Induction will work for stirfry, and I read that many Asian cooks & homes have switched to induction for stirfrying. Induction is better than a non-pro gas cooktop because you can get more BTUs to the pan. The pan you use is important. Traditional round-bottom ones won't work unless you get a concave induction burner or pricey attachment like Gaggenau offers. Cooks Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen recommends a saute style pan for stirfry rather than a flat bottomed wok. We have a Gaggenau induction cooktop and a pro gas range (DCS), and our induction burner gives us at least 31,000 BTU, compared to 17,500 BTU from our highest gas burner. We chose not to get the Gagg wok & attachment. We use cast iron pans, stainless steel saute pans, enamel on steel, and also a steel flat-bottomed wok pan on the induction cooktop.

yep made that last night. you have a lot of power in the induction--you'll need a good hood to go with it. the induction is great for kids--there's a lock as well as need to have pan on the burner and need to figure out that buttons are not pressure operated but heat operated--means that the kids need to ask me to turn it on. i don't think you'd be disappointed with induction.

Well, I hope induction works, because I have a recently-arrived Cooktek built-in induction wok (concave) cooktop with companion wok waiting for our anticipated kitchen reconstruction.

Factoids I couldn't find on Cooktek's website follow for those interested. (Other dimensions are given in the available literature.)

Wok outside diameter: 16-5/16 inches
Wok inside cavity depth: ~ 4-1/8 inches
Wok is highly polished on the outside and turned (brushed look) on the inside.

Hob cavity diameter: ~ 12 inches
Hob cavity depth: ~ 2 inches
Airflow required (see note) 70 cfm
Specified max ambient: 50C (122F)

Note: I followed up the airflow spec with Cooktek. Cooktek would like the maximum intake air temperature to be 40C (104F). The unit draws air from and rejects air to the inside of the cabinet it is mounted in, so sooner or later this air has to be replaced.

For brief cooking, as opposed to commercial cooking, one may be able to get away with merely circulating the cabinet's air volume, depending on ambient temperature in the cabinet. Better, I think, is adapting the cabinet space to fit an intake or exhaust fan controlled by a thermostat, or indirectly controlled by the fan circuit used for the ventilation hood that wok cooking demands. (In the latter case, care would have to be taken to use a method that avoids violating any UL listings that are involved.) I'll probably use the thermostat approach because my hood will serve two different cooktops.

kas

I hope you bought the most powerful Cooktek drop-in wok burner. It is 3,500 watts in either drop-in or freestanding.
Sounds like a nice purchase to me. I bought a GE Monogram 36" induction which has a center burner of 3,700, but I have to use a flat-bottomed wok or other pan. It works very well if you don't cook too much at one time. The advantage of the wok burner is it heats up the sides of the wok pan. You can stir fry better in a rounded wok, as you can cook larger quantities without steaming and you can move food to one side and add cornstarch to the sauce in the wok pan bottom for some thickening.
I bought a Cooktek Apogee 3500 watt freestanding flat top burner. I bought it from Instaware and have never used it as it was pointless after I bought the GE Monogram. It is beautiful though and the Apogees are the top of the line. If anyone wants one at a bargain price contact me:-)
Greg

While one burner on the Maytag Gemini has a powerboost to 16,000 BTU, unless you are cooking very small amounts of food, you will mostly end up steaming and cooking rather than stir frying. I read two reviews where children got burnt on the ovens, which indicates to me they have inadequate insulation. I guess bean counters win over safety and quality.

Greg

oskiebabu:

Yes it is the 3600W unit. It supplements a 36-inch Kenmore (neé Electrolux) 5 hob induction cooktop to be used for "normal" cooking. But I won't be able to report on these as cooking instruments for a while.

kas