What's the Best Wok Setup for a Weber Genesis?

[GastonC]

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to figure out the best possible wok setup for my Weber Genesis E-435.

I ordered the Weber cast iron wok, but I haven’t tried it yet because I’m wondering if I should return it and go for a traditional carbon steel wok like the one from Yosukata. The main difference I see is that the cast iron wok can be preheated to really high temperatures, which is great, but it also takes a long time to cool down if I need to lower the heat. Plus, it’s heavy and not ideal for tossing food—it’s more for leaving it in place and stirring with spatulas. That said, it would be easy to open and close the lid with it.

On the other hand, a traditional wok like the Yosukata offers more versatility, but I’m concerned that the Genesis burners might not be powerful enough to reach proper wok temperatures or may cool down quickly once food is added. One idea I had was to remove one or even the three heat deflectors under the wok to boost direct heat, but I’m not sure if that’s safe or could damage the grill in the long run. Maybe food splatter could end up clogging the burners?

Also worth noting: with a traditional wok, I probably wouldn’t be able to close the lid properly because of the wooden handle, also the posibility of the fire catching the handle worries me.

What do you guys think is the best setup on a Genesis? I don't want to buy a separate burner. Would you stick with the Weber wok or go for the Yosukata? How is your setup on the gas grill?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[Jonas-Switzerland]

IMO a cast iron pan works better on a gas grill. But I haven't tried it.

So a typical gas burner has about 3-4 kW power. A spirit burner tube is in the same ballpark. That's enough to do wok cooks. Typically you cook one serving in a wok. However, if you wanna cook larger servings, you need a larger wok first, and you might be limited with the genesis' clearance. And then there is the problem that your burner tube will be less efficient and heat the wok unevenly.

So depends on your expectations. I do my wok cooks on a 6kW, which is more than enough for 2 servings in general. I am limited by the wok size, not burner output. But if you are used to super strong low to medium pressure burners with 10+kW, you'd be underwhelmed by the genesis.

 

[LMichaels]

I cannot see how a Wok will work with the burner arrangement in the grilling section of a grill. Much better off using the side burner. Wok cooking requires heat concentrated in a small concentric spot whereas a grill burner is designed to spread heat out over a large area. Honestly that GBS system or whatever it's called just looks gimmicky to me