 Cast iron woks are better |
| Review Date: May 13, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Acontius, Florida |
My wife and I love this wok and use it every day. The cast iron is easy to take care of and distributes the heat very well. The feature we really like is the true "wok shape." What I mean is the shape is like a bowl within the wok, but the bottom is flat for resting on our electric stove. (And it sits VERY steadily because of the weight!) This really produces good results with all kinds of stir-frying--no sticking and quickly, evenly cooked dishes.
I have to say that before we were using the Joan Chen carbon steel. I got uncomfortable with the way (even after a year) it kept rusting even when oiled, always leaving a thick residue of oxide on paper towels when we wiped the pan. I figured this was going into our food. The new cast iron wok is just like a cast iron skillet: it really doesn't throw off a lot of oxide when cared for properly.
A few tips: scrub like crazy with good stainless steel or brass before using it the first time, then boil some soapy water in it and repeat. This gets rid of the machine oil used for shipping. (Good instructions are included.)
After the first several uses, rubbing the inside down with oil and then heating the wok in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes will ensure a good start to the seasoning process. From then on, keep the wok from rusting while stored by heating it a little before rubbing it down with oil.
NOTE: I'm ordering another one today, May 3, 2008, for a Chinese friend who had lunch with us and fell in love with the wok. I see other customers have had problems with cracks and figuring out how to remove the shipping oil...I will report back when the new one arrives!
OK! I've now received two of these in great shape (5/6/08). No strange machine oil. Fantastic deal! |
Cast Iron Is Heavy, But Is The Best Cookware. Period.
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| Review Date: March 11, 2006 |
| Reviewer: J. Knight, Atlanta |
This wok is truly great. I've had it for over two years now and it is one of the most used pieces of cookware in my kitchen, even over most of our All-Clad and Calphalon pieces. It is heavy, but it is cast iron, man! It is supposed to be heavy. Well, my wife does not like how heavy it is but she too loves to cook in it. We use it for everything imaginable; stir fry, deep fry, soup, browning...you name it. This is a great buy!
05/2009 - An update. My family have been using this wok for over 5 years now and I can report that it is now a beautiful black, completely nonstick wok and remains one of the most used items in our kitchen for a variety of uses (not just stir-fry). No problems ever with any of the materials and it continues to improve with time. At only 5 years old, this cast iron piece is still just a baby. The only down side, it is still heavy, which does not bother me at all, but my wife still does not care for that, but when she wants to use it I will always get it out for her. In fact, 75% of the time, it stays on the stove-top ready for the next meal as we use this so often, at least every other day. A quick rinse under the hot water faucet while the pan is still hot and a wipe with a paper towel cleans it quickly now. A quick wipe down with a light coat of Pam on a paper towel after cleaning it out and it is protected until next use, and that oil film then adheres to the surface upon the next pre-heat adding to the nonstick properties. Whats not to love? It is a simple thing. |
awesome especially for the price....
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| Review Date: March 13, 2007 |
| Reviewer: ncage, Central IL |
Ok currently i have a joyce chen carbon steel flat bottom wok which i do enjoy. It does get extremely hot but there is only one problem with it...as i start to fill the wok the temperature starts to drop so much sometimes i end up steaming the food instead of searing it (breath of wok) because moisture released from the food does not instantly evaporate but instead collects in the bottom of the wok. I have a high powered gas stove with a 16,000 BTU burner. If you don't know cast iron is one of the best materials if you don't want the heat to be sucked out of your pan by your food. Cast iron does take longer to eat up but once its hot it takes a lot to bring the heat out of it.
Ok i received my wok tonight. I could not wait to cook with it. I did not experience any of the problems that other people had. My wok did not arrive cracked. It was in fine shape. I followed the directions to season the pan. I then removed it from the oven and let it cool before i started cooking with it. I decided to cook thai food. I heated it up and let me tell you this thing was awesome. Unlike the carbon steel wok it didn't loose much of its heat when i added the food. It seared everything perfectly. I loved the shape of the pan too. It was nice and wide. For being recently cured in the oven it was surprisingly non-stick. I can't imagine when the patina develops how wonderful it will be. There are some things you got to be aware of when cooking with this wok
1) its a lot heavier than carbon steel. I did not mind this but some might. I think it had a nice feel to it
2) The temperature difference between the sides/bottom won't be as different as a carbon steel wok so be careful. When i cooked i didn't have any problem with this
3) When you turn off the wok it will retain heat longer than carbon steel so just keep moving the stuff in the wok till it slightly cools down.
