I recall that there was a thread on a similar topic a few years ago that, ultimately, "degenerated" into links to monster propane cookers for tail-gating parties. However, a Google search using this site's URL and your subject wording may wake it from the dead. I question whether having such a unit so close to what appears to be an upper cabinet edge in your picture would meet code. My Cooktek 3.5 kW induction wok unit would fit in that space, I think, and be equivalent to somewhere around 30k BTU/hr heat equivalence. But while it can caramelize meat and have the responsiveness of gas, it won't have the 100k BTU/hr performance of a restaurant wok burner. kas

I love it actually. Really learnt a lot of the fundamentals in cooking. You learn the theory and then you execute it in the kitchen. The best thing I'd say is that you get a lot of diversity and exposure. And the worst thing is probably that culinary school doesn't really fully prepare you for the actual kitchen. There's nothing like working in the industry and learning about it. Actually, I'm more of the proponent of the classical learning method which is practiced mainly overseas in Europe and such; which is through an apprenticeship. BTW, I'm also have a degree in mechanical engineering. Working on a career change. OK, well I have a few more tips that hopefully might help you. Putting out grease fires. Basically never use water. You can place a lid like the other person mentioned to basically suffocate the fire by removing the oxygen. Another method is to sprinkle flour, baking powder, baking soda. Basically that also works by suffocating the fire. ALWAYS remember to turn off the fire as well. Generally, when you sear, saute, or pan-fry. You don't ever want to heat your oil till the point where it smokes. At this point your fat has basically broken down and begin to disintegrate. You'll impart unwanted flavors onto your food. Also, if you continue to heat it long enough, you'll reach the flash point of the oil and it will combust. Bear in mind that it varies for different types of oils. Some oils have flash points very close to the smoking point and some don't. As far as technicality goes, searing basically has very little oil. Just about as much as sauteing goes. Searing however is not a cooking method in itself. It's just a step. Example, you sear a pot roast to seal the juices of the meat inside before braising it in the oven. Pan-fry generally is 1/3 to 1/2 way of the item you're cooking in. Then finally there's deep fry. Temperature is critical whenever you're frying anything. If the oil is too hot, your item will brown before the inside will have a chance to cook. If the oil is too cold, your item will basically soak up all the oil, and you end up with oily and soggy food. You also don't create a good seal on the surface and your juices will leak out. Now as far as types of oils go, peanut oil is the best for deep frying, pan-frying, searing, saute-ing. It's basically an all-around, high smoke-point, neutral flavored oil. Olive oil is not really the best type of oil to use for deep frying. Light pan-frying is OK. Sauteing is OK too. Olive oil is flavored and also have a lower smoking point. Clarified butter is also OK for quick saute-ing (thin food items). Example veal scallopini (where you pound out the veal to thin pieces). If you're unaware of this, clarified is basically butter with the milk solids and whey removed. Heat up the butter gently over the flame. Do not stir it. The milk solids will be at the top, the clarified butter in the middle, and the bottom is whey and water. The milk solids will float to the top when the butter melts. Skim off the milk solids. You will have clarified butter in the middle. The stuff at the bottom is the whey and water. You get about 75% of clarified butter from butter. OK, here's the heads up on BTU/hr ratings etc. There are a few things to keep in mind. Basically the burner element is a heat transfer device. Your pan contacts the burner and is also emitting heat into the environment. You're basically losing heat to the environment. Burner --> Pan --> Environment. The higher BTU/hr rating will allow you to heat the pan up faster and also accommodate for more heat loss. So lets say you have a really thin pan which barely has any thermal mass. You'll have a hard time retaining a high temperature on the pan if your BTU/hr rating is low. Basically thicker pans have more thermal mass. With all other factors being equal, more thermal mass means more heat retained. Now, at the same time, more thermal mass also means it'll take longer to heat up. Also the type of metal comes into play. Copper vs Aluminum vs Stainless Steel. Different metals transfer heat at different rates. So now that you have your pan heated up and it's a good nice and high temperature that you desire. You place a cold piece of meat on it. There's something else that you would have to deal with which is heat recovery. Higher BTU/hr burners will allow you to recover the heat much faster. Also a good heavy gauge pan (like a copper lined pan) will also help because it would have a high thermal mass retaining a lot of the heat. Another factor with good quality pans (generally thicker pans), is that you get even and uniform heating throughout so that you won't have any hot spots. Basically, it's not just one factor (i.e. BTU/hr rating), it's a combination of your pan, technique, etc. BTW, stir fry is done at a really high temperature. It's kind of a spin on sauteing except it's really quick and the temperature is really high. If you've seen it in a restaurant (mainly Chinese cooking I believe), you'll see the burner ring is huge and the wok is basically shaped to contact the flame all over. With the shape of the wok being concaved, I believe there's also a radiant heat effect at play as well concentrating the heat toward the center. I don't know of any residential setup which will allow you to "really cook" on a wok. If you have noticed, stir frys when done right has somewhat of a slight smoky flavor to them. It's hard to explain. It's not so much that it's burnt or like it's a BBQ. It's a distinct smokiness inherent in the high heat cooking. Hopefully this helps =)

Would you have any space to cook outside? We bought a dedicated wok burner created by a Chinese engineer -- you hook it up to propane, it's 70K btus (they go higher, to 137K, iirc; we were just wussy and stuck with that), and talk about wok hay? It's a thrilling thing to cook on the deck with that baby. It has a wind protector, btw. Tonight, because it's rain/snowing, we had to use our 17.5 btu burner inside on our American Range, and I was afraid to turn it up to full high because it was spattering all over the place and there's no protection from the flame as there is with the outdoor burner (which is much safer than the deep frying turkey setup, btw). I'm spoiled. I love our outdoor burner now and only rain/snow will stop me from it :) Just thought I'd offer a (thrilling :)) alternative, if you are willing to do your cooking outside. Here is a link that might be useful: the page with comparisons to other setups

Mains voltage in the UK is 230 Vac (50 Hz). 3200W/230 = 13.9A, rms. There is a bit of ambiguity with respect to the actual volt-amperes of what may be a fairly inductive load and whether this 3200W is the available power for transfer to the pan, or the actual mains load. Given the label I would assume that it is the drawn power. This gets us to the design of UK circuit breakers or even fuses. In the US, they have an actuation time vs. load. Also there is a requirement in our electrical code for not overloading circuits by more than 80%. This leads to my suggestion that the breaker or fuse be 20A, assuming that the wiring is at least 12 AWG between the outlet and the breaker box to allow this size breaker or fuse. (I understand that in the UK, fuses may also be found in the appliance plug, so that should be inspected.) There is also the consideration of in-rush power that the breaker has to tolerate, so operating the unit on a breaker close to its nominal draw risks unnecessary breaker resets. If I lived in the UK, and I didn't have a copy of the necessary code [BSA 666 perhaps? :-) ], I would consult with an electrician.