LodgeManufacturing Company L9MW Mini Wok Cast Iron, 9", Black

I purchased the Lodge 9-inch Cast Iron Wok a few weeks ago and it has exceeded my expectations in every way! For a smaller wok, it packs a punch — it heats up quickly and retains heat beautifully, making it perfect for stir-fries, sautéed veggies, and even quick one-pan meals. The compact size is great for my smaller stovetop, and it’s surprisingly versatile.One feature I especially love is that cooking with cast iron naturally enriches your food with iron — a huge plus for anyone mindful of their nutritional intake. I’ve noticed that using this wok for leafy greens, beans, and even quick sauces has helped me add more iron to my family’s diet in a natural way.The wok comes pre-seasoned, and with a little extra seasoning and proper care, it’s developed a wonderfully non-stick surface. Cleanup is a breeze.If you’re considering a smaller, efficient, and health-friendly wok, I highly recommend this Lodge 9-inch wok. It’s built to last a lifetime — definitely one of my best kitchen investments!

This wok was easy to clean and it was just the right size I needed. I also liked that the wok came already seasoned for you. The wok also fit the small front burner on my stove perfectly.

This Lodge Manufacturing Company L9MW Mini Wok is perfect for one or two people. It comes pre-seasoned and ready to use. It distributes heat well, is very sturdy, but quite light and easy to use. An excellent value, I would absolutely purchase this mini wok again; five stars from me.

So far so good. I'm loving it for my morning stir fries--putting it directly on top of the largest (gas) stove burner you get it piping hot, and then stir fry your meal. I've used it for 4-5 meals since I got it, including the best fried rice I have yet made (the bar was low, don't worry).It /is/ cast iron, so clean it immediately without soap, and oil after every use. Standard procedure.I find the size to be perfect for single servings for me, as a fairly tall and athletic guy.The bottom does have a flat spot, which traditional woks do not; it doesn't seem to effect my cooking but YMMV. The only downside in the design is I wish it had an actual long handle instead of two loops. I have to use a pair of tongs to steady it if I am directly on the burner. If it's on a grate as in the photo, the weight holds it in place just fine.

This is my third Lodge cast iron product. I am very happy with the 9” wok, as I am with my 8” skillet and my 7 quart dutch oven. Each has its own best use. Why use cast iron? It is durable, of course. (None of my cast iron is enameled.) It is versatile for pan roasting, during which it moves directly from the stove top to the oven. Properly cared for, it is terrifically non-stick and easy to clean.* It is heavy and must be handled with oven mitts, so larger cookware is not ideal for maneuvering while hot. And it imparts a minute amount of iron to whatever's cooking, which is good for you but which some people can taste. (Iron still seems to me to be a perfectly justifiable alternative to ingesting the PFAS coming off your non-stick coated cookware.). So much for the chemistry. Then there's the physics....Iron can safely be heated to very, very hot temperatures. It has a very high thermal mass, meaning that it can hold a lot of BTUs at any temperature, and it has reasonable thermal conductivity – lower than aluminum or copper but higher than glass or ceramics – meaning that it gains and loses heats slower than other metals but faster than your Pyrex dishes. With high thermal mass, it can transfer a lot of heat to the food without the pot's changing temperature.The high heat, heavy lid and thermal properties make the dutch oven ideal for baking bread, for which a lot of BTUs need to get into the dough fairly quickly while holding in the steam. The skillet over a flame can handle temperatures exceeding even 500ºF, which is great for searing or browning (via the Maillard reaction) and also for oven roasting.I bought the wok mainly for roasting vegetables on the stove top during hot summer months when I do not want to turn on the oven. Roasting is an indirect high-temperature dry air heating method, in contrast to baking, broiling or grilling (top or bottom flame,) and frying. It uses less oil than frying (unless you are stir frying,) which creates less spatter, and its high sides catch more spatter anyway. Flipping or tossing the food in a wok is central to the cooking technique, but this cast iron model is too heavy to be shaken and has only loops for handles. I find that a spatula works just fine. The wok's shape makes it easy to move the food around and its weight make it stable on the burner.Pre-heating the empty wok is a must. This is not a slow cooker. If food is in the wok at the start, it may never reach the desired temperature, and it will sit in there for too long anyway. A down-side is that this wok does take longer to heat up and cool down than I might hope, partially defeating my purpose in the hot summer months (unless I want to heat it over my outdoor grill, which also works just fine.) But it's not too troublesome to be used indoors for most of the summer as well as the rest of the year.* There's an absolutely terrific description of the how's and why's at trycookingwithcastiron {dot} com {slash} at-what-temperature-does-oil-polymerizep.s. The price of this item fluctuates widely on Amazon. I paid $19.90 for the 9" wok in 2023.