Today we will tell our readers about such a kitchen device as the WOK burner. Not everyone knows what it is, although many have probably seen it. Let’s find out why almost all modern stoves and hobs, the level of which is above average, are equipped with such a burner, and we’ll also figure out whether there are differences in them and whether these nuances are important in practice.
What is a wok?
So, WOK burner - what is it? To understand this concept, you need to find out the sources of its origin. The word wok is a borrowing from the English language, where it came from Asia, where a wok is a deep frying pan with a convex bottom. This oriental kitchen utensil is the main assistant in preparing traditional Asian cuisine. Such a frying pan was used in this region two thousand years ago, and in very diverse ways. In a wok you can fry food, stew it, steam it and even smoke it.
A frying pan with a convex bottom was heated over an open fire, and the flames covered not only its bottom, but also the side walls. Due to this, food was prepared much faster and using less fat. The modern WOK burner was created by a similar analogy. What it is becomes clear if you look at it in working condition. Such a burner produces not one row of flames, but several (two or three, depending on the model).
Oriental restaurant at home
Asian, or Chinese cuisine as it is commonly called, quickly entered the lives of Europeans and Americans and became firmly established in their diet. And if at first people had to visit themed restaurants to enjoy exotic spicy dishes, now they can cook them themselves. You won’t be able to do this using regular utensils or on a traditional gas or electric stove. Such household appliances are not able to produce the required heating temperature; pieces of food will not fry quickly and evenly enough, and accordingly they will not have the original “oriental” taste.
If the kitchen has a modern hob and the WOK burner is included in its basic configuration, then preparing dishes from oriental cuisine becomes quite possible. In addition, this option on the stove makes it possible to significantly expand culinary possibilities. Even familiar and everyday dishes prepared in new conditions will receive a different, richer taste.
New taste of long-familiar dishes
According to manufacturers, a gas hob with a WOK burner is more functional and easy to use than conventional models. The dual burner produces more heat than the largest express burner, allowing the flame to cover a larger area of the pan. Due to this feature, food is cooked to a higher quality, and its cooking time is reduced on average by 20%.
However, there are several rules that, if followed, will allow you to cook well when using a gas hob with a WOK burner. Following them will help prevent food from burning in the pan, and will also provide an opportunity to diversify home-cooked food, making it tastier and healthier.
First of all, when cooking on a turbo burner, you need to constantly stir the dish in the dish. Also, food should be cut into pieces of equal size. If they are different, then some products may not be cooked, because their heat treatment time is quite short. Frying in a wok on a WOK burner helps to create an appetizing and golden brown crust on meat slices and vegetables quickly and with virtually no oil. This way, the products retain more useful microelements and vitamins; their taste is not distorted or replaced by the tastes of other ingredients; together they complement each other.
Tips for choosing gas hobs
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Today, manufacturers of household and professional kitchen appliances present customers with many innovative ideas, but this does not mean that traditional solutions have forever lost their relevance. A good example is a hob with gas burners. This is a more ergonomic, functional and convenient version of the classic stove, which can be installed separately in any part of the kitchen, or use a dependent control system to connect in parallel with the oven.
Over the years, engineers have improved the design of the burners, developed hobs with a working surface made of metal and glass-ceramics, modernized the interface and the thermal control mechanism, but the operating principle remains the same. The device still uses a gas heating system - its characteristics determine the main pros and cons of this type of household appliance.
Features of selection and operation
If you look at the catalog of a popular manufacturer of household appliances, you will find hundreds of models of hobs for the kitchen: dependent and independent, with electric, gas and combined burners, with surfaces made of glass ceramics, stainless steel and enamel.
All of them, without exception, are functional and practical devices for quick and high-quality preparation of a wide variety of dishes. But how efficient are such devices in operation? The question is relevant, since the cost of servicing household appliances is an acute concern for many buyers.
In terms of financial indicators, gas appliances are ahead of their analogues: they themselves are relatively inexpensive and cheaper to maintain than models with heating elements.
Having sorted out the prices, all that remains is to find out: which gas hob to choose, what to pay attention to first, how to objectively evaluate the characteristics, and correctly weigh the pros and cons?
