Various kitchen appliances and equipment enhance your cooking experience and help you explore your culinary skills. Modern cooking equipment like the glass stovetop offers the ideal design and functionality balance. But can you use a wok on a glass-top stove?
With a unique design and efficient heat distribution, woks can be used on glass-top stoves. Although woks come in different materials, cast iron works best because it prevents scratching. However, you must use a wok ring when cooking with a round-bottomed wok on a glass stovetop.
Woks allow you to stir fry dishes quickly. Their wide brim and large size allow food to cook evenly, even at very high temperatures. There are different wok shapes, sizes, and materials on the market. The flat-bottomed wok’s flat surface stays in complete contact with the glass-top stove.
Is a Wok Safe to Use on Glass Stovetops?
Yes. Woks are safe for cooking on a glass-top stove. Woks are among the flashier kitchen utensils. These multifunctional pieces of cookware allow use in a wide range of cooking techniques, including:
- Stir-frying
- Pan-frying
- Deep frying
- Steaming
- Poaching
- Braising
- Boiling
- Stewing
- Searing
Most woks are made from carbon steel or cast iron. Carbon steel woks often skid on the smooth glass top surface, making them hard to use. But cast iron woks work well because they are heavy and stable.
Glass stovetops feature a mixture of ceramic and glass, making the surfaces smooth and easy to wipe. However, they are more fragile than gas stoves and electric coils. Nevertheless, these cooking appliances can handle extreme temperature changes without shattering or cracking.
Although they are resistant to heat, glass stovetops can’t withstand heavy impact. For example, dropping a wok on an electric glass-top stove may break the surface. Likewise, dragging the wok or wok ring across the stovetop surface will risk scratching the smooth glass surface.
What are the Different Types of Glass Stove Tops?
Glass stove tops are cooktops with smooth surfaces made from tempered ceramic glass. While you may find all glass cooktops bundled together on the same sales floor, there are different options to choose from:
- Radiant glass stovetops: These cooktops use heated metal coils beneath a ceramic glass sheet to deliver heat.
- Halogen glass stovetops: Halogen models generate heat using halogen bulbs.
- Semi–halogen glass stovetops: These hybrid stovetops use a combination of radiant metal coils and halogen bulbs.
- Induction glass-top stoves: Induction models use magnets that interact with the metal on your cooking pans to generate heat.
Although they cook similarly and offer similar conveniences, there are minor practical differences between the first three glass stovetop designs.
For example, halogen bulbs light up immediately, letting you know when the cooktop is on. On the other hand, its heating elements cool faster than radiant models.
Induction Cooktops
Induction cooktops (on Amazon) use innovative technology that involves interaction between magnets and metal to heat the pan directly. When you place a compatible pot on the induction stovetop, a magnetic field creates an electric current inside the cookware, transforming the pan into a burner or heater.
These cooktops produce fast rise and fall temperatures so that food will heat up faster, and the cooktop cools off quickly after removing the pan from the surface.
Glass-Ceramic Stovetops
Glass-ceramic cooktops often use radiant heating coils or infrared halogen lamps to provide heat. This unique design allows the stovetop surface to heat up while keeping the adjacent surface cool because of limited heat conduction from the material.
If you love cooking lots of rice or pasta, electric cooktops effectively direct heat to the bottom of the pot, helping you get to a boil quickly.
These kitchen appliances come in various sizes to match your need. Choose from different configurations, including two, four, and five-burner designs for added convenience.
There is no significant difference between ceramic and glass stovetops. While they may have various brand names, flat stovetops are usually made from a blend of ceramic and glass.
If you are wondering which types of cookware work best on a glass-top stove, these versatile appliances use varying materials such as aluminum, stainless steel, titanium, and copper.
Round vs. Flat-Bottomed Woks: Which is Best?
Although woks are traditionally dome-shaped metal pots, they have evolved into pots with flat or round bottoms.
Flat-bottomed pots are versatile because they support use on virtually any type of cooktop, including glass ones. Conversely, round bottom woks (on Amazon) are still popular because of their high heat threshold.
For maximum heat distribution, consider using a flat-bottomed cast iron wok (on Amazon)on your glass stovetop. Its flat bottom design allows uniform contact with the burner.
Round-bottomed woks need a wok ring for use on a glass cooktop. The wok ring leaves ample space between the wok and the cooktop, preventing scratching.
However, if you use the round-bottomed woks on a flat cooktop, they are extremely unstable and can skid or tilt, causing severe burns.
Safety Tips for Cooking with a Glass Stovetop
With a sleek and modern appearance, glass stovetops are popular among homeowners. In addition, these appliances are easy to clean using glass cooktop cleaning kits (on Amazon).
However, it would be best to take extra caution when cleaning your glass stovetop after cooking. The glass cooktop may still be extremely hot, even after the redness of the heating elements fades away.
Exercise caution when using enamel or painted pots since they could melt and stick to the cooktop surface after boiling dry.
Using a Wok
Below are some valuable tips for using a wok on a glass-top stove:
- Choose the right burner for the wok.
- Place your wok on the glass top surface before turning the stovetop on.
- Preheat the wok on slow heat.
- Increase the temperature gradually.
- Wait for the wok to cook entirely while on the burner after cooking.
What Not to Do
Avoid the following common mistakes when using a glass-top stove:
- Avoid using a cast-iron wok on a glass-top stove because cast iron’s underside is rough, so that any movement will cause scratches in the glass.
- Cooking equipment such as round-edged pans and skillets is unsteady and challenging to use. Avoid using them if you can to lessen the likelihood of a spill on the stove’s glass top.
- Avoid using abrasive cleansers or rough materials like metal scouring pads when cleaning the cooktop surface because they can scratch the smooth surface. Instead, using a gentle cloth or sponge with a cleaning solution designed for glass would be best.
- Never drag the wok across the glass surface, no matter how heavy it is, because this will cause scratches on the smooth surface.
- Don’t use the glass cooktop as a surface to cool off hot bakeware.
- Clean sugary substance spills immediately to avoid discoloration or staining.
To Finish
Woks can safely be used on glass stovetops by following the tips above. Taking extra caution when cleaning will preserve the integrity of your countertop glass. If you don’t own a glass-top stove, consider buying one because of its sleek form and many advantages.
A glass stove top will improve the aesthetic appeal of your kitchen. Using a wok on a glass-top stove can be challenging, but it’s not impossible if you follow the advice in this article.