Thinking about getting a Matador

Foodkid

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  1. Stampede
Well, I am wanting to try Wok cooking. I looked up Wok burners on Amazone and soon realized I would have to buy a SS table to put it on for a total cost of about 300 dollars. So I took a look at the matador and it looks like a really good option. Don't know if it gets hot enough but I would be interested to hear from you all your thoughts and advice
 
The Matador is a fun cooker, but It is not a great wok cooker. Not enough heat, as the Matador has a 18k BTU burner and dedicated wok cookers are in the 160k BTU range. Also the burners are larger in diameter than a dedicated wok cooker, which is why the 60k BTU Turkey fryer burners are not good at wok cooking either.

It’s most comparable to a paella pan, even down to the red handles. I don’t know why recteq advertises it as a wok cooker. Now it will make some decent stir fry dishes, but as an alternative to dedicated wok burners-not even close.

I’m real tempted to try this, but I don’t cook enough wok food to justify the expense. I expect the best ‘wok cooker’ using a recteq grill would be a Bullseye with the deflector removed, and a grate with a round, removable insert to hold the wok (Arteflame makes one example).
 
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I too have looked hard at the Matador but the anemic burner is a real concern. I really like my Bull and was hoping to add another RecTeq product to the patio. We do large family meals several times a year and live in a neighborhood where neighbors meet for cookouts fairly frequently (at least before Covid slowed us down). I just don't know whether the Matador would be up to the task. I'm considering a couple of other brands at this time, but if those of you who own one think otherwise, I'd be happy to reconsider a Matador.
 
I’d say it depends on what you are wanting to cook on it most of the time. I‘ve cooked paella, stir fry, jambalaya, soups, stews, shallow frying, etc. and it’s mostly been a good experience. But if you are wanting to do serious wok cooking, it’s not close to the best choice. One other thing I would be concerned about is how windy your location is. Even though the Matador has a ‘wind shield’, it blows out often when set to a low to medium temp on breezy days.
 
I confess I‘m far from being an expert on cooking on a wok because it’s really not my thing, but I like and follow Kenji Lopez-Alt for all things cooking. He is writing a cookbook on wok cooking and with him being stuck home all last year, he did a lot of testing and cooking in woks on his YouTube channel. He also wrote this article on his tests for Serious Eats. Well worth checking out his research.
 
I confess I‘m far from being an expert on cooking on a wok because it’s really not my thing, but I like and follow Kenji Lopez-Alt for all things cooking. He is writing a cookbook on wok cooking and with him being stuck home all last year, he did a lot of testing and cooking in woks on his YouTube channel. He also wrote this article on his tests for Serious Eats. Well worth checking out his research.
Thanks, Greg, I will definitely check out Kenji. Since this will be a new endeavor for me I need all the help I can get
 
Sorry.. please don't do it. Spend your $$ on a better unit. If mine were not included with my Bull at the Black Friday deal I would have sent it back. I could not even brown ribeye tips. I have made some good breakfast tho.
 
Greg, then wind would also be another problem. Oklahoma is in the list of the top 10 most windy states.
I agree. I use the Matador pan mostly in the Bullseye for the same reason, even though most of the time we don’t have unusually strong wind.
 
Now that's a Matador:
download.jpg
 
Used the matador for the first time yesterday for a seafood boil. It worked great and the burner had plenty of heat
Post pictures next time! I love seeing pictures of people cooking on recteq’s less popular (Matador and Wyldside) grills.
 
Will do we did fajitas last night (didn’t take any pictures though) and they turned out great. It is extremely easy to use and clean up
 

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