Babish Carbon Steel Flat Bottom Wok and Stir Fry Pan, 14-Inch

I shopped online for a few years looking to replace the wok I had in my 20's (71 now). I knew exactly what I wanted, but everything fell short in one way or the other until I saw this Babish Wok. I ordered it instantly and had to wait because it was on back order, but I had waited for years already so a bit of a backlog wasn't going to deter me. Glad I waited. This wok is everything I wanted. It's an actual wok, not just a high-sided frying pan with way too much flat surface on the bottom to be a real wok. It's really pretty, until you make it your go to kitchen work horse and then it starts looking like it's 'loved.' So happy I finally found this. And even on my coil-burner electric stove, it heats up great. I don't need a support ring, the handle comes off so you can use it in the oven. The handle is just the right angle for my older wrists. It's not to heavy but made of really nice carbon steel. It ticks all the boxes I had....even the price. And it Cook's and cleans like a breeze. I highly recommend this. I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

This wok is so big and beautiful, it's a pleasure to have it on my stove and to cook in it. However, it gave me a very hard time when cooking with it initially. I learned to cook well with every other wok we have (cast iron, stainless steel, and non-stick) and I am definitely not new to carbon steel pans (thicker French ones), but this one was way too unusual and the eggs were sticking and burning, tasting bitter, no matter what I was trying to do, I was not able to pass the fried egg test three times in a row. One or even two out of three eggs were sticking. In desperation, I tried the rural Chinese method of frying pork skin with green onions in it, smothering the sides and rubbing the bottom forcefully with pig skin and onions, until the onions were charred, and washing it with boiling water and that did it. It is now as non-stick as Teflon, i.e. I can fry an Asian style egg in it (or three eggs in a row) even without oiling the wok, and it/they won't stick and taste crunchy-crispy and delicious. It heats up so fast, within a minute, and its bottom cooking surface gets so exceptionally hot even on medium setting (on 5 out of 10 it reaches 300C!!!), that I am only able to use it on 3.5/10 level max. The bottom gets hot very evenly and the sides stay cool or warmish for a fairly long time, it takes them 5-10 min to get too hot to touch. This makes stir-frying very easy and quick, in a true Asian fashion. There is no warping of the bottom at any temperature, it is sturdy. So, in the end I am very happy with this wok. It is a bit heavy for me, but only because I don't really have a use for the helper handle when stir-frying and the helper handle does warm up significantly with time and requires a silicone handle cover. The protruding pieces of rivets on the inner surface do not allow me to use a 32cm/12.5" steaming insert that I have. I would have to either search for a steamer basket with a smaller or larger diameter or forget about steaming things in that wok. which is a pity for water boils in that wok instantly and it is very well suited for steaming jobs. These two things are the only mildly inconvenient details about this wok that I found. Everything else is simply extraordinary, very high level of quality of design and functionality. For those who look for a carbon steel wok, this one is a winner.

So I ended up with this wok for a few reasons, easy removeability of the handle and the width of the base compared to other flat bottom models being the two main ones. Overall I'm pretty thrilled with it. First off, packaging. I've bought pieces of AV equipment that weren't as well packed as this wok. Hell, I'd hazard this was the best packed piece of cookware I've ever bought. It's a small touch but definitely helped. First seasoning was a bit weird because the instructions aren't on amazon.ca. I eventually found them in the item description on the .com site. Basically I just took the handle off, gave it a good was with soap and water, put it in my oven at 500F for twenty minutes, took it out, rubbed it down with sunflower oil, put it back in the oven upsidedown for an hour, then turned the oven off and let the wok cool with it. The first few uses it definitely was a bit prone to sticking if I wasn't careful and kept things moving. But it definitely works as a wok should. It changes temperature rapidly, the bottom is evenly hot while the sides taper off, allowing you to focus items that need more heat over ones cooking slower up the sides. It's definitely a bit heavy but not unmanageable and the wood handle works great. Washing up is pretty easy. Water and a scour pad has dealt with anything I've done in it and after each use I give it a light polish with sunflower oil and a little time on the heat. I'm a half dozen meals in on this and it already has a great patina going. In short, would highly recommend this wok. I know it seems a bit wanky getting a product from a line endorsed by a youtuber (even a solid one like Babish) but this is definitely worth it, especially if you need a flat bottom wok instead of a round because of the type of stovetop you have.

I purchased this wok three months ago, and I can't say enough good about it. I've been looking for a ling time to find the right wok for me and this is it. my criteria were: 1. flat bottom for gas or electric. Easy one. For most home cooks, the round bottom woks require a ring stand (for goas) or can't be used. On gas, the ring stand retains heat to the point of potential damage to the stove finish. must have a flat bottom. 2. sturdiness. most woks, with the exception of some in the Asian markets are flimsy. I bought a Joyce Chen wok that had great reviews, but it has a lot of wobble and flex in the bowl- i hated it while using only until i found something better. 3. carbon steel. Wok must be carbon steel. -- and this is the the reason i give it 2/5 for easy to clean. Like a carbon steel or cast iron pan, this wok requires a little extra when done. There are tons of how to's on maintaining a carbon steel pan so i won't go into it, besides my recommendation to use the chain mail scrubber. Works like magic. Hot water and scrubbing only. 4. handle type. I want to be able to season the entire wok, including the sides, but that is darn near impossible with bottom heat from the range top. One of the best features of this wok is the removable handle- that goes back on as solid as the day it arrived. This allows me to season my wok in the oven and get the tall sides nice and stick free. 5. Cost was not a huge concern. I want a wok that does what i want it to do. However, for the thickness of the steel and the features, it's definitely worth the extra $20, especially if you spread that out over say 30 years of use. Bottom line is, you will not regret this wok. Be prepared to clean it properly and maintain the seasoning. If you're not, go with a non-stick wok. This is not the one for you. But if you want a wok that acts the way a wok should, with high heat retention and sides that are cool enough to hold the food out of the fire, this is it. * one year update - still loving the wok! I’ve been waiting to write a one year review and here’s the short update. Everything above is still true and the way it holds seasoning is fantastic. Don’t hesitate to make this your go to wok and deep fry pan!

Have only cooked in this pan twice and I LOVE it! The pan is 5 lbs, and is replacing a 3lb flat bottom wok/stir fry pan I was using. That concerned me prior to ordering, but once I used it, it oddly felt lighter and more balanced than the pan it was replacing, which unexpected, but definitely appreciated. It also heats up MUCH faster and holds and distributes that heat much better than my last flat bottom wok. The quality of all of the pieces was fantastic, and I will note that you NEED to follow the instructions when it comes to cleaning prior to seasoning, as well as seasoning. I actually made sure to follow the seasoning process twice before using, and then in my first use I made sure to deep fry in the wok to make sure there was even more seasoning prior to using it for stir frying. It cleans up beautifully easy, and is really a nice looking, well constructed piece of kitchen equipment. If you follow the instructions for seasoning, and post use cleaning, and DRYING, you should never have any issues with rust, and even if you do, a light scrub using salt as an uber mild abrasive to scour and re-season (again I would re-season in two separate sessions to be 100% sure), you should never have any issues with this pan. Note - I actually purchased this pan with my money, I am not a someone who gets items for free and reviews them for $.