Customer Reviews

Helen Chen's Asian Kitchen 14-inch Carbon Steel Flat Bottom Lidded Wok Set

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This is a great wok. The carbon steel is easy to season, making it virtually non-stick (without the chemicals), the flat bottom means it is stable while sitting on a burner, and the heft keeps it from slipping around. The domed lid is great for steaming, and there is ample space inside for a bamboo steamer.

I priced these in retail stores in the area, as well as other outlets online, and this sells for at least a competitive price.

I honestly felt like I was stealing from somebody when I clicked the "purchase" button. After researching the best equipment for Asian cooking, the experts concluded that the carbon steel flat bottom wok scored top marks with professional chefs. The idea is to season the wok (you can find out how to do this on about.com) instead of purchasing a teflon coated one. I cannot emphasise how important this step is if you want to create the perfect Singapore Noodles or Chow Mein! You will be cooking like a pro in no time, for almost no cost at all.

This is a great wok for the price. Be sure you follow the instructions and "season" it well first so nothing sticks. Also you need to immediately dry it after washing. Other than that I am thrilled with the wok.

I have this wok and was surprised at the number of negative reviews...especially as regards rusting. I treat this wok in the same manner that I treat my cast-iron. Living in the South, everyone has a cast-iron skillet and knowledge of how to properly treat one, so maybe that give me an advantage, who knows? The fact is that you should dry this wok immediately after use and cleaning. I like to clean mine as soon as I'm done cooking b/c the residual heat makes it very easy to remove any leftover bits of food or sauce. To clean, I don't use any soap, so as not to disturb the seasoning...merely run hot water over it and scrub away any food particles with a stiff bristle brush. A bit of manuevering is needed b/c of the size of this wok and the small sink in my house, but all in all it takes no more than a minute or two to get it clean. Afterwards, I use a single paper towel to get the water off and wipe the inside with a bit of oil. In the two years I've owned this wok, I never had a bit of rust show up. I do, however, concede that the seasoning instructions that came with the wok aren't as good as what you can find online. I used the onion method (found a great vid on Youtube), and my wok developed a nice, brown seasoning that has, over the last couple of years, developed into a pitch black, non-stick area. The only down side to this is that I'd really love to start steaming some meals, and I worry that repeated use of boililng water would degrade the seasoning over time. In that respect, I suppose a non-stick variety, which didn't require an outside process, would be better suited.

Yes, the lid is thin and easy to ding, but the wok is heavy enough that I already need two hands to move it from point A to B, I don't want a heavy lid to contend with either. That's just personal preference; however, having Chinese friends whose woks (some actually brought over from the mainland) have lids just as thin and look like they've been through meteor shower, I believe this trait is actually motivated by functionality and authenticity than just the company trying cut corners.

My favorite part of this wok is how it cooks. I have a little 10 inch nonstick model that I love because it's so light and easy to work with, however, the nonstick never gets hot enough to add that bit of char that I find so tasty in stirfries. I recently made some shrimp with vegetables and white sauce, and (when done right) the shrimp have these wonderful little singed edges that add such a wonderful nuance to the dish. The trick to to stirfry each group separately and then join them together at the end so as not to disperse the heat too much. Will post pictures soon. I've cooked squid stirfry, fried rice, shrimp stirfry, bitter melon with pork, and a host of other things that turned out really well.

This wok seems to be a pretty decent wok. I treated it according to instructions found on internet, and we used it once so far. I expect it to last for a long time if I keep it oiled well and dry after use. No complaints about the product itself. HOWEVER, the shipping of this item needs to be improved. The handle (a hollow, wooden piece with a bolt through it) was shipped inside the aluminum lid. The lid arrived with numerous dents since the handle is thrown around during shipping and the steel parts smack into the inside of the soft aluminum lid every time the box tumbles over during shipping (my best theory for the damage). Those bumps are easily visible on the outside of the otherwise great looking lid. I would say there are about 20 dents on the inside of the lid. It looks like someone took a little hammer and went to work on the inside. I decided to not care (and did not want to send back the item), but the lid looked worse when it arrived than the lid of the wok we had in use for many years. Just so you know.

