Carbon steel wok
A thin steel pan with sloped sides, sold flat-bottomed for Western stoves
Spun or hammered carbon steel, usually 12 to 14 inches across, seasoned with oil until the surface goes dark and slick. Its shape gives a searing hot zone at the base, cooler walls to park food on, and enough curve to toss. Cooks use one for stir-frying, but also for deep frying, steaming over a rack, braising and smoking. That range is why it often replaces three other pans. Flat-bottomed versions sit on electric and induction burners. Round ones want a gas ring or an outdoor burner. Leave it wet and it rusts. Seasoning rebuilds with use.
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Does it: documented as part of their own routine. Recommends: explicitly advises other people to do it. Discusses: covered it substantively without clear personal adoption; this can include criticism or disagreement.
- J. Kenji López-AltDoes it
Chef and food writer · The Food Lab
One carbon steel wok lasted him more than twenty years of near-daily use at home before it finally gave out, around the time his book on the subject came out. He calls it the most-used piece of equipment in his kitchen, and not just for Asian dishes. Writing the brief for a replacement, he asked for a flat bottom and 13 to 14 inches, his favorite size for feeding a family.
Source: kenjilopezalt.com: The Wok of My Dreams“I had used the same carbon steel wok for over 20 years in my home kitchen until it finally broke just after my book, The Wok came out. I loved that pan and used it nearly every day.”
kenjilopezalt.com: The Wok of My Dreams (opens in a new tab)
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