Building an outdoor wok cooker

[Melvang]

So, this spring, I am going to be building a wok cooker. I am planning on using a 50,000 BTU turkey fryer burner for a heat source. I am good with fabrication and plan on using a round bottom carbon steel 14" wok.

My main question, how close to the burner do I want the wok to sit when in the ring?

 

[CraigC]

I just set the wok on my Bayou Classic propane burner and adjust the heat. No need to build anything.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I hace seen large, high carbon steel woks destroyed by too much heat. You will want the wok about 6 inches above the burner to allow the flame to spread. Keep the flame hot enough to get the wok hot, but not hot enough to make the metal glow.

Seeeeya, Chief Longwind of the North

 

[WhateverYouWant]

Just curious, if you're going to the effort of building it, why would you settle for a puny 14 inch (stove top sized) wok? I'd go with at least a 21 incher. The larger area will give you much greater control.

 

[pepperhead212]

Just curious, if you're going to the effort of building it, why would you settle for a puny 14 inch (stove top sized) wok? I'd go with at least a 21 incher. The larger area will give you much greater control.

This is what I was going to suggest - a larger wok, for sure! Though I don't know what the base will be, for the wok to rest in. I have one of those Big Kahuna Burners, with a 65k burner, and I use my 20" wok in it; I had a 24" wok, which I didn't like as much, because it was shallower, and easier to throw stuff out while stir frying, with the lower slope of the sides. The higher heat output does make the cooking better, with the wok becoming almost nonstick. Even the 20k burners of my range don't do that.

 

[Melvang]

Just curious, if you're going to the effort of building it, why would you settle for a puny 14 inch (stove top sized) wok? I'd go with at least a 21 incher. The larger area will give you much greater control.

Mostly, because I have a very small kitchen and will be difficult to find somewhere to store it as it is. Let alone with an 18" or larger. I have a grand total of 5 drawers in my kitchen including the one on the microwave cart.

 

[WhateverYouWant]

Mostly, because I have a very small kitchen and will be difficult to find somewhere to store it

Gotcha. For some reason I envisioned you building this on a cart for the patio or deck. Lots of smoke/steam with stir fry so how will you handle this if it is not under your stovetop hood?

 

[Melvang]

Gotcha. For some reason I envisioned you building this on a cart for the patio or deck. Lots of smoke/steam with stir fry so how will you handle this if it is not under your stovetop hood?

It is going to be for outdoor cooking. I just barely have room to store the pits and pans I have now, let alone trying to find somewhere for an 18"+ wok.

 

[Melvang]

The other reason for the smaller size is because my wife recently had a bariatric sleeve surgery and can only say about 3/4 of a cup of food at a time, so being able to cook larger portion sizes isn't needed.

 

[bbqcoder]

I’m interested in seeing your pictures once you are done. I have a camp stove cart from Tejas Smokers that I use for outdoor wok cooking.

 

[RCJoe]

I was given a turkey fryer less the stock pot. I do some fabrication myself and made a mod with it for my much modified Brinkmann elcheap-o smoker. It was simple but overcame the much too hot output of the burner. Problem was controlling the gas pressure with the tank valve alone.

I found a brass inline needle valve to install in the hose would allow me to more fine fine tune the output so I could smoke at 200 to 225 degrees f and get the results I wanted.

I've actually thought about using one of my Wok's on this heating source and my idea was to fab leg extensions for the burner. Thus it would bring it up to about 37 inches height. (aprox the height of my kitchen range. Thus a more comfortable working height. I would still need a panel on the front of tho shield me from the heat output of the burner. Otherwise being able to adjust the heat with the needle valve and a barely open tank valve would provide a
suitable flame.

Otherwise, more holes may be cut into the Wok Ring to allow the heat to pass thru more rapidly.

Just some thoughts for you.