Read this article to the end and you will get all the answers you need. Our review will cover:
the main types of modern gas burners (multi-circuit crowns and WOK); dimensions, heating power and other key characteristics; types of surface material (glass ceramics, tempered glass, stainless steel, enameled steel); heating control system device (mechanical, sensory); installation rules and connection features (dependent and independent hob).
Concluding the introductory part of the article, I would like to note that despite the fact that models with gas burners are no longer considered advanced and innovative, they are still popular. Especially in a professional environment, where the requirements for the performance of panels are very high.
Over the years, the demand for gas hobs has not decreased, so the range of almost any popular manufacturer of household appliances for the kitchen includes quite a lot of new products from this category. At the end of the article, we will separately consider the features and advantages of the current model range of one of these popular brands - the German brand Korting. You can independently compare the pros and cons of modern technology from Germany.
Types of burners
One of the most important selection criteria, which determines the heating power of a gas hob and the ease of use of cookware of different shapes and sizes. The burner must be designed in such a way that the flames generated from gas combustion heat the largest possible area of the bottom, but do not touch the side walls. To achieve this, modern gas panels are equipped with different types of burners:
multi-level - with two or more concentric flame rings; non-standard shapes - oval, triangular, lattice, with a thick ribbed surface; rotary – change their location, can be used separately and simultaneously; for intense and fast heating.
The characteristics of such modules are specified in the operating instructions. The easiest way to estimate the total power of a gas hob is to use the example of the most common configuration - a panel with 4 burners. Such devices are equipped with: one high-temperature crown with double or triple flame (3-5 kW), two burners for rapid heating of different diameters (1.5-2 kW each), an auxiliary low-power burner of 0.4-1 kW.
The specified configuration is not a standard; popular manufacturers of household appliances offer models of gas hobs with configurations from 2 to 6 burners. For some, modest technical characteristics are enough, while others prefer to install a semi-professional surface in the kitchen with an intense heating mode and a large selection of options. Let's consider the capabilities of modern burners in detail.
Double crown
A universal burner with two concentric flame rings is superior to analogues in power and speed of heat distribution, but still remains economical. Double crown gas cooktops can be used for stewing, roasting, boiling, steaming, smoking and preparing any complex dishes. Heating is distributed both in the center of the bottom and along its edges, so the food will not burn. Adjust the power from 0.4 to 5 kW.
Triple Crown
This is another type of multi-burner - this time with a triple flame ring. This gas burner is designed for cooking dishes on the hob that require maximum heating temperature. A variation of the triple crown is the WOK burner, its advantage is not only the uniform distribution of heat, but on such a surface you can use dishes with a cone-shaped and spherical bottom. Pots and pans of this type are indispensable if you plan to diversify your menu with Asian dishes.
Grill burner
It is a massive cast-iron structure with a ribbed surface or a removable grate burner for frying meat, fish or vegetables. A gas hob with grill is a rare occurrence, but professional cooks will undoubtedly appreciate this modification.
What types of WOK burners are there?
In fact, there are not many varieties of such burners. Therefore, you won’t need to spend a long time figuring out what a WOK burner is. First of all, it is worth distinguishing between them based on the power source of the stove and where this device is installed. Some may be surprised, but a WOK burner can be used not only on a gas stove, but also on an electric one. Their operating principles are radically different.
The burner, which draws its energy from natural gas, is a traditional burner in shape, but a significantly modernized burner. The flame can be located in two or three rows, and there are also nuances in controlling the burning power of the fire.
Now let's figure out what a WOK burner is in electric stoves. Visually, it looks like a small electric stove, the dimensions of which suggest cooking with one wok. But there are also professional household appliances from this category, which we will talk about a little further.
ECH. Express burner
ECH. Description and marking
The name is deciphered quite simply - a cast iron electric burner. Next come three numbers. The first shows the installation size: 145, 180 and 220 millimeters. Then the power of the burner is indicated: 1000, 1500, 2000 or 2600 W. And then not always, but the voltage is indicated: 220 volts.
The burners may be of a different type, but the technical side is important to us.
