Wok help/advice. Carbon Steel vs Stainless vs Cast Iron

Carbon Steel for sure. Go anywhere that uses a wok professionally and you will only find Carbon Steel. It heats fast and hot, rebounds quickly and seasons like cast iron.



I recommend the Pow Wok from Wokshop.
WokShop - different sizes

Also, what size do you have?

What's the difference (cooking wise) in hammered vs non hammered?


Also, what brand do you own?

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Do you own one of these?

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I do. It's about 7 years old now and treats me well. I think it's the largest size, but I could be wrong. There is nothing to go wrong on it since it is all metal and welded. No hardware to mount the handle, no wood to swell/shrink/crack. Just a true work horse like a cast iron skillet.

Just be mindful if you need a round or flat bottom. My range has a wok holder built in, so round is best. I use mine all the time. I've fried in it, done lots of stir-frys, and it is my preferred vessel for heating tortillas.

Not sure of the thickness, but it's pretty thin. I'd take a wild guess and say 14 gauge or so. I think that allows it to heat up and rebound quickly.

Yep. A good wok , carbon steel, can be had for cheap.

Even with gas, most stoves will require a flat bottom wok. The aftermarket wok ring puts the pan too high from the flame. A few stoves have removable grates with a round base, allowing the wok to sit directly on the flame as it should. (Bluestar is one brand).

I got my carbon steel one at the Asian market on Florida blv. in BR. Costs only about $18. Used it about 4-5 times and can't complain about it.

Round is the traditional shape. It is designed to work with a coal-hole stove....essentially a round opening directly atop a charcoal fire. Immense, focused heat over the entire rounded bottom, even at its center. Modern gas wok stoves have a jet flame or burner providing this concentrated blast of heat at bottom.

On US gas stoves, most burners throw a ring of flame that has a 2-3" dead spot at center. Even using a wok ring, the heat will not focus at the woks bottom....it will be hottest 3-4" from the bottom, slightly up on the sides of the wok. Decidedly not optimum for the way a round bottom wok works....it will cook, but it won't perform they way it should.

If you have this sort of stove with a dead spot at the center of the burner, a flat bottomed pow wok will give better cooking performance. The flat bottom spreads the flame out and heats more evenly. You won't end up with a cold spot at the base with higher heat slightly up the sides, as you would w a round bottom.

Some of the higher end gas stoves still have this dead spot, others do not. Before you buy a stove, make sure you look at the flame shape/distribution. I've seen expensive gas burners with high btu output that still had a huge dead eye right in the middle. Expensive often means fancy finish, not necessarily optimized for real cooking. Today's appliances are sold to be decorative elements in a showplace kitchen, not really workhorse tools.

Grace Youngs books, Breath of a Wok and Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge, are great for anyone looking to understand wok cooking. Also, I bought my wok from the Wok Shop linked above....it is an actual storefront in San Franciscos Chinatown, crammed to the gills with Asian cooking tools. Very friendly proprietor who will help you get what you need, plus a online shop too.