this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2023
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I’ve not used one myself but my workplace cafeteria occasionally does made-to-order wok lunches where they pull out induction woks where the induction surface is parabolic so the wok can have the proper wok shape (not a flat bottom). When they crank the heat up, it’s clear from the immediate sizzling that the heat comes fast enough.
I'm more worried with the heat not dissipating fast enough. One nice thing with thin woks is that when you cut the fire food stops cooking almost instantly. That's the main reason why I haven't switched to induction yet, as everybody repeats it needs thick cookware.
Well that and the power cuts.
The induction woks are separate from the cooktop, so if cutting the power were too slow, you can instantly lift the wok off just as you would with gas. Though I don’t imagine that cutting the power would be any slower than cutting the gas.
Yes indeed, but the wok stays hot and continues cooking after you lift it. With thin woks that's not an issue, they have barely any thermal inertia. With thick ones though that's not the same story, food is going to continue cooking for 15 to 30 seconds after you turn off the heat. With my style of cooking that's not desirable.
But maybe my 1mm thick wok would work on induction? Everywhere I read it works better with thick pans, but does this means it doesn't work at all with a thin one, or it's just a bit less efficient?
I don’t have the answer to that. I don’t recall how thick the induction woks were at the cafeteria but I recall how clean they were (not seasoned), which implies they were perhaps stainless steel. I have a thin curved stainless steel wok that I use on a flame. It’s non-magnetic but would still theoretically work on an induction surface. I chose stainless so that I could put it in the dishwasher, but IIUC what I give up is that stainless steel does not get as screaming hot as a carbon steel wok. I cannot boil water in it unless I cover it. Not sure if that info helps you but I don’t have direct experience with induction so no idea if a thin carbon steel wok would have issues on induction as a consequence of less material.