Category: Customer Feedbacks

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Rust on Burner

Customer (PF13L160): 

Good morning,  I purchased the PowerFlamer Propane 160, Item# PF13L160.  Over the past year I have noticed corrosion/rust building up from moisture inside the holes of the wok burner head. At this point, only half of the head has flame and that is a dirty yellow flame. I have always kept the wok burner covered but moisture has still managed to get in via humidity etc. I have tried wire brushing and using compressed air to clear the holes but nothing works. It is now less than a year from purchase and it is unusable. Do you have a stainless replacement version or recommend some course of action?

Outdoorstirfry: 

Moisture is one factor to speed up rust build up.   Even our indoor gas range burner holes can be built up with rust and have to be cleaned.   Iron with heat and oxygen tends to rust.  The rust reduces the hole size.  Recently a local customer brought back his burner, similar situation to yours, yellow flame, only ¼ ring has flame.   What we found was that liquid (soup or oil) was poured over the burner and we had to use a wire (similar to the hole size) to clean every hole to restore the flame to satisfactory condition.   Please use appropriate wire or even grinder to remove any hole rust build up.   Wire brush and compressed air are useful after the holes are restored to their proper size. 

In term of other material for burner, we know other material will not last as long as cast iron as burner.  Under intense heat, other material also oxidizes and the oxidation can eventually plug the holes.

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Stability and Cover

Customer (PF13L160/stabilizers/cover): 

What a pleasant surprise to know it’s coming earlier than you first predicted. (You first told me 3-6months.). A quick question I have while I am waiting for stove, regarding blue flame vs yellow flame.  I know we want the flame as blue as possible. So as a general rule, would you say I should just leave maximum air for the bluest flame? Or do you have a recommended air ratio for me?

Outdoorstirfry: 

The stove as shipped has already been adjusted to give blue flame.  However in case, there is a mixing wheel in front of the burner inlet that you can play and adjust. 

Customer: 

I installed the legs as instructed (screws facing inside, inward Bend facing outside). It is still very wobbly and I don’t think these screws are easy to screw in. I do a lot of wok tossing and I’m genuinely afraid it will fall over when I’m cooking and cause major injury…..can you suggest a better solution for me? Also tell me the screw size. I think I’m going to home Depot to get better ones. The ones you provided are hard to screw with my screw driver.

Just used my stove for the first time. I thought I would give you a bit of feedback if that’s all right with you. 

Good: The stove itself works great. The concentrated fire is very powerful. I actually caught grease fire the first time I add oil in wok because I wasn’t aware how hot it gets. That’s something I need to learn. Also absolutely love the pilot light and fire control. Now I can turn fire off and add ingredients , then turn it back on, without feeling rushed.

Need improvement: the legs are fairly stable, I haven’t had accident yet. But still not super confident with it, even with stabilizers. Your stove is advertised as 13″ diameter, but I only measure 11″ inside. So not very big to flip wok against fire-guard like those professional Chinese chef. But you can increase sales for smaller 12″ wok, since that fits perfectly. I bought the cover, that definitely needs improvement. It’s just a basic tarp I can buy from home Depot, doesn’t fit properly and doesn’t look nice.

Overall great product. Communication was great, and you were knowledgeable and fast. I love the Chinese entrepreneur spirit, as I’m Chinese myself. I wish you all the best. Happy holidays.

Outdoorstirfry: 

Thank you for your feedback.  We always want to hear what our customers say on our products.  We are always thinking of how to improve.  A couple points to clarify.  We name our stove 13” by its wok ring adaptor outer diameter.  We understand regular house does not need a restaurant type stove and it will require too big a wok.    Also We purposely do not make the tarp cover down to the ground which will collect dirt and leaves. 

Customer: 

Regarding the cover, what I mean was, it was a bit too big. Perhaps a more fitted smaller one would look more appealing, maybe even with outdoorstirfry logo on it! May I also suggest some clippings for the bottom of cover to secure with the legs. That way on very windy days, the cover won’t fly away. Anyway, that’s just my idea. Hope you find it helpful. Cheers.

Outdoorstirfry: 

Thank you for more information on the cover.  We make the cover for all our stove products.   It is slightly bigger for PowerFlamer propane 160.  We have bigger stove products.   Currently our cover has two versions, one with grummet holes and another with strings at the bottom.   If there are strings on yours, you can use them to strap to the legs of the stove.  If there are only grummet holes, you can come up with a string yourself to tie the grummet holes to the legs of the stove. 

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How can I use my wok to create wok hei?

Customer (PF13LQN120): 

I have a question.  How can I use my wok to create wok hei, when the wok adapter is not secure AT ALL on top of the wind guard.  

Outdoorstirfry: 

The wok adaptor ring is flexible to be oriented to protect the flame come up to burn the hand accessing the wok handle.  It should just sit snuggly on top of the wind guard. 

On Wok-Hei, please read https://outdoorstirfry.com/?s=wok+hei.   I believe if you search wok-hei on internet, you will come up with a lot of sources.

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Question on stove adapter

Customer: 

I was wondering if you have a recommendation for an adapter to fit on the stove opening to make it smaller to accommodate using a 12” frying pan with the stove?

Also, the wind guard included with the stove blocks only one area to shield the heat from the user’s hand. Wouldn’t it be better to have the high side on the entire ring? this would also help with wind guard. 

Outdoorstirfry: 

You can try to sit your 12” pan directly on the stove to see how stable it is.  The wok ring adaptor has ears going inward and downward, it might be able to accommodate your 12” well enough.  

Only ¼ side of the wok ring adaptor has high wall such that flame can still come out through the top.   If we completely close the wok ring with high wall, the wok will close the gap which will push the flame downward.  This is an unintended air flow and is not desirable.

