to test your meat while in the pan on the stove top. It screws them up. I learned the hard way. Take the pan off first

[@yesto3rrishuman]

9:37 idk why but the way the shrimp is just flying in the air is killing me 😭😭😭

[@Yania1991]

Induction cookstoves is pairing nicely with portable power stations due to theirs high efficiency. I live in Ukraine, and due to frequent power outages, it helps conserve battery charge in power station for refrigerator and other appliances, and it's a much safer way to cook food in multi-apartment building.