Wok Burners and Gas Stoves are measured universally in either Megajoules (MJ) or British Thermal Units (BTU). These measurements give an indication of how much gas is consumed by the burner and therefore, how much power it produces.
1 Megajoule (MJ) = 947.82 BTU
A standard indoor gas stove has an average of about 7000 BTU, which is only about 7.5MJ so, if you’re frustrated with always stewing food instead of searing, boiling or frying then it may be time to consider a more powerful Portable Gas Stove.
As for a Wok Burner, the idea is to have the temperature hot enough so that your food will heat up as soon as it hits the pan – that means for steaks, it will sear the outside so that it is nice and crispy while leaving the inside tender and juicy.
To achieve this effect, restaurants have Burners which range from 21MJ (20,000 BTU) to about 63MJ (60,000 BTU) and even higher for restaurants which serve specialty cuisines such as Asian food including Thai, Chinese and Vietnamese.
How many BTUs are in a home gas stove? A home stove has, on average, about 7000 BTUs per burner. Some burners are lower, designed for simmering and low-heat cooking and only put out 3000 to 5000 BTUs. There may be one very large burner on a range that goes up to 12,000 BTUs.