12.5 Inch Carbon Steel Wok For Electric, Induction and Gas Stoves (Lid, Spatula and User Guide Video Included)

I cooked with my new wok today (more on that later). I wanted to share this photo of the new wok beside my trusty 40 year-old family heirloom, which is a handmade hammered steel wok. It has been a workhorse. The hammer marks on my old wok serve to hold food that you want to pull away from the hot middle while you add more ingredients, or reduce a sauce. The hammer marks on this new Souped-up-recipes wok are more pronounced, so should serve the same purpose even better. They are manufactured, not hand- hammered.I followed the seasoning instructions exactly, including washing off the protective wax. I think not all the wax came off in hot soapy water though, as the seasoning oil just wanted to slide off. I made two applications of oil and hour-long bakes in the oven. However, the seasoning process was not really successful.Tonight I cooked kung pao chicken in the new wok. The first ingredient was marinated chicken in a generous amount of oil. The chicken stuck really bad! After cooking the chicken, I paused the recipe to deglaze the pan with some water and a lot of elbow grease. The good news is that I think the wok is ready to be seasoned again, the bad news is that we probably got some of the wax in our food.Bottom line, compared to my trusty old wok, this wok looks to be high quality. The weight is nearly the same, and the flat bottom is a little easier to deal with on the stove. Unless I come back to update this review in case I am not able to get it properly seasoned for nonstick cooking, then you can be sure that this wok is a good buy. It seems very sturdy and should last decades.*Update* After seasoning again, and doing some deep frying, this wok is perfectly seasoned and completely non-stick.*Another update after 10 months* I use this wok at least once per week. I haven't had to re-season even once. It has developed a beautiful patina making it completely nonstick. As soon as I dump the food into a serving dish, I take the hot wok to the sink and rinse with hot water. Everything comes off easily with a few scrapes of the spatula, and a few swipes with a nylon brush. No soap! Back on the hot stove with the burner off for a quick dry while we eat. I couldn't be happier with this wok!

After learning the dangers of nonstick cooking ware I decided to get a steel wok. I read many reviews and finally decided on this one. Tonight I made stir fry and the pan and spoon is delightful. I didn’t preseason as advised. There was a little sticking by the end but with hot water it came right off. The pan is beautiful. I was a little worried that the finish would be a problem because it isn’t smooth, but it worked great.

I've been using my new wok for a few weeks now and thought I'd share my experience. First off, the build quality great – it feels sturdy and well-madeThe design is simple but effective; it has a traditional look with a modern feel, making it a nice addition to my kitchen. Cooking with it has been mostly a pleasure. It heats up quickly and evenly, which has been great for stir fry and fried rice.However, I've noticed that the size and weight can make it slightly cumbersome, especially when handling it full of food. It's not a deal-breaker, but something to consider if you're not used to cooking with heavier cookware.Overall, it's a nice wok. It performs well for beginners, and the easy cleanup is a bonus. Just be ready for a bit of a workout if you're making a meal for the whole family!Update: this wok has become my go to for cooking larger meals and it's never had to be reseasoned. Love it!

The Wok arrived well packaged. It had a distinct manufacturing odor to it. It is NOT hand hammered. It is textured in the manufacturing process. It is sturdy and well built.The wood lid absorbed a lot of the odor and I scrubbed it many times to get rid of the nasty smell to no avail. I put it outside in the sun for a couple of days to bleach the odor out, scrubbed it again, then coated it with a food safe oil made for wooden cutting boards. I don't see how that wooden lid will last very long being really hard to clean the built up grease out of it during cooking. It should have come with a vented tempered glass lid.Update: I scrubbed that wooden lid multipal times. I let the sun bleach it, & added food safe oil and the smell was still there. I have purchased a vented tempered glass lid from Amazon to replace it.I ignored the instructions not to season it. Before installing the handle, I scrubbed it inside and out, with an abrasive scrubbing pad and dish soap 4 times to get rid of the protective oil and get rid of the smell. I soaked it in vinegar inside and out for a few hours to strip what ever seasoning they put on it. Then I heated it up on the burner moving it around to cause ALL the carbon steel to turn blue (look up Youtube video tutorials). Then I used high heat avocado oil to rub in a light coat inside and out. With the oven set at 425 degrees F, I put the Wok in upside down, for 1 hour. Make sure your kitchen is well ventilated. Then I let it cool. I repeated this process 4 times adding oil and wiping away the excess each time to build up the seasoning. After cooling the last time, I gave it a quick rinse. I heated it up on the stove until smoking hot, then let it cool for 60 seconds, then added oil and fried a egg and swirled the egg around the now non-stick Wok easily.With proper seasoning and maintenance this Wok should last a lifetime.