So this wok is a steal for the price for $16.00 shipped i have an awesome cooking device. If i had a high power burner like they do in the resteruants (which no home stove can do) i might stick with carbon steel but with a home stove i definitly prefer cast iron. |
heavy and worth it
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| Review Date: October 19, 2006 |
| Reviewer: K. S. Boles, |
I know it's a bit of trouble to use this wok. It is heavy, after all, it's cast iron. Le Creuset and other cookware have a similar construction except they are enameled. You get the same performance and possibility better since the wok becomes more stick-resistant as you go. The downside is the weight. Also, don't crack it by getting it wet when hot.
The advantages are many. It is truly unstoppable. We really enjoy stir fried vegetables cooked with as much heat as our gas stove can put out. The high temperature flavor is called 'wok hay' and is only attained at high temperature. We killed a Calphalon wok's non-stick after a year cooking too high. I wouldn't be this hard on my Le Creuset for fear of harming the finish, either.
If you take care of this wok, it will provide you with many years of use and unparalleled performance. The breaking in process is not that bad. A little bit of frying goes a long way. Just keep water from sitting in it and use soap sparingly. Once the coating has built up, it requires less care than other cookware. |
Best buy in cast iron woks
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| Review Date: October 2, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Mitchel Lidowsky, New Hyde Park, NY |
This wok is great and an incredible bargain. I have a few Lodge Pro Logic pre-seasoned pans that I use regularly. Lodge's pre-seasoned wok however was double the price of this one, so I tried it. I couldn't be more pleased. I have an electric range and cast iron is essential for certain types of cooking. I use this wok for cooking Chinese food. When I first got it, I washed it very thoroughly several times. I then seasoned it two times by simply applying a thin layer of canola oil, inside and out, and placed it upside down over some foil in the oven at 350 for an hour. I let it cool in the ove for a few hours and repeated the process. Voila! A nicely seasoned wok. Although I usually cook in cast iron at low to medium heat, Chinese stir-fry style cooking requires high heat.
I sit the wok on the large electric burner, turn it to high and let it heat up for 5 minutes or so. I have all the ingredients pre-cut, pre-marinated, pre-mixed, etc. I cook the meat/shrimp first with a bit of oil for about 1 minute (or less) and remove. Then I stir-fry the vegetables along with some garlic for about 2 minutes. Add the meat, sauces and corn starch slurry and 30 seconds later it's done.
I've been cooking Chinese food for a long time and this wok is fabulous. It beats any other pan that I've ever tried. I suggest getting a really big wok spatula and spoon so that you can remove the food quickly from the pan. Clean-up is easy with just water and a bit of dish washing liquid. Dry the wok, coat the inside with a little oil, then put it away and it's ready for the next use. I've used mine about 6 times and it's already developed a very nice dark patina at the bottom. |
Super Wok for Cast Iron Lovers
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| Review Date: February 10, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Jennie Kirkpatrick, |
| I am totally thrilled with this cast iron wok. After proper seasoning I find it cooks very well and with each seasoning the slickness of the pan improves. |
EXCELLENT
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| Review Date: August 10, 2007 |
| Reviewer: S. Hamilton, |
Following the advise of others on the web re: cast iron I boiled soapy water in the wok first, scrubbed it with a copper pad to remove any residual machining oil. Lightly treated it with oil and put it in a 250 degree oven for one hour to cure.
Works GREAT, heats quickly, it is very heavy however clean up is a snap and it produces beautiful results on both my gas range and outdoors on the BBQ...PLUS I loved the price and the quality wonderful. In fact, I like this wok so much and have found so many uses for it, other than the obvious preparation of asian food, that I just leave it out on my back burner. |
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