Classic Series 12-Inch Carbon Steel Stir Fry Pan with Birch Handle

This is probably the best wok I've ever bought. First, I like the wider than usual bottom for sauteeing, and the 12" size is PERFECT for one to two people, and can easily prepare meals for up to four. I would only buy the 14" if you have an entire family to feed. Many thanks to "The Fred," the customer who left detailed instructions on how to prepare the wok before using, the second review from the top. I would like to only add one more suggestion for CLEANING it... NEVER USE SOAP AND WATER ON A WOK!!! Just use hot water and stainless steel scouring pad to clean it, then just add a thin layer of oil to keep the surface rust-free.

I just received this wok/fry pan today and used it this evening, with excellent results. I wanted a 12 inch pan because the 14 inch normal size was too large for a single person. The 12 inch pan is perfect for one or two people. My choice was between this pan and Joyce Chen's 12 inch Peking pan. The differences are the Peking pan is somewhat thicker and has a narrower base which was the deciding factor for me. A wider base allows food to be spread out over a greater heat area to cook evenly - I like to roast red peppers and the wider bottom allows them to be spread out and blacken more evenly. As for seasoning the pan and removing the coating used to protect it in transit, that turned out to be quite easy. There is a reviewer/expert on Chinese cooking who produced a YouTube video on just those tasks. Her first step was to scrub off the lacquer coating. I started doing that but it looked like too much work. I found a commenter on Amazon who shared his technique which worked quite well: First of all, I did this outside to prevent inside heat and smoke. I used an induction cooktop that worked out very well. The technique for cleaning the lacquer was to boil water with about 10 black teabags for about 20 min. I left it on for about 30 min. and saw the loosened lacquer float to the top which I skimmed off. After that I let it cool and washed the pan in the sink with a little soap and water. For any spots that appeared to still be present I just ran some steel wool over the area with moderate pressure. The next step was to season the pan. That too was very easy. Again, I did this out of doors to prevent smoke indoors. I first heated the pan up at a high temperature, at which point the pan started changing colors and darkening. This is normal. After the pan was heating for a few minutes I poured some oil into the pan and using wadded paper towels and a tong to hold the towels, I spread the oil over the inside of the wok. I lowered the heat and let the oil cook in for about 15 min. then let the pan cool down. I then washed the pan again with little soap and for any residual spots including some residual oil that turned sticky, I lightly ran some steel wool over the area. I could have stopped there but, perfectionist that I am, I repeated the heating process once more. The pan was then "seasoned" well enough to start cooking on it. After I completed that process I noticed that the wok would fit into my toaster oven (with the handle hanging outside and the door partially open). So, again, I moved my toaster oven outside, put a little oil in the wok, and then turned on the broil function for about 15 min. This was to take care of the sides of the wok which were not really affected by my first steps. Because the handle hung out of the toaster oven, I shifted it from one side to the other and again ran the broiler for another 15 min. The final result was a seasoned wok on which I cooked my first meal that evening, with excellent results. The steps may sound somewhat complicated but they are well suited to quickly seasoning a wok with a minimal of time and effort. I didn't have to stand over a sink and with great effort remove the lacquer since it easily came off just by boiling. And the seasoning was actually very easy and required little effort. I had previously purchased a nonstick wok. I liked it but there is no comparison to a seasoned carbon steel wok. I always had the fear, with a nonstick wok, of emissions and I found the coating did not last much more than a year or so. I got better results on my new, seasoned wok. As for cleaning, I found this works very well: when you finish cooking, while the pan is still hot, pour a little water into the pan and you can then easily scrape off any residual stuck food. Then quickly rinse the pan in hot water, put a little oil on it, and you are done. This takes about 30 seconds. I usually dry the wok with a little paper toweling and about 15 or so seconds on the range. Make sure you rub a little cooking oil into the wok when done, to prevent rusting. Edit: occasionally there will be some burnt spots. These are very easy to get rid of. First, try adding a little water to the hot wok and scrape using whatever utensil you have. If that doesn't clear everything up then try briefly scrubbing with a soft scrubber under hot water. If that doesn't work then use a copper or steel scouring pad. There is no need to press hard and just use whatever pressure it takes to clear up the spot. Don't worry about the "patina" since it will take care of itself as you continue cooking. Another hint, is to occasionally use a drop or two of liquid dishwasher soap. There is nothing wrong with this and it will do no harm whatsoever to the wok. What it does is remove excess carbon that could discolor food the next time you use the wok (try rubbing a paper towel with a little oil in the wok and you will see what I mean). Always remember, after washing and drying the wok, to put a little oil in it.