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How to apply the long leg stabilizers

Customer (PF13L160):

For the long leg stabilizers, do you have a picture of what they look like installed? I may add to my order, but I can’t figure out how they work.  https://outdoorstirfry.com/product/long-leg-stabilizer-for-long-leg-stoves/

Outdoorstirfry:

If you go to the “Usage Examples” section on the web page, you will see how they are applied.   A picture is below.

Customer:

do you have a picture as to how the leg stabilizers go on?

Outdoorstirfry:

Pictures of stabilizer usage can be found in our stove installation guide we sent in email during shipping.  On our stabilizer product web page, they are in the  “Usage Examples” section.

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Pilot

Customer (PF13LQN120): 

I just setup the burner but the pilot constantly goes out.  What am I doing wrong? Or is maybe a defective pilot?

Outdoorstirfry: 

Please adjust the pilot flame length to about 1 inch.   It will not stay lit if you allow too much gas going through it.    

Customer: 

Thanks that worked 

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Difference in 160 and 120 PowerFlamer natural gas stoves

Customer (PF13LFN160): 

hi- i’m struggling to find more information on the site about the product i just purchased- which was the natural gas 160 with long legs. can you help me understand the difference between the 160 and the 120 natural gas options? does either model feature a pilot light or electronic ignition? would it be possible to remove the long legs on the model i purchased by unscrewing them? (it looks like they’re removable/adjustable) any help would be appreciated. 

Outdoorstirfry: 

Difference between 160 and 120 natural gas stoves – different in power rating, 160 is for fixed installation where you need to purchase a yellow stainless hose from your local hardware store.  120 goes with a quick connector sets and hose but with reduced power. 

Both stoves have a pilot light which needs manual ignition.  The long legs are detachable.   

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Position of tank and wok support ring

Customer (PF13L160EI): 

I have a question about my newly purchased PowerFlamer Propane 160 (Item# PF13L160EI) with Long Leg Stabilizer: For Long Leg Stoves (Item# TwoLegStabilizers).

Is it ok and safe to place the propane tank below the stove to weight down the leg stabilizer? 

Where should this (see attached picture) be position? Towards the user or opposite side? Is it called a wind guard? 

Outdoorstirfry: 

Every time before ignition, you will turn on the tank.  At that time please be diligent in noticing any leak.  If there is any hissing sound or smell of gas before ignition or opening of stove side valves, a leak check is necessary.  After leak proof, it is OK to place the tank under the stove.   Anyway the tank can’t be far away from the stove.  Isn’t placing it beside the stove the same as underneath?

The wok support ring you are pointing to has ¼ of its perimeter a high up rail.  You should place your wok handle there to prevent burner flame coming out to hurt your hand.

Customer: 

Thank you for the additional information.  Two more question if I may. 🙂 

I think I read in the FAQ that the electric ignition version I have does NOT have a pilot light? I will have to spark to light each time the main burner is turned off? 

To be honest, the electric ignition isn’t very good and I am now using a long nose BBQ lighter instead. If I knew this, I would have ordered the manual version and saved the extra cost for accessories. A pilot light is more useful.  Thank you!

Outdoorstirfry: 

You are right.  The electronic ignition can NOT serve as a pilot flame.  Usually you need a few strikes to get one flame successful.   The first few strikes are to fill up the copper tube with gas.  

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Air fuel mixing for Powerflamer natural stove

Customer (PF13LQN120): 

I can’t see a way to adjust the air mix on the Powerflamer 120 quick connect. There is a galvanized 3/8 pipe the attaches directly to the burner, but no air adjustment. Can you point to the air shutter for me?

Outdoorstirfry: 

For PF13xQN120 natural gas stove, there is no air/fuel mixing wheel.   Individual jet burner on the burner ring mixes themselves.  Do you have soot problem?

Customer: 

Yes, the burners produce a lot of soot on the bottom of the wok.

Outdoorstirfry: 

The jet burners (16 in total) burn cleanly if their holes are not blocked by spider web or things.  So please check if all jet burner center holes plus their side holes (to let air in) are all not blocked by anything.

Then limit the pilot flame length to around 0.5”.   If the pilot flame is allowed to be too long, it will not burn clean and produce soot.  Let us know any update.

Customer: 

Thanks, I will try.  The pilot flame is quite long at fully open.  I’ll limit it and see if that helps.

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Indoor wok cooking?

Customer (PF13L160): 

Hello, I have a question for you.  Of course the PF 160 is my favorite way to cook, but sometimes I can’t cook outdoors (either because of rain, snow, or fire restrictions).   

What is your favorite setup to cook with a wok indoors?  Have you ever tried induction burners? 

I use a regular gas range with a 16,000 BTU burner, a large Wokmon focus ring, a 14” round bottom 2 mm thick carbon steel wok, and sometimes a few blasts from a Bernzomatic TS8000 blow torch.  Even with all this, of course I cannot achieve the same results as the PF 160, but I am striving to get as close as I can for when I have to cook inside.  I have never tried induction burners, but I believe they could be used with a flat-bottom wok, and I’ve also seen some specifically made for woks.  I’ve never tried other wok materials, but I’m curious about aluminum and copper for their thermal conductivity.

I hope you had a great weekend!

 

Outdoorstirfry: 

We advocate outdoor cooking because we don’t like grease building up indoor.   We only use our indoor gas range for boiling style of cooking.  We build a covered corner outdoor that we can cook year round.  

If you are not concerned about indoor grease build up along wall and surface, which we find difficult (if not impossible) to remove and clean, you can use much more powerful source to cook indoor.   Induction cooking to my impression is too slow.   You might prove to me that is not true anymore.