ECH. Device and principle of operation
Burners of this type have two or three spirals and, accordingly, two or three outlets. Spirals can have the same or different resistance. Thanks to this, the power can be adjusted over a wide range. Here everything depends on the imagination of the manufacturer. Theoretically, with a quick calculation, three heating elements of different resistances can give 10 stages of adjustment, but the switch for such adjustment will be quite complex, so switches with 3 or 6 stages are usually used. The adjustment is carried out by parallel and sequential activation of heating elements.
ECH. Electrical diagram.
The power of the elements may not be the same. Quite often there is a diagram on the underside of the burner in the form of an imprint. However, what you need to know so that you can check all the spirals and determine the scheme (because it may differ from the one proposed, although most often it looks exactly like this). So, if you use a multimeter in dialing mode (or checking resistance) to dial pins 2 and 4, then you will get the highest resistance, because in this chain all three spirals will be connected in series, and with a serial connection, the resistances are summed up. If you close 4 and 3 together, and then 1 and 2 and measure the resistance between these pairs of contacts, you will get the smallest resistance, because all the spirals will be connected in parallel. And in a parallel connection of resistances, the total resistance will be less than the smallest. Accordingly, you can measure the resistance of each spiral:
- No. 1 - contacts 3 and 2
- No. 2 - contacts 3 and 1
- No. 3 - pins 1 and 4
If any of the spirals burns out, then the burner in some positions will not work at all, and in others it will not develop maximum power.
ECH. Interchangeability with other burners.
If you only had two wires connected to your old burner, and not four, then you can install an ECH burner. But the reverse replacement will not work. The fact is that if you only have two wires, then the power control is carried out by a continuously adjustable switch. In such switches, the temperature is controlled by a bimetallic strip. While step switches regulate the temperature by turning on certain spirals of the burner, combining serial and parallel activation of the spirals. To connect the EFC to a continuously adjustable switch, you need to combine contacts 4-3 and 2-1, and then connect two wires to these pairs. As a result, you get a burner that is controlled by a switch using a bimetallic plate. If, on the contrary, you have a step switch, and you are trying to connect a burner with one spiral to it, then in some one position it will work at full power all the time.
ECH. Express burner
There is a variety of ECH burners, which are labeled as express burners. You can identify them by the red circle in the center of the burner. Inside this burner there is a high-power spiral with a built-in thermal relay. Such burners heat up faster, and when they reach maximum mode, the thermal relay turns off the high-power coil, thereby preventing overheating of the burner. The switching circuit is no different from conventional burners. What to choose, regular or express, is up to you. I personally would prefer a regular one, because the fewer connections there are, the lower the risk of breakage.
Let's change things
Those who have the opportunity to install a gas stove in their apartment or house are in a more advantageous position compared to residents of households equipped only with electricity. The range of household appliances available to them (in terms of performance characteristics) is almost limitless.
The question of what a WOK burner is in gas stoves contains the most comprehensive answer. Manufacturers offer consumers many slab options. They differ from each other in the power produced by the burners, the location of the burners and their functionality.
The level of heating of the cookware and its contents depends on the type of flame control system, as well as on how many circuits are contained in the burner. As we already said, there may be two or three. By type of control, it can be a monoburner, which is regulated by one switch, but there are also models of stoves equipped with a WOK burner, where each circuit has an autonomous gas supply system and this indicator can be changed depending on the current need.
Most often, such a burner is located in the center of the hob; sometimes manufacturers deviate from the traditional design and move the WOK burner closer to the left or right side of the panel.
WOK burner on Miele hobs
A specially designed burner is more often found on gas stoves and hobs. The WOK burner can be located either in the center of the working area or in one of the corners. A powerful gas burner simultaneously forms 3 directed flame contours that cover the bottom and walls of the frying pan. This ensures that the dishes are quickly heated to the desired temperature. The hob grate is additionally equipped with metal rings for adjusting the position of the frying pan.
The Miele brand's product range also includes a more elegant solution: the induction WOK hob. There is a special recess on the glass-ceramic surface into which a frying pan is placed (included in the kit). The power of the burner is conveniently adjustable, with 10 heating modes. Like all induction hobs, the surface cools down instantly when switched off. The panel supports safety functions: protective shutdown and residual heat indication.