I bought the 12 inch wok based on many recommendations on the internet. The first impression was positive. The wok looked nice and exactly like what you see from the product page. The bottom was flat when it first came out of the box. Now, you can't really use the wok without seasoning it properly. Otherwise, it will be such a pain in the butt to use. So I went to YouTube and watched a bunch of seasoning tutorials. Fortunately, there were some helpful tutorials specifically with this exact wok. I started off with burning off all the factory coatings of the wok. Just like I saw from the tutorials, the wok turned black initially and turned back to matt bluish grey which indicated that the factory coating is all burned off. I was ready to do actual seasoning steps with the oil but then I discovered a couple of issues right away. 1. The handle got super loose. You can see from the video I uploaded. The riveted handle got super loose. Very serious problem especially when you're handling super hot wok. It felt very flimsy and I had 0 confidnece on the wok at this point. It's just not acceptable. 2. The bottom is no longer flat. I noticed this in the middle of the burning process. The bottom was warped and it was no longer flat when put on a flat surface. For something that is supposed to endure high heat and is advertised to be 'flat bottom', this issue is also not acceptable. I think the issue #2 may not be a deal-breaker for those with non-flat stovetops but the firs issue is a rather serious one. It could be pretty dangerous when the handle finally fails and detached in the middle of cooking. If you're looking for a sturdy and reliable wok, think twice. Or just give it a chance and try for yourself first since it's relatively inexpensive. I might have been just unlucky and received a bad copy. By the way, Amazon customer service was helpful as always and issued me a full refund without any hassle. I did show them the video clip of the issue though.

I'm on my second on of these (for reasons explained below). All in all this is a good wok with a couple of silly flaws that increase the learning curve for people new to carbon steel cookware. The good: + Over time and with frequent use the seasoning on the pan will build and form a natural nonstick layer. It's important to note that this takes 1) time and 2) frequent use. I think manufacturers' (all manufacturers) instructions are misleading because seasoning the pan is not a one-time thing. My first pan I did not enjoy cooking with until after a few months of sparse use, and during that time I treated it more like I treat my stainless steel pans. After that the bottom of the wok had turned black and I found that if I cooked more like I was using a well seasoned cast iron pan it performed very well. After 5 years it was so nicely seasoned that my mom preferred it to her new calphalon non stick and stole it from me. Hence, I bought a new one. + The handle is so much more ergonomic than the cheaper carbon steel pans you can get elsewhere. Some might say this is a dumb point, but having the width and length for grip and leverage as well as the wood for insulation makes holding the wok to tip food out with one hand so much easier than doing so with the small ring handle you find on so many cheaper woks. + I find the 12in size a little more convenient. The bad: - Another reviewer noted this but for some reason the Joyce Chen wok ships with some layer of lacquer/resin. I am guessing that this is to prevent any oxidation while shipping and storage and some cast iron cookware also ships this way. The problem is that the resin needs to come off before use, either by extensive scrubbing or by heat. I'm guessing some of the difficulties others are having with sticking and funny flavors have to do with this resin. - It can rust. This is true though of almost any pan that needs seasoning, and the one star review complaining about this is someone who just didn't do their homework. However there is an easy way to avoid this: dry the pan after washing. For me, rather than toweling it off, I put it back on the range I just used so that as the range cools it helps to cook off any moisture on the pan.

Just passed one year with this wok! Overall, coming from a 14", I love the smaller 12" size -- it's perfect for cooking for 1 or 2. I really love using this pan and it's the most used pan in my kitchen. The wok has well-seasoned over the course of a year with daily usage. I've got a bit of uneven seasoning and buildup that could use a salt scrub, but overall I don't have to think about seasoning very much. I just wash it, with dish soap, and dry it on the burner after. I don't even need to oil it afterwards anymore, although I did in the first few months. That being said, the initial seasoning process was a pain. Scrubbing the factory coating off was quite difficult, and the initial seasoning resulted in a lot of smoke and set off my fire alarms. You'll need to be very patient and very aggressive with scrubbing it to get all the coating off before you start heating it at all, or else you'll so much smoke. If you can do this outdoors on a grill burner, that is absolutely the best place to do it. Please disregard any reviews citing rust issues, as this is totally expected of carbon steel if you do not season and maintain it properly, especially in its early days. The only issue I have with this wok is that the rivets were not designed to handle a lot of heat, and now the handle is wobbly. My guess is that some meltable material was used as a washer between the pan and the handle rivets, and while I avoided the handle area during initial seasoning, eventually the handle rivets did ooze something out (I am certain this is not food or oil from cooking). See the attached picture. It wasn't an issue until I moved and had a more powerful burner in my new kitchen, which I happily used until this issue began to occur. So in a nutshell, although I love the wok overall, I can't really recommend this if you want to use the wok on a high-output indoor burner, because of the rivets fail under enough heat and the handle will become wobbly. The rest of the pan is great and fully meets my expectations. Yes there's a bit of warping, but it doesn't affect performance on a gas grill. If you have pretty low-output burners, like I did at my last place, then this might be fine.