I really wanted to love this wok, but I don't even like it. I too followed the seasoning instructions to the letter, was so very careful to heat and clean it multiple times before it's first use, keep it lightly oiled and it still rusts every time I use it. My food tastes like metallic fish, and no, I've only ever cooked chicken, beef, and vegetables in it. I believed I could keep it nice, despite some the negative reviews it got about rusting. But every time I take it out of the cabinet, there are new rust marks as well as black marks. I'm over trying to clean it and will probably need to buy a new wok.

This is a very sturdy carbon steel wok with a very light aluminum lid and a nice bamboo spatula.

I have had no problem with rust. The trick is to not scrub off/through the "seasoning" when cleaning. You just scrape it down with a bamboo utensil and maybe a paper towel. No dish washing liquid nor abrasive pads required! A wok is not meant to be cleaned in the same way as your stainless steel cookware.

It's a lot of fun cooking with this wok.

I will offer the following advice for the first-time wok user: Realize that your kitchen stove probably doesn't put out the BTUs that a commercial unit does, so don't over-fill the wok when cooking - You cannot make the big servings like your local Chinese restaurant does. For the same reason, there is really no reason to get any bigger wok for home use, unless of course you have commercial equipment at home.

This is my first wok, and after reading the enclosed instructions (which were very explicit), I was able to season my wok and enjoy healthy stir-frys next day! This is a good-quality pan - the handle hasn't twisted or come loose. But you MUST follow the directions and season it properly! I recommend repeating the first step where you smoke off the factory-coating and scrub it at least twice, and then season it with oil (thin layer - too much will gunk up and stick) at least four times. Also, do not attempt to cook anything starchy (like, say, cornstarch-coated tofu) the first few times until the coating has built up. When finished, rinse with water, dry totally, and rub in a bit of oil. After that, you will be golden... I have let my wok sit around unused - AFTER seasoning - for weeks and no rust has built up.

(I left off a star because I have not yet used the lid, since I am unsure of how to clean that and whether it needs to be seasoned as well - that would have been helpful in the directions)

Before buying this wok set, I read all the reviews on Amazon and was convinced that those who gave this product bad reviews did not handle the wok properly. In other words, I believed that via proper seasoning, this wok should work rather well. It turned out the opposite. I read the instruction information carefully, did the seasoning according to the instruction,and it only worked for a short while. Do you ever want to know how frustrating it is to wash the wok after each use(taking 3 times longer than washing a regular pan)? Do you ever want to know how frustrating it is to season the wok for 3 times after it rusts? Do you ever want to know how frustrating it is to call the customer service, only to find that the number is now an All-State number? Honestly, I'd say that this wok may work well for a short while. So if you feel prepared to embrace all the frustrations it may incur after the 3rd use, then go for it! Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend this product to anyone.

Carbon steel is definitely the way to go; I've used nonstick & cast iron, which have problems when trying to do stir-fries. I especially like the handles on this wok; being wood, I don't need a potholder, and the combination of long handle & helper handle makes this pan easy to work with. The pan comes with the long handle detached, which I prefer because I like to initially season the pan using the oven. Since the helper handle has a bamboo handle which can be harmed by high oven heat, you must protect it during the seasoning: first wrap the wood with damp washcloths, then cover them with aluminum foil crimped all around the washcloths. Grace Young, who has written several great stir-fry cookbooks, has a very helpful video online on how to season a wok. The part that this pan's instructions leaves out is to initially season the outside of the pan along with the inside when doing the oven part of the seasoning; this protects the outside surface from rust & gives it a great patina color. I also line the oven rack with foil & turn the wok upside down so the applied coating of shortening or oil does not pool in the bottom of the wok. After three trips into the 450 degree oven to season the pan, I followed Grace Young's instructions to stirfry green onions & ginger slices in the wok until they were black (they are then discarded). As I've used the pan, some of the seasoning has scraped off using the recommended wok "shovel", but it still performed beautifully. A wok seasoned like this can be cleaned by putting hot water in it for a few minutes to soak, then wiping it out with a sponge, rinsing with hot water, & placing back on a low burner to bake off all moisture. I usually wipe a small bit of peanut oil on the inside while the wok is still warm. Grace Young says it takes a year of cooking in a carbon steel wok to fully develop its patina, and I can see this happening. She recommends popping popcorn in the wok as a way to speed up the seasoning process, and this works for me.