The Woks are efficient vessels to make delicious Southeast Asian cuisine. You can easily stir-fry in them and even deep-frying, boiling, and braising is possible. You can find them in every kitchen in China. They have bowl-shape and as a result, they transfer extremely high heat to the food evenly. In turn, the food is cooks faster and tastes amazing. Woks are made of stainless steel, cast iron, carbon steel and aluminum. Now, you even have electric woks that run on electricity. Since woks need to work on extremely high heat, you need to place a wok ring around the burner. This enables the wok to carry on cooking on extremely high flame.
Many times when people buy a new wok and they find this ring in the pack, they are surprised and confused. They have never heard of such a ring and do not know what to do with it. Actually for cooking, it is ok if you do not use this ring at all. The wok by itself cooks very well. The size of the burners determines whether a ring is useful or not and the type of stove to use. If you have a gas range, you will not even need a ring. You need the ring when electric burners are used. Let me explain the instructions you should follow for a wok ring:
Carbon Steel Wok
1. When you have bought your new wok, place it on one of the burners on your stove when the heat is off. If the wok trembles or does not stand by itself, a ring will be required. Mostly the grates of your gas burner are capable of holding the wok firmly. If they do not, then you will have to use the ring. In case of an electric burner, the coils are flat and hence you will need the ring to keep the wok.
2. The wide end of the ring should be pointing upwards.
3. Before you start cooking in your wok, place this ring on top of the burner.
4. Now, place the wok above the ring and ensure that the wok is above the burner. In case the ring is too low or too high, a replacement will be required.
5. In case you have a gas stove, a ring that has open sides is very important. If your kitchen has an electric stove then one with closed sides with air holes around it is required. In case your wok does not come with a ring required in your kitchen, you will have to acquire it.
Electric Stove: You need a ring if you intend to use a wok on an electric burner so that the wok is slightly above the coil. Electric stoves give out lots of heat. In spite of lifting the wok a little over the coil, there will be plenty of heat moving upwards in to the food.
2. Kinds: There are two types of wok rings. One ring has open sides and is made of a thick wire. The other one has small holes around it for venting and is made of enclosed metal. The first kind is perfect for gas burners whereas the latter works well with electric burners. A great compliment to a wok is a wok ring. It is especially useful when the wok does not fit onto the burners or even electric stoves.