JOYCE CHEN Professional Series 12-Inch Carbon Steel Stir Fry Pan with Phenolic Handle

Had an expensive non-stick pan and it started to stick after a year so looked for alternative and found carbon steel seemed viable so gave it a try. The pan is very good quality with medium weight steel and good, balanced handle. It has a flat bottom so it works well on my gas stove. The seasoning process took about an hour, but one thing that I did not expect was how much it smelled and the amount of smoke it generated. My kitchen and whole house smelled for 3 days afterwards. I probably used a bit too much oil. After it was seasoned, I tried stir frying some chicken with vegy and wow it made a huge difference. It used to take about 12 minutes to cook over medium heat using the non-stick pan (because high heat destroys the non-stick surface). With this carbon steel pan I was able to cook on high heat and it only took about 6 minutes and it was much more flavorful! It's deeper so fits more ingredients and very easy to flip. A 3 course dinner took about 15 minutes to cook. Is it non-stick? Absolutely! After cooking I rinsed it in hot water and scrubbed with brush then put it back on the stove and heat for a few minutes to dry it up then coat the inside with a few drops of oil. For seasoning the pan, I would suggest using just enough oil to "coat" the pan and not so much that oil sits at the bottom otherwise it would turn into black tar. Just lightly coat it and burn for like 7-8 minutes until it starts to turn brown, not black. I have seen reviews where others do the seasoning on an outdoor bbq. Overall, very good quality pan and truly non-stick when properly seasoned and a healthy alternative to non-stick. From what I have read, it's supposed to last a life time :) Edit: After a few uses the seasoning came off and it started to stick so I re-seasoned it and re-seasoned it until it got completely black from too much burned oil. Wife hated it and made me throw it away. I scrubbed it as much as I could with steel wool then re-seasoned. I think I have finally found the right way. Forget the instruction that came with it. Here's what you do and it will take some time. Drizzle a tablespoon of oil in the pan and wipe it with a paper towel inside and out. Heat on stove until it starts to smoke then remove. Don't burn it. If it burns and turns black it's burned and you need to scub it out. Repeat the process about 2-3 times a day for at least 7-8 days. Then it will have a nice coat of seasoning. Now my pan is dark brown inside and black outside. I can fried an egg and make hashbrowns with minimal sticking which I use a spatula and it comes right off. YOU WILL NEED TO USE MORE OIL THAN NON-STICK PANs otherwise it will stick. I absolutely love my wok love love love!

What I like about this pan: 1) Its not too big and its not too small. It is heavy but not as heavy as cast iron. I love the size and weight. 2) It has a larger flat bottom area than a typical flat bottom14-inch wok. 3) When a Chinese recipe calls for it, Peking Pan can be heated up empty over a high flame until screaming hot without damaging it, and there is no teflon to worry about. 4) The pan seasoned up quickly and turned black right away. 5) I think this is pretty much the same pan I bought back circa 1970s-1980s from Joyce Chen that was called Peking Pan, but which had a coating of some sort which eventually wore off and made the pan unappealing for me to use (I eventually threw it out). But while it was new and in good shape, I loved the way it cooked. This new uncoated version is the same size and shape and looks like it will never wear out. Best of all, it cooks just like the old pan did. 6) Its shape/design/weight make it great for lifting the pan off the burner and "tossing" the food like the pros do. If you have had trouble with this technique, this pan is well suited to learning and executing the pan toss technique. 7) This pan cleans up easily with an Asian style stiff bristle wok brush, and usually just a rinse in hot water takes care of it, but once a a while I will add one drop of detergent to the hot water for more thorough cleaning, yet not so thorough as to disturb the seasoned nonstick patina that develops with continued use of the pan. But either way, its quick and easy to clean. NOTE: The one thing missing is a lid, but if you have other pots & pans, you can probably press another lid into service that will fit this pan perfectly anytime you need to cover the pan during the prep of a recipe that requires it. The other thing to be aware of if it isn't already obvious is that you shouldn't use it to cook quantities of acidic foods (such as a tomato spaghetti sauce) because they can potentially interact with the carbon steel and may impart an off flavor, and it can also break down the seasoned coating during prolonged contact with such foods. Other than that, I reach for this pan CONSTANTLY. Love it.

