1,097
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #8,880 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★★★★★
Best wok you can find in US for electric range
To preface, I cook asian meals everyday and stir-fry at least two dishes a day. I've been through 3 woks the past 3 years. Carbon steel which rusted if you soaked it or didnt dry it immediately. I could not season it well at all with a flat top electric range. Tossed that out and decided to go with non-stick. Non-stick worked well until stuff stuck or burned to it. Then it was goodbye. Bought a second of the same kind trying to be more careful but the same thing happened. I decided to go with stainless steel because no matter how much it sticks, you can always get it out with Bar Keepers Friend, soaking or as a last resort; steel wool.
Read all the reviews before getting it and noticed a lot say it does not heat up well enough, it sticks, it doesn't clean well, the lid is too heavy and the wok is too light, and to only use it on medium low heat to avoid burned or stuck food. I tried it on medium low heat and it had so little heat that I could touch the sides of the pan and it wast even warm to the touch. Stir-fry meals came out soggy. I finally decided to use it on high heat, which is how stir-fry is supposed to be cooked at and everything worked great. Nothing stuck.
Keep in mind, with stir-fry, you are supposed to be cooking at blazing hot temperatures in very little time. Often a dish is cooked less than 5 minutes. From my experience with this wok/stir-fry pan, those that mention burnt food are not cooking stir-fry at the speed it should be done and are not stirring as often as they should. A stir-fry should never be left alone and always tossed around until it is done cooking.
Whatever leftover food stains on the wok can be worked out with some soaking and Bar Keepers Friend. BKF also removes the rainbow stains and hard water stains. I do not use the lid. It is way too heavy and you don't need it with stir-fry. As for the wok being too light, that's generally how it should be as the method used during stir-fry is to lift the wok up with one hand and dish/scrape the food onto a place with the other. If it was too heavy, you wouldn't be able to do this.
In summary, when using this wok:
1. Use it on high heat
2. Add oil, wait for it to heat up
3. Add food. Usually it goes onions/garlic/ginger first, then meat/vegetables, then sauces
5. Babysit the dish with constant tossing. If you must simmer, lower the heat. If you want a thicker sauce, add corn starch and water mixture. Babysit, babysit, babysit.
6. Dish out onto plate
7. Soak wok in water, immerse fully
8. If there's still food stains, use Bar Keepers Friend
I'm happy with this purchase. It is definitely a good investment as are most stainless steel cookware.
May 2012 · Home and Kitchen · verified purchase