Craft Wok Traditional Hand Hammered Carbon Steel Pow Wok with Wooden and Steel Helper Handle (14 Inch, Round Bottom)/731W88

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Carbon steel is incredibly lightweight, and as a result, carbon steel woks can easily be some of the cheapest available on the market. This carbon steel wok was made with tradition incorporated in its design, thus the absence of a rubber grip. Traditional woks with no grip usually require a towel or cloth when holding to avoid too much heat transfer. Nonetheless, this wok is value for money and comes in three different sizes, providing users a variety of options for their kitchen needs. Who Should Buy It What We Don't Love: There's a learning curve to seasoning and maintaining it, some say the round bottom is better for gas ranges FoodyLab's wok features traditional and modern touches in one product. With an authentic rounded and hand-hammered design, this is one of the best carbon steel woks that come with a ring to help steady and support it on your stovetop. Although both alloys are made with a combination of carbon and iron, they couldn’t be more different thanks to the difference in carbon content.

One of the most common refrains among reviewers is that this Joyce Chen wok takes a lot of work to season and maintain, especially if you want to avoid rusting. There's a stovetop method and an oven method that you can look up online, and several users say that the latter is easier and more effective. Make sure to dry the wok immediately after cleaning and keep it oiled to help with longevity—as you would with any good-quality wok. If you don’t have a wok burner or wok ring, round bottom woks can be unstable. This can lead to spills and possible burns. If you don’t have a stable ring to set your carbon steel wok on, I would avoid cooking with large amounts of liquid or oil, which can cause the most damage if sloshed over the sides. Maintenance Of course, if it were 100% iron, it would be a cast-iron creation. Cast iron, as anyone with a cast iron skillet, will know, is pretty brittle. You only have to look at cast iron in the wrong way, and it can break.This 14-inch wok is flat-bottomed, so it'll sit more sturdily on your range than a round-bottomed wok, and it's usable on electric as well as gas. Just note that there are a few users who say that the round-bottomed version sits better on their gas range. Today, carbon fibre production has been improved so much so that you won’t find many impurities in a carbon steel wok.

Carbon steel cookware is very popular with pros, but there isn’t much carbon steel in home kitchens. Why is this? Why do the pros love carbon steel and yet it never rarely gets mentioned in the home cooking world? In two very demanding kitchens, I have seen the metal on this model bend or tear. In both instances, the failure occurred at the welded joint, where the handle fastened to the wok’s base. I’ll emphasize that: on both occasions, the wok was severely over-filled and then lifted. And this was after several hours of continuous harsh cooking. You’re incredibly unlikely to encounter a similar circumstance at home. After that on the list of preferred heat sources, is a powerful gas range. This will give you the option of using a flat or round bottom carbon steel wok and you’ll never have to worry about inclement weather. If you go with the round bottom option, adding an inexpensive wok ring will make your cooking experience better and safer. Apart from the carbon steel wok, other types of woks include stainless steel and cast iron woks. They all have one factor in common - highly resistant and conducive to high heat temperatures while cooking. 3. Do all woks need to be seasoned?

Craft Wok 731W88 Round Bottom Commercial Grade Wok, 14-Inch

We aren’t saying you’ll use your new wok every day, but mine certainly get used a lot for loads of different tasks. If you have a gas stove or a dedicated wok burner, a round bottom is the way to go. But, for anyone with electric stoves (induction included), the flat bottom option still offers impressive cooking performance.