A couple of tips if you are buying this wok: The coating is a real pain to get off all the way. I boiled water in it and then scrubbed with a steel dish scrub in hot soapy water as the instructions state, and I'm a landscaper so it wasn't wimpy scrubbing. I then coated in oil and put into the oven, cooled and coated a couple more times. (The handle comes off nicely by unscrewing the hanger on the tip of the handle). It seemed to take on a nice brown seasoning, but when I went to cook with it there was a strange odor and plasticky goop bubbling off. So, I took sandpaper to it and sanded off all the seasoning I put on and made damn sure I got all the coating off. Which leads me to my next tip. In the process of reseasoning, I put the wok on the coil to dry and it warped the bottom slightly. Make sure there is oil in the pan or this will happen to yours. Dry wok on burner=wobbly wok and no one likes a wobblewok. I took a hammer to the bottom and while it's not perfectly flat, it sits without wobbling now. I love it though, once it starts to season up, nothing sticks and it can cook big meals. It was also fairly inexpensive. I would buy again, but this time I would start by using steel wool on the entire thing, and make sure I don't leave it on the coil dry again. A bit of work, but worth it for me to not eat teflon. Let's face it, teflon pans are garbage.

I bought this pan, because it assured me that it would work on the Duxtop magnetic stove top, & it does work great, I usually prefer stainless, but I cannot complain. It cooks the food easily & quickly. The temperature is displayed accurately while using it & since I make mostly vegetable stir frys & at times, I make French fries, it serves me well. But when I make spagetti, it takes away the slipery surface, & after I cook another stir fry, its back to normal. I can even make popcorn in it without hurting the pan, I am really glad that I got the lid with it. I did add three machine screws on the ridge of the rim, of the lid, which keeps the lid securely flat upon the pan, so that it does not tilt into the pan. I bolted them on , & the ridge holds them well. My son is a chef & believes that a wok is for stir fries, but I like it because it is big enough to cook everything. I will use a stainless pan that my son has, for sandwiches, eggs, hamburgers & sausage. But this Uncoated carbon steel pan is great for every thing else. I have had some practice using this pan, I still cook popcorn in it, on #3 setting, . I finally started using it to stir fry again, I have mixed vegetables & home shredded vegetables that can be cooked in the microwave with a little butter on top. But when I add sweet potatoes, I need to thaw everything in the microwave for 5 minutes, & then stir fry with a little oil, on #3, on the Duxtop. I cook it until the food gets little brown tips.Sometimes I add garlic to the mixture,for medical reasons, That is when I need to put in catchup & chili powder, to make it taste better, usually after it is cooked. Ive had the pan for over a year, & will occasionally cook eggs on it too. I do not wash it with soap, but I will wash with water & dry it with a towel. I keep it as one of my favorite three pans.

Excellent wok. This is how to season it right: 1. Make sure to clean it well with steel wool pad and warm soap water. 2. Dry it with paper towel. 3. Heat it on stove at high/medium high. Tilt the wok to brown it evenly from bottom to side. 4. Turn off the stove, add 1 tbsp (not 2 as in the instruction) of high smoking point oil (I used Avocado oil). Use folded paper towl to evenly coat the oil entire surface and turn on the heat to medium. 5. Wait until the oil smoke, lift the wok and tilt around to uniformly heat the wok. DON'T BURN THE OIL. 6. Turn off the stove to cool down the wok. 7. Repeat step 3 to 7 a few more times and you will have a nonstick wok. I made fried eggs, fried rice and fried chicken in this wok with no stick whatsoever. Good luck! UPDATED: After 3 years of use, the wok is still good. However, if you don't use often, it'll rust unless you have to coat it with oil before storing. My wife stir fried beef and veggies but leave food in it over night, and I see rusts around the side of the wok next day. So, I drop the review down 1 star because of it. Bottom line, you need to take care your carbon steel wok or it'll rust like crazy. I don't recommend this to those who don't fry foods often. Get a non-stick/stainless steel stir fry pan instead. Asian restaurants use this type of wok a lot because they use it everyday and never wash the wok ever. Over time, the wok becomes super seasoned and nothing will stick to it. At home, you don't get the same result unless you eat fried foods everyday...I doubt it.

After only a few uses, the black carbonized seasoning began to flake off. Completely ruined one meal - had to throw it all away. Looks like this pan is going into the trash as well. Such a waste. I seasoned the pan correctly - following all the guidance (using avocado oil). Don't understand why the seasoning would not adhere. Pan was throughly cleaned prior to seasoning, and only washed with warm water. I would return it if I could but the 30 day window has passed.