Power supply
Gas stoves, which produce fire for cooking, are a more traditional technique if we consider it specifically as a source of energy for using a wok - a utensil with a curved bottom. Very often, the hob grate in them is equipped with additional rings that help change the level of the dishes or use pans and pots with a flat bottom. This makes the stove more functional and versatile. The double burner can also be used as a WOK hotplate. Not everyone knows that this is a device for cooking Asian food, using a large burner at their own discretion.
Electric stoves are panels with a specific hole diameter. This fact makes this technique quite unified. There are also professional stoves in which you can change the heating temperature; they provide several operating modes, including turbo heating.
What you need to know when buying a cooker
Working surface
The working surface of the stove on which the burners are located can be enameled, steel, glass-ceramic or tempered glass. Enameled
surfaces are inexpensive, durable, and can have any color in a wide range of colors.
Cleaning enamel from traces of escaped liquid, droplets of fat and other cooking companions is quite labor-intensive; over time, scratches appear on the enamel, which make caring for it even more difficult. In addition, the enamel is not resistant to chipping. Stainless steel
plates are popular - polished or matte.
Although they are easier to clean than enamel, they are not easy to maintain a consistent shine. They may have finger stains. To care for stainless steel, special cleaning products are needed. Glass ceramics
are expensive, but very beautiful and convenient.
The glass-ceramic surface is a panel under which heating elements (ceramic, halogen or induction burners) are placed, as well as residual heat indicators. A unique feature of glass ceramics is the ability to evenly and quickly transfer heat to the work area, and accordingly to the dishes standing on it. This stove has a very durable, perfectly flat and smooth surface; dishes on it will never tip over, and caring for this stove is easy and simple. But for all its advantages, glass ceramics also has a number of disadvantages: with strong boiling, the “escaped” liquid spills over the entire surface and can flow over the sides or fall onto a burner that has not yet cooled down; requires the use of dishes with an absolutely flat and smooth bottom; has low resistance to mechanical damage compared to metal surfaces. It should also be noted gas on glass
, when the cooking surface on which the burners are installed is covered with a layer of glass ceramics or tempered glass. Since there are no heat sources under this layer in such panels, the good thermal conductivity of glass ceramics will not be in demand. Therefore, it is more advisable to pay attention to models with tempered glass, which looks almost the same as glass ceramics, but is somewhat cheaper. Such a stove is easy to clean, looks good, but requires careful handling - if it is scratched, the scratch will be quite noticeable.
Separately about induction
Panels with induction surfaces are a special category of kitchen stoves. They come in regular versions, with a flat heated burner, but there are also models with the WOK system. A distinctive feature of such devices is the principle of their operation. All of them are not compatible with ordinary kitchen utensils; for them it is necessary to select dishes whose bottom is equipped with ferromagnets. In addition, the size of pots and pans must correspond to the diameter of the burner, otherwise the stove will not turn on. During operation of the device, an electromagnetic field is activated, which, using induced eddy currents, heats the dishes.
The cost of such a stove is considerable, especially for those models manufactured by large manufacturers of household appliances (Miele, Sirman, Electrolux). But there are also more budget-friendly stoves, for example the induction burner WOK HJ013-A5XK from the Ukrainian. Inexpensive brands also include such brands as Gefest, Hendi, Saro.
Types of burners in electric cooktops
Hobs powered by the life-giving power of electricity guarantee greater operational safety compared to gas ones. Firstly, during their operation there is no open flame and “blue fuel” is not burned, due to which it is easier to breathe in the kitchen and the risk of gas poisoning when the burner flame goes out is significantly reduced. And secondly, the surfaces of electrical panels are often easier to clean from dirt. All of them are united under one wing by electricity as a heat source, but the heating elements are very diverse.
Cast iron burners
The simplest type of heating elements looks like a “pancake” protruding above the working surface
, under which the electric heater coil is laid. Such burners made of hard and durable cast iron take a long time to heat up and cool down slowly, which makes them less practical in comparison with their electric peers. The main advantage of cast iron burners is their low cost, which is why they are often found on board stoves in the budget segment. The substrate for “pancakes” is usually enameled work surfaces or stainless steel - easy to maintain and quite attractive in appearance.
| Traditional cast iron “pancakes” are gradually becoming a thing of the past. |
In addition to standard cast iron burners, there are two special versions of “pancakes”:
- with a red circle in the center - an express burner with increased power (heats up approximately 1.5 times faster than a regular burner);
- with a white circle in the center - a burner with a built-in temperature sensor (after the water boils, it automatically reduces the heating power).
