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

Product Information

Here are the most common materials used in high-quality woks. Hopefully, this will help you choose the best one that suits your cooking needs.

Hand-hammered by experts in Guangzhou, China, these 14-inch pans can perform most basic tasks, including stir-frying, deep-frying, scrambling, and poaching. Though it's more than 4 pounds, one side has a steel helper handle, while the other side's wooden handle won't slip as you're tossing your food. Because it's so large, the weight is spread evenly, and it's surprisingly easy to work with. Though this won't work for a flat electric or induction stove, it will serve you well on a decently strong gas range, as long as you heat it up sufficiently before adding oil. If you could only use a wok for stir-fries, would it be worth it? After all, you can stir fry in a frying pan (sort of). Well, woks are great for other types of high-heat cooking, for example: So, there are the best carbon steel woks in the UK right now. We hope you found the best wok for your kitchen above. Leave your wok on high heat for another five minutes, wherein the wok's color starts to shift with blue tones. 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

The Best Carbon Steel Woks in the UK

The Yosukata carbon steel wok is available in both a flat and round bottom configuration. A traditional round bottom will give you better cooking performance by concentrating heat in the pan’s center and gradually dissipating up the rounded sides. b) unscrew it; put small folded pieces of paper into the holes to tighten the connection. Then screw it in again. The only problem with a round bottom wok is that you need a wok burner or a gas stove to use it. This is where the flat bottom wok comes in. A flat bottom carbon steel wok won’t give you the same concentration of heat in the center, but it allows you to use the pan on any type of cooking surface. Handles & Lids

Steel helper handle will not burn when you stir fry over high heat, also helpful for hanging the wok for storage. Wooden handle has special hygroscopic not slippery surface for tight grip when you stir-fry. It’s rare to find woks smaller than 10-inches. For one, a 10-inch wok is too small to use on a standard wok burner, and it doesn’t have enough room to properly toss and spread ingredients in the pan. If you only cook for one or two people, you could get by with this small size, but even then I would go up to a 12 or 14-inch model. It also comes in three sizes for those planning to get a chef's set. The only downside is that it is not suitable for all stovetops, mainly for electric, gas, and glass-ceramic stovetops. Buyers should also note its limited warranty. Who Should Buy It

Helen Chen's Asian Kitchen Flat Bottom Carbon Steel Wok: This spun wok performed well in testing, but its durability is suspect. The wooden handle screws into a riveted base, so there are a couple points of failure over repeated use. In fact, by the end of testing I could feel the handle start to loosen and the rivets seemed to be warping slightly. Additionally, the wooden helper handle is not removable, so it’s difficult to season this wok in the oven without burning and ruining the handle. Wash the wok in hot water with a small amount of liquid detergent and a scrubber (such as a stainless steel sponge or pad). Ensure that no protective oil is left on the wok. The best is to use hot water (and scrub spots with any oil left). 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 was Ariane's favorite wok: "It was the perfect combination of light enough to work with but strong enough to sear really well," she explains. That said, she found the round bottom awkward to work with and had trouble positioning the stabilizing it on her range, even using a wok ring. The Yosukata wok comes with an initial seasoning layer, but the manufacturer recommends seasoning again before you begin cooking. The wok comes with an instruction manual that covers their seasoning process in detail, which will help you get started on the right foot.

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

Directly across from the primary handle is a welded helper loop that provides excellent support for moving around the kitchen or as a hanging hook for storage. Dry with a paper towel and heat the wok over high heat until all the moisture has evaporated. Let it cool. Round-bottom woks can be used on gas or electric, and are made more straightforward if you add a wok ring, but the ring can put enough distance between the heat source and the wok to impede the fast, high-heat cooking that woks are known for being able to provide. Stainless steel woks are much easier to clean than carbon steel. Carbon steel has to be carefully wiped out using gentle cleaning utensils, whereas stainless steel can just be thrown in the dishwasher if you really want to.