This is the best wok I've ever owned - if you're planning on buying one wok and using it for years, this is your best option by far. That being said, you won't be able to make a good stir fry with this wok right out of the box. It takes a while to season and break-in before you reap the full benefits, so only buy this wok if you know you'll be using it a lot for a long time Carbon steel woks like this one have to be "seasoned" which is a fancy word for superheating cooking oil in the wok which creates a chemical reaction with the steel and making it better for cooking. A well-seasoned wok has a smooth, black interior (after starting out silver and shiny, it becomes more matte and black) and has natural non-stick qualities. You can't wash it with dish soap, cook with vinegar inside it, or scrub it intensively with a copper brush, but it is the best possible cooking surface for stir fry cooking. This wok has a tough shiny coating on it when you first buy it and you'll need to scrub it intensively (almost sand it, with how intense you have to scrub) in order to bring it back down to metal. Then, season it 3-5 rounds using either an oven (preferred) or oil on a stovetop (might want to open a window for this method, will produce a ton of smoke). The first 1-2 stir fries you cook in the wok after seasoning might not be entirely clean (little bits of burnt oil) but after its seasoned, the wok is excellent. It's best to wash with water, no soap, then dry with a paper towel, then store with a thin coat of oil wiped on the whole wok using a paper towel. In short, great professional wok, requires you to treat it right.

I like this wok. To all the reviewers disappointed with the rust or the warping, this is to be expected with a flat bottom, carbon steel sheet metal pan. It is a compromise between the traditional design, and what will work in a western kitchen. In my opinion, for the cooktop that I have (electric coil burners) it is probably the best compromise. The other options are cast iron or tri-ply stainless, but I think these are too different from the original wok design. In any case, western cooktops produce only a fraction of the heat that woks traditionally require. To get the traditional wok results in the traditional way, you need to use at raditional wok with very hot flame, much hotter than what is available on a western cooktop. Rocket stoves or propane brewer/turkey fryer burners work much better. I just got this for the convenience cooking on the stove in the kitchen instead of having to go outside and improvise. Taking this into account it works as well as can be expected and does much better tasting stir-fry's than my tri-ply saute pan. To make it work well you have to season it thoroughly (watch some youtube videos on seasoning a wok), keep the heat on high, avoid putting too much cold meat in at once, and turn it frequently. I pre-cut everything then cook it rapidly in small batches, moving them to hot-holding until I have everything done, then plate it up. This is the only way my electric burner can keep the temperature up, and THIS is the reason why I think a thin carbon steel flat bottom wok will work on best this type of burner: The tri-ply and cast-iron woks will conduct more of the heat to the sides of the pan, whereas this pan is just thick enough to be sturdy and avoid hot spots, but thin enough to transmit the heat as directly as possible from the burner to the food, so that in the middle, the temperature is as hot as it possibly can be. I seasoned it over a Coleman camp stove. The flame makes it easier to heat the curved side to the temperature required to season it, but they don't really need to be that hot during actual cooking.

Estoy muy contento con este wok. Hay que sazonarlo bien. Me tomó más de una hora hacerlo correctamente. Después, nada se pega y no hay óxido. Muy buena calidad de calibre pesado.

I chose this work because - the metal is nice and thick (2 mm), so I'm less worried about it warping - I like the 12 inch size. I found 14 inch woks to be a bit too big for me, a home cook cooking for 1-3 people in a small condo on an electric range - it's flat bottom so I can use it with my crummy electric range - it's carbon steel. So after going down a rabbit hole of watching carbon steel seasoning videos, i'm totally on board with it. - it's not not stick (until you build up your own seasoning) - the handle is removable I like this work and have been using it constantly for the last couple days. For my initial seasoning, I did a couple coats of peanut oil in the oven (1 hour for the first coat, 2 hours for the second) and then friend up a bunch of ginger and scallion. Only thing that may concern you as a buyer but are totally ok with me are: The work seems shallower than others you may find of the same diameter. I put it side by side with my old non-stick wok and it was 1cm shorter in height. I guess that's why they market this as a "Peking pan", or maybe it's so the weight isn't unwieldly. The handle is plastic. It seems really tough and durable though so probably no big deal. It's removable anyway for doing an oven seasoning.

Well build and very good balance. Feel solid in hand and the handle strong enough to hold flipping. $35 for such a wok is a steal.

Absolutely love it!!!

Nada se le pega sabiéndolo usar, se nota que será un surten para siempre