How should heated pan area be evaluated when buying an automatic cooking machine?

To judge heated pan area on an automatic cooking wok, focus on two things: whether heat spreads evenly across the pan base once ingredients drop in, and how fast the temperature recovers after that drop. During a demo, scan the centre, rim and transition zones with an IR gun, log the gap between empty and fully loaded states, and time the recovery. A high empty-pan peak says little about real stir-frying power, so always test with actual dishes. For busy service, repeat these checks under peak load and fold the results into your maintenance schedule.