Over time, cast iron warps and loses its shape when exposed to high temperatures, which prevents cookware from fitting tightly to the surface of the burner. You should also be careful about getting cold water on a heated cast-iron heater - this can cause the “pancake” to crack.
The next stage of evolution in the hierarchy of electric burners is heating elements “under the cover” of a glass-ceramic work surface.
Glass ceramic hobs Bosch PIE 631 FB1E from RUR 29,000. Electrolux IPE 6453 KF from RUR 28,900 Electrolux EHF 96547 XK from RUR 19,299 Bosch PUE 611 FB1E from RUR 26,700 Bosch PXX 695 FC5E from RUR 44,000 Electrolux IPE 6440 KX from 26,100 rub. Bosch PKE 611 D17E from RUR 15,190 Bosch PIB 375 FB1E from RUR 27,100 Electrolux EHF 96547 FK from RUR 19,400 Samsung NZ64H37070K from RUR 19,990 Bosch PUC 631 BB1E from RUR 23,409 Gorenje IT 321 BCSC from RUB 18,150. Electrolux EHH 56240 IK from RUR 21,300 Hansa BHI68312 from RUR 15,300 Krona CORTO 30 BL from RUR 5,790
Hi-Light burners
Burners based on a serpentine-shaped corrugated tape heater have become widespread.
, launched along the perimeter of the outlined zone. Its heating is quite effective and takes only 5-7 seconds. In addition, Hi-Light burners quickly respond to changes in power, adapting to the user-set value in the blink of an eye.
| Two-zone Hi-Light burner - inside view. |
The fly in the ointment is not the most economical energy consumption: all other things being equal, a rapid burner with a working area diameter of 15-18 cm consumes 1-1.5 kW per hour, and the Hi-Light type - 1.5-2 kW.
Hobs with Hi-Light burners
Electrolux EHF 96547 XK from RUR 19,299 Bosch PKE 611 D17E from RUR 15,190 Electrolux EHF 96547 FK from RUR 19,400 Krona CORTO 30 BL from RUR 5,790 Bosch PKE 645 B17E from RUR 15,900 Bosch PKF 645 FP2 from RUR 20,800 Electrolux CPE 6433 KF from RUR 19,800 Gorenje ECT 644 BCSC from RUR 15,590 Beko HIC 64400E from RUR 11,750 Midea MC-H64160 from 10,090 rub. Bosch PKF 645 CA1E from RUR 17,009 Bosch PKF 651 FP1E from RUR 19,989 Bosch PKN 645 B17 from RUR 16,700 Electrolux EHV 56240 AK from RUR 14,870 Hansa BHC36106 from 8,000 rub.
Rapid burners
High-temperature spirals can be seen through the durable glass on this type of cooking surface They heat up and cool down in about 10-15 seconds
. The highest operating efficiency of rapid burners is achieved when heating large cookware.
| Rapid burners are based on a high-temperature spiral. |
The level of energy consumed by a burner is strongly influenced by its size and shape (there are rapid burners with an expandable heating zone, which is useful when cooking dishes in non-standard dishes).
Halogen burners
In the heart of halogen burners there are tubes filled with rarefied vapors of inert gases. When current passes, they emit a bright red glow, the nature of which makes hobs of this kind stand out from the background of other electric relatives. Halogen burners reach their maximum power almost immediately after turning on the stove and they cool down just as quickly.
, reducing the risk of burns when touching heated surfaces of the panel.
| A halogen burner can be easily identified by eye by its characteristic bright glow. |
The halogen type of burners is good in everything except service life - depending on the intensity of use of the stove, it ranges from 2-3 to 7-8 years. Some hob manufacturers extend the life of the halogen burner by implementing separate control of the lamp and heater. Thus, the halogen lamp is turned on only for the heating period, and then until the end of cooking, only the ribbon heating element works.
Induction burners are considered the most progressive today.
