Buying a wok
Why a wok?
I'm not a good cook. However my family and I do love Chinese food and we've been inspired by Ken Hom to use woks for oriental recipes.
Although stir frys are the most common use for them, they can also be used for boiling, braising, steaming, and stewing.
Their unique advantage is that they use less oil - a small hot area at the bottom allows food to be seared. The oil remains in a small pool at the very bottom. The rest of the wok is cooler, with curved sides, allowing the food to tumble back to the hottest area when tossed or scraped.
Woks also have a much greater usable cooking area than traditional pans.
Healthy food - and lots of it - great!
Materials
I was given my first wok around 25 years ago as a wedding present (I say "around", but I do know the exact date, honest!)
It is a very large, traditional cast iron one - good looking and probably very expensive. It distributes the heat really evenly. However it is very heavy. And takes a long time to cool so food needs to be taken out once ready, or it will continue to cook. If you're feeling strong the best looking one I've found is here from the Wok Shop at Amazon.
We were finding it too heavy as middle age crept up on us.
So, in the 90's I cast my eye around for a replacement. Non-stick seemed like a good idea. These woks are usually made from steel with a Teflon non-stick coating. A bad move! Although they may be non-stick, they're not non-scratch - and some members of the household (maybe me included, I'm not telling!) damaged the surface fairly soon after we bought it. Not only that, but these woks cannot cook at the high heat necessary for stir frying. Once the temperature gets close to the right temperature the coating can breaks down. Also, the surface doesn't allow the juices to stick to the pan and brown - losing much of the traditional stir-fry taste.
The wok became virtually unusable, so, last year I started looking around for a replacement.
I saw that some woks are now made with the latest non-stick materials including Xylan and Excalibur and I'm told by friends that they work very well.
Joyce Chen endorses this latest 12 inch non-stick wok here. And this smaller (11 inch) one here and larger (14 inch) one here are very good value from money from Amazon.
However non-stick wasn't for me again.
Aluminum seems like a good material - light and an excellent conductor of heat. However it doesn't retain heat well - an important requirement. And, although anodized aluminum alloys can stand up to constant use, plain aluminium woks are too soft and damage easily. Also, they won't work on induction hobs. Good for wok lids, but not for the wok itself, in my opinion. The best looking one I've seen is here
Woks are traditionally made from carbon steel. They are relatively inexpensive and lightweight, have quick heat conduction and reasonable durability. However they need seasoning (see below), which, if not carried out, makes the food stick. Lower quality ones are single ply and can deform and misshape. You need to pay a fair amount more to get one made of two sheets of carbon steel. Carbon steel woks should only be washed in warm water to avoid damaging the seasoning. But they need to then be dried thoroughly as they can rust relatively easily. The best looking 14 inch one I've seen is available here from Amazon.
Which leaves stainless steel. This is the type I bought. Chromium is added to carbon steel to prevent rusting. They have a hard surface which will not chip, flake, peel or break. Some have much improved surfaces that can withstand much higher temperatures. They heat and cool quickly. And can be scoured with steel wool to restore the shine after each use. Here is the one I'd recommend - a great contemporary look to it.
Shape
Traditionally, woks are round-bottomed. This makes food easier to toss, and minimises splatters.
It is slightly more difficult to move the food around in a flat bottomed wok, although most woks are flat as they can be used in more places.
If you have a gas stove, you're lucky - you could go for either a round bottomed or flat bottomed wok. However a wok ring is desirable for a round bottomed one on a gas stove. It will help stabilise it and also directs the heat to the very bottom of the wok, where it's needed.
Money Saving Tip - an upside-down grid on a gas stove is sometimes the right shape to act as a wok ring.
For an electric stove you need a flat bottomed wok. These need to be cleaned well after each use to avoid small food particles getting stuck on the pan.
An alternative, if you have an electric stove, is to get an electric wok. These are stand-alone appliances with good heat conductance properties. They are, however difficult to use if you want to flamboyantly toss your creation around, so perhaps lose some of the magic? The best one I saw is here.
Size
Sizes range from 10" that would be large enough for a meal for 3, up to 16", enough for 12 people, or much larger for commercial use.
Accessories
Consider getting a wok lid, spatula and a ladle - all useful for several recipes.
Handles
There are two types of handles - loop and stick.
Loop handles are the most common and are usually made of bare metal, although some have wooden or plastic covers. Cooks need to hold the wok with a thick towel or oven gloves. A fair amount of hand, arm and wrist dexterity is needed for tossing the food.
Stick handles are long and usually made of steel, although, again, sometimes covered. Sometimes called Peking Pans, these are easier to toss if the wok is not too large. Larger woks often have a loop handle as well.
Seasoning
Carbon steel and cast iron woks need to be seasoned before their first use. This involves rubbing the inside of the wok with oil, placing it over a gentle heat so that it begins to smoke, and then removing and allowing to cool. After removing excess oil with kitchen paper, the process needs to be repeated two or three times.
