The slowest woks in this test included the models from Craft Wok and Made In, which took upwards of 12 minutes to boil water. What we liked: The Yosukata Black Carbon Steel Wok is a pre-seasoned, stamped wok with a smooth, beautiful blue-black surface. But all of the tested models were brand new with only the four layers of light seasoning that we added. Because it's hand-hammered, there are imperfections in the metal, and the distribution of heat seemed uneven. We also noticed the metal bowl was bent a little bit near the handle, which made the shape more of an oval than a circle.

I love that the wok came with instructions on seasoning, the handle is very sturdy and I was able to follow the directions and season my wok. Tim grew up cooking with a wok, it being one of the first cooking tools he encountered in the kitchen. The combination of both layers allows for sharp frying with little addition of fat and at the same time prevents the meat or other fried food from sticking. Eggs are also mostly liquid, so they tend to seep into the cracks of the imperfect metal surface of a wok. Featuring deep sloped sides the wok allows quick, even, and maximum heat distribution whilst the flat base allows maximum balance and control on the cooker top.

The Made In was perhaps the most egregious example: the eggs were completely stuck to the pan, and the yolks were either broken or overcooked by the time we managed to scrape everything off.

For this test, we stir-fried multiple batches of leafy green vegetables like yu choy and Shanghai baby bok choy in each of the woks. The item may be missing its original packaging, or the original packaging has been opened or is no longer sealed. c) if previous options didn’t help, then unscrew it, twist the handle as hard as you can into the metal sleeve. It is important to thoroughly clean the wok to remove the manufacturer's protective coating (step 1).This model also features a helper handle, which gives added flexibility and stability when handling large quantities of food.

Smithey Carbon Steel Wok: While this was a beautiful, burnished wok, it was quite heavy (3 pounds, 5. They make browning difficult, and it's impossible to get food to stick in place against the wok when you want to clear a surface to cook in the middle. We provide practical information and emotional support when it's most needed, and campaign relentlessly to create a fairer society. Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. We noted that these woks also had the smallest bottom cooking surface in contact with the burner—between four and five-and-a-half inches—which explains why they didn’t conduct heat as easily or react as quickly as other models.You can read more about induction cookware here, and more about how induction works in this article. Most importantly, these models were light enough to flip and tumble food with one hand (the Yosukata was slightly heavier)—an essential skill for keeping food moving through zones of direct heat, steaming, and convection. We and our partners use cookies and similar tech to improve your site experience, show you personalised ads, and learn from your behaviour so we can, for example, recommend products you'll love! After roughly 40 hours of testing, several pounds of fried rice, and smoking out our kitchen almost daily, here are some reliable options for great flat-bottomed, carbon steel woks.