Got a Thai charcoal cooker

R2Egg2Q · Mar 2, 2013

While picking up a 20" wok at The Wok Shop to use in my XL BGE, I found this Thai charcoal cooker:

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I'd seen a similar cooker earlier in some posts elsewhere by Brethren member Woodmonkey and he recommended them for wok cooking. When I saw this cooker in person I had to get it.

I've been having fun with it and with some different recipes! I tried my 12" wok on it with K briquettes and found the heat a little lacking (even after removing the insert to allow more air in under the Wok):

Experimented using some hanging tender(hanger steak) meat instead of flank (won't do this again - too tender & texture didn't seem right):

Put my 10" CI grate from my Mini BGE onto the cooker & seared the last of the hanging tender:

We enjoyed the grilled hangar steak with the meal:

I've found lump burns hotter in the cooker and have no problems keeping my. 16" wok hot:

Chicken, shallots, fermented black bean sauce, & asparagus:

This was cooked in 2 batches to avoid overloading the wok & combined at the end:

To shut it down & save an unused lump, I put the cooker into the XL BGE and close it up.

The cooker has worked out great so far, especially for some mid-week quick cooks.

Thx for looking!

mbshop · Mar 2, 2013

sure looks interesting. seen them but not in detail.

SmokinAussie · Mar 2, 2013

Hi John, I love it! That is a fantastic find!

Cheers

Bill

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buccaneer · Mar 2, 2013

Great work John...with your skills and taste you are going to have a heap of success with that!:clap2:

ShadowDriver · Mar 2, 2013

That looks like a great piece of kit for cooking but not heating up the kitchen, especially in the summer time (not to mention all the smoke and smells that go along with it)!

FireChief · Mar 2, 2013

Wow, everything looks fantastic! Interesting find, thanks for sharing.

NBBD · Mar 2, 2013

Thanks for sharing this in detail! Drooling over the meat shot

Phubar · Mar 2, 2013

Very nice R2!

HeSmellsLikeSmoke · Mar 2, 2013

I saw that on the wokshop.com website and it looked very interesting. Thanks for the report. I need many more BTUs than I can get on my LP kitchen range top.

Tane has suggested a 32,000 BTU portable wok burner that they carry, but that looks very good too.

realspaazz · Mar 2, 2013

That is cool! I gave up using the wok on my glass top electric stove. Tried the side burner on my gasser, but still not enough heat. That cooker would do wonderfully. I will have to keep my eyes open for one.

John Bowen · Mar 2, 2013

Very interesting - great looking food.

IamMadMan · Mar 2, 2013

Thanks for sharing.....

Interesting cooking device for the hotter days when we move to our outside kitchen.

Woodmonkey · Mar 2, 2013

I have had my Tao for about 2 years and am eggstaticly happy with it. As you have found out they are great for steaks also. Next up tandoori chicken.

chicagokp · Mar 2, 2013

That looks really great! Both the food and cooker.

Ron_L · Mar 2, 2013

Very cool! Where did you find it, and can I ask how much it was?

HeSmellsLikeSmoke · Mar 2, 2013

Ron_L said:
Very cool! Where did you find it, and can I ask how much it was?

http://www.wokshop.com/store/detail.php?show=538

R2Egg2Q · Mar 2, 2013

buccaneer said:
Great work John...with your skills and taste you are going to have a heap of success with that!:clap2:

If I had your skills and knowledge of Asian cooking I'd be cooking on this thing like crazy.

HeSmellsLikeSmoke said:
I saw that on the wokshop.com website and it looked very interesting. Thanks for the report. I need many more BTUs than I can get on my LP kitchen range top.

Tane has suggested a 32,000 BTU portable wok burner that they carry, but that looks very good too.

I never noticed the cooker on wokshop.com but I make occasional trips over to S.F. Chinatown to shop in person so I haven't looked too closely at their website.

realspaazz said:
That is cool! I gave up using the wok on my glass top electric stove. Tried the side burner on my gasser, but still not enough heat. That cooker would do wonderfully. I will have to keep my eyes open for one.

I tried one wok cook on my Weber Summit side burner (only 12,000 BTUs) and it fell way short of the heat I needed.

Woodmonkey said:
I have had my Tao for about 2 years and am eggstaticly happy with it. As you have found out they are great for steaks also. Next up tandoori chicken.

Thanks again for the inspiration on the cooker Richard!

Ron_L said:
Very cool! Where did you find it, and can I ask how much it was?

I picked it up in person at The Wok Shop (wokshop.com) but this looks like the same cooker for only $30 (before shipping): http://www.templeofthai.com/cookware/thai-bbq-stove-6200000562.php

Woodmonkey told me about this place which has other similar cookers: http://importfood.com/dao_cooker.html

Mr Baloo · Mar 2, 2013

Man you guys are costing me some bucks..... Now I have to have one of those..... Couldnt you just use one of those kid sized eggs?

fingerlickin' · Mar 2, 2013

That thing is awesome, the food looks like it came out great. Great photo's too...as usual. :thumb:

R2Egg2Q · Mar 2, 2013

Mr Baloo said:
Man you guys are costing me some bucks..... Now I have to have one of those..... Couldnt you just use one of those kid sized eggs?

I have been using my Mini Egg with a wok but the dome will get in the way of larger woks. A 10" or 12" fits fine on the Mini, maybe up to a 14" (which I don't have). The Thai cooker works great with my 16" wok on less than 1/2 of a Weber chimney of lump (about the same as what I'd burn in the Mini Egg). For larger wok cooks, this is more efficient on lump than loading up my Small or Large BGE.

Got a Thai charcoal cooker

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