Cookaholics Bulletin Board

All,

I'm considering getting a portable butane gas stove for my wok. They make models which go up to 15,000 BTU, which is about twice the output of my 1960's-era apartment stove.

Anyone own/use one of these? Recommendations or cautions? Does it really get hotter than a low-end natural gas home stove?

http://www.amazon.com/Iwatani-000BTU-Po ... B0033BLLYC

omg, I am having exactly the same yearning! I posted on my FB page: "I know it's a little early for Christmas, but 'all I want for Christmas is a high BTU outdoor wok burner'. "

I've actually been conversing with Dave (pepperhead) about this. He bought a Big Kahuna a few years ago (got it at an amazing sale price) and I asked him about it. He is still in love with it. They make a smaller version (the portable Kahuna) that gets up to 65,000 BTUs. He said it takes a while to get used to cooking with all that heat, but he really likes it. You may want to consider looking at them.

Portable Kahuna

Amy

Amy,

Oh, yeah, those are tempting. Also for Paella. However, I live in San Francisco ... cooking outside is not something I can plan on.

How is it you guys make me yearn for things I never knew existed???
Can you even use those things indoors?

Mary

Mary,

These can only be used outdoors. I know I'm crazy wanting one living in a place where we have MAJOR winter, but even in winter our weather can be pretty dry, that is when it's not dumping snow.

I also can see bringing this along when we car camp.

Amy

Both look great. Fuzzy the one you like has great reviews. I rely on reviews when buying most items on amazon.

I bought a new range yesterday and it has a 18,000 output burner so I'm thinking that will be useful. It should be here tomorrow, so I guess I'll find out soon.

Laurie

I have the lower output sterno one (~10000 BTU's) and it works well, though I have my doubts about that 10000 ... I'd be guessing more like 8K. Back when I had an electric stove, I used it for stir frying and some other tasks. Also took it to work for the potluck

Iwatani torches seem highly respected, so if it gets close to their 15K I'd say it would be pretty good.

On the contrary side of this heat fest - I find that I'm moving towards less heat in all of my cooking for the following reasons: better flavor, more control, less energy use, increased tenderness, and more calmness in the kitchen. My true barbecue in my Smoky Mountain Weber is low & slow, my Weber gas barbecue is often off heat and no more than medium for some of the above reasons, skillet cooking is usely on no more than medium, and I rarely broil. Things that need a good boil, however, get the BIG flame!!

I'm just saying . . . maybe it's time for a bottle of wine and some reflection on technique rather than going down the blast furnace path...

- Mr. Reflective

An interesting point, wino. For a while, I was cooking a lot from [url]Robuchon[/url] (and I'll be getting back to him, it is a very interesting book). Although we tend to see French cooking as a of saute over high heat, I was struck by how many recipes there were actually at lower heat, including things like fish, etc. "Gentle" heat. In fact, as a result, I now cook quite a few things a bit quieter, with more delicate flavours.

Wino,

Very zen. But not so effective for wok cooking, which is what I want it for.