Induction burners
The operating principle of heating elements of this type involves the use of magnetic field energy for heating. It is formed by the interaction of an inductance coil and a powerful electric generator installed “under the hood” of the hob. All the energy is transferred directly to the cookware in which cooking takes place - the induction work surface heats the bottom of pots and pans directly, while it itself remains cold
or slightly warm from contact with the cookware (the user will be informed about the residual heat by the corresponding indication).
| The working surface of the induction panel remains cool to the touch, which increases the safety of equipment operation. |
One of the mandatory requirements for induction heating hobs is the use of ferromagnetic cookware with a thick bottom - permanent magnets “stick” to the bottom of such utensils. Paired with ordinary pots inherited from my grandmother, the stove simply will not start working. Also, among the security systems in the assets of induction cooking surfaces, an important mission is performed by the function of blocking the activation of the burners if there are foreign objects on them (a forgotten spoon, towel, etc.).
Many induction hob models now support the BOOSTER intensive heating function.
, the meaning of which is that the power of one burner can be briefly shared with the neighboring one.
Another useful feature is autofocus of the burners
. In this case, it is meant that the heater automatically adjusts to the size of the bottom of the pan, resulting in maximum panel efficiency with minimal energy consumption.
It is important to know!
Induction hobs cannot be installed above ovens, dishwashers, washing machines and other household appliances with metal surfaces.
Induction hobs
Bosch PIE 631 FB1E from RUR 29,000 Electrolux IPE 6453 KF from RUR 28,900 Bosch PUE 611 FB1E from RUR 26,700 Bosch PXX 695 FC5E from RUR 44,000 Electrolux IPE 6440 KX from 26,100 rub. Bosch PIB 375 FB1E from RUR 27,100 Samsung NZ64H37070K from RUR 19,990 Bosch PUC 631 BB1E from RUR 23,409 Gorenje IT 321 BCSC from RUB 18,150. Electrolux EHH 56240 IK from RUR 21,300 Hansa BHI68312 from RUR 15,300 Hansa BHI68302 from RUR 15,232 Bosch PUC 64 RAA5E from RUR 22,712 Electrolux IPES 6451 KF from RUR 33,900 Bosch PVQ 695F C5E from RUR 39,500
In practice, combinations of different types of burners are quite often used. A striking example of such a solution is the Electrolux EHG 96341 FK black panel Price from 31,590 to 34,521 rubles, which combines induction burners with Hi-Light heating elements in one bottle. Also on store shelves there are many models with burner formulas 2 gas + 2 electric and 3 gas + 1 electric.
Delicious dishes and bon appetit!
What cookware is suitable for a stove with a turbo burner?
As we have already said, initially the WOK burner was intended exclusively for frying pans with a convex bottom and high sides. This is a traditional form of wok, a utensil for preparing oriental dishes. However, modern gas stoves equipped with a two- or three-circuit burner can also successfully use ordinary pots and pans.
If you plan to purchase cookware with a convex bottom, then it is worth purchasing rings that will provide the wok with stability during cooking. It also doesn’t hurt to pay attention to what metal it’s made of. It is better if it is cast iron or carbon steel. Meat and eggs can stick to simple stainless steel, but aluminum begins to release toxic substances at very high heating temperatures.
Frying pans for WOK burners differ in the height of the sides and the level of their inclination, as well as in diameter, which can be 15, 30, 40, 50 or 76 cm. If the wok or pan is not the right size for the recessed burner on an electric stove, it will simply “ will sink" in the hole.
Choosing dishes
Traditionally, special deep and wide conical frying pans are used for WOK-stoves. Some manufacturers strive to make the model more functional and adapt it to the European approach to cooking. They equip the grid with auxiliary rings, allowing the use of dishes with a flat bottom. If you value versatility and don’t like to cook with an oriental flair, pay attention to this aspect - take it with additional rings to be able to cook in familiar pans and pots.
Reviews
Kitchen stoves with turbo burners have appeared on sale relatively recently. Over the course of 5-10 years, they managed to acquire both loyal fans and opponents who consider such technology to be unnecessary and a waste of money. Its convenience was appreciated by supporters of a healthy diet, as well as those who like to cook oriental cuisine, because it is simply impossible to do something similar on a regular stove. However, not all burner models produce the power declared by the manufacturer, which has become a cause of disappointment for users.