This is my first carbon steel pan and I've been using it once or twice a week for two months with good results. I had no trouble with the initial seasoning (oven method) and it has already developed a nice patina. The weight makes it easy to flip food using just one hand. The size easily accommodates a stir-fried main dish of 4 - 6 servings. Even on my junky old coil stove the food gets a decent sear. Despite my best efforts, the pan did warp a tiny bit (heck, even my All-Clad pans have warped). The slight warp is not enough to impair use and I'm trying to avoid further warping by guarding against thermal shock (preheating on medium, using hot water to clean). Also, carbon steel, like cast iron, requires a little special maintenance after use. Despite the learning curve and extra effort, I'm glad I took the plunge and tried carbon steel. The switch means I don't have to worry about a non-stick coating flaking into my food or wearing out after a couple of years. Instead, I've got a well-designed pan that should provide a lifetime of good results--for under $25!

I have a 14" round bottom Carbon Steel Wok that was purchased in Hong Kong in 1991. It is used at least 2x/month and shows no sign of ever wearing out. Amazingly, it matches my new Joyce Chen all the way down to the rivets. Regarding the rivets, my handle was a bit wobbly, as others mention. I placed the outside rivet head against a sledge hammer, and then gently peened the inside rivet head with a heavy ballpeen hammer. Only a couple strikes were required to tighten the handle. That is sliced ginger in the video. The photo shows after and before seasoning my new 12" Joyce Chen. Also, watch some how-to youtube videos for seasoning tips. Otherwise you’ll end up complaining of sticking and rusting. I used beef lard as I also do with cast iron

very nice, seasoned up well, perfect size, good quality for the money, works with my bamboo steamer baskets

La calidad es muy buena, se siente pesado y aunque es delgado esta bien, se calienta muy rápido, no recomiendo los que traen antiadherentes ya que los woks son para usarse a fuego alto y eso echa a perder el antiadherente. Ahí vienen las instrucción es mas o menos lo que hice y creo que si funcionó. El video lo dejé hasta la mitad porque si se lleva su tiempo pero se ve como va cambiando de color a azul. En las imagenes se ve como esta nuevo y como quedó al final, después de varios usos se deberá ir quedando negro completamente. Parece que esta sucio pero así es, al tocarlo no se siente pegajoso, se siente liso y resbaladizo. Primero hay que lavar bien el wok con agua caliente, jabón y estropajo verde o lana de acero. Secar, calentar a fuego medio a que se empiece a quemar o agarrar un tono azulado. Dejar enfriar y luego poner una capa de aceite en todo el wok y poner al fuego a que humee. Así varias veces 2 o 3. Cocinar unas cebollas, papas o jengibre hasta quemar y ya estará listo para usar. Se puede lavar solo con agua, secar, poner a calentar a fuego bajo y volver a poner una capa de aceite, dejar enfriar y guardar. Si lo consiguen a un precio similar comprenlo, si lo recomiendo bastante.

The Classic Series (not seasoned) is an entry level budget wok that had positive reviews on some kitchen review websites. As this is my first wok i didn't want to spend alot & it isn't too difficult to season which saves on cost. Like all woks they require some maintenance to prevent rust. Unfortunately this wok is of poor quality. Firstly i noticed the two rivets that hold the handle on is not secure, there is some slight wobble. I then followed the instructions to remove the protective lacquer by boiling water in the wok & then scrubbing with soap & hot water to rinse off & dry. Although its difficult to tell whether it has been removed, the sticker still left a mark on the pan regardless. I started the seasoning process by heating the pan & adding advocado oil which has a high smoke point which i burned off to make it polymerize to form a non stick coating, including around the sides. I repeated this four times. I then cooked some root veg just to absorb any chemicals & further help the seasoning before cooking an egg to test its non stick coating. Success i thought, the egg did not stick & i could slide it around the pan. However with further cooks the non stick coating started to peel off, it doesn't adhere to the carbon steel too good. I also noticed the wok distort significantly on the bottom with a 2cm gap at one end making it sit uneven & wobble on the stove which isn't very safe. This tells me that the metal is too thin on the bottom (1.5mm) & off poor quality. £25 may seem like good value compared to the pricier woks but its still overpriced considering its a poor quality product that wont last. You buy cheap you buy twice. So i decided to return it back to Amazon for a refund as its not satisfactory.

The pan needs to be seasoned before use.

This is a good wok like pan. It is not too thick, so it heats up and cools down fast, and you have a better control over the cooking temperature. Like any other carbon steel pan, you have to season it, and care for it so that it is nonstick and does not rust. Overall, it satisfies my requirement, and I would recommend it. I don't like that the price for Canadians is a lot higher than the price for Americans. I bought it on sale at amazon.ca, and it was still more than the regular price at amazon.com.

Great wok!