Customer Reviews

Typhoon Professional 14-Inch Carbon Steel Wok

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

got the Joyce Chen's unseasoned carbon steel wok first. Receive damaged. Returned and replaced with this Typhoon wok and very happy with the quality:

*) well packaged, can be given away as gift without losing face;
*) solid wok, 2.5mm steel rather than 1.8mm from joyce chen;
*) clear seasoning instruction;
*) handles are welded on the wok: no dead spot when cleaning;

overall, joyce chen's wok looks like the one you can find in chinatown supermaket's shelf, which has 20 wok stacked together; and the Typhoon one is like the one for Macy's -- totally outclass the joyce chen's.

About seasoning, even thou the Typhoon's instruction is clear, I still used the same old instruction that my grandma taught me. Here I share it with you. I am not a chemist or material scientist. So don't ask me the reason behind it:
1) filled with water, throw in 10 or so cheap tea bags - any will do, cheaper the better;
2) bring the water to boil. for a while (5 minutes or so), you will see the sheet of film floating out. it is the coating put on by the factory. even thou they say it is odorless and harmless and can be burn away with high heat, I would rather just deal with the bare steel;
3) brush the film out. keep the water boiling for another 10-20 minutes.
4) pour the water out, and wipe dry the wok. you will see the metal turned brownish blue;
5) start cooking the wok, if you have bacon, use it to wipe around the inner wall of the wok, otherwise, wipe the vegetable oil by using the paper towel; if you are not using a gas stove, it may be better off using the oven. Just put it in the oven and boiled for 10 minutes.
6) after the wok turned brown, take it out and air cool it down. 7) rinse the wok off and clean with sponge. wipe dry and you are done.

hope this helps.

I bought this wok about 6 months ago from amazon. I have decided that I wanted a carbon steel wok from my online research. I love my cast iron pans, and I want my wok to have the similar feel instead of the non-stick, easily-scratched kind.

I was a little skeptical of this wok at first due to the low price tag (less than Joyce Chan's brand), but the Typhoon wok turned out to be better than the Joyce Chan 14" wok that I tried out at the store. The handles are sturdy, especially the helper handle (all of the Joyce Chan wok's helper handle were a little shaky). I also like how the handles on the Typhoon wok are welded in.

I love the large size of the wok, I know it's heavier than what most people are used to, but since I am used to heavy cast iron pans, this is not that different for me, but I can see how some people might have a harder time with this wok. My wife can use it fine, but usually needs both hands for tossing.

I would recommend buying a cover for the wok from a local Asian food market, they are pretty cheap, usually less than $10. A 13" inch one will fit this wok nicely. And while you're there, pick up some bamboo steamer baskets as well.

I tried the tea bag trick one of the reviewers provided, but it didn't work for me. (Perhaps it's not the right kind of tea?) I end up seasoning the wok according to the instructions included, and I think it turned out okay.

Like cast iron cookware, you should clean this wok as soon as you are done using it. Don't let the wok sit in your sink or stove top until the next meal uncleaned, it will be difficult to remove all the "stuff" from the wok... I just treat it like my other cast iron cookware, I rinse it with hot water first (no soap!), and if there is still some stuff in the pan, then I pour a little oil and some coarse salt (table salt won't work, get Kosher salt), and use a paper towel to wipe the wok down, and then rinse it again with hot water. Then I put it back on the stove to burn off the water, and then wipe it with some oil before I put it away (or cook my next dish). If you do, however, let it sit for longer and the food is now stuck on the wok even after you tried to wash it off with water/oil, don't worry, you can still fix it, just crank up the heat and burn the food pieces off, and then repeat with the hot water -> oil + salt cycle.

I really like this wok, I cannot imagine working with a wok smaller than this size... although I usually only cook for 2 people, I like to have some room to work with, and this 14" wok provides that. It's much easier to toss, and the thicker/heavier steel gives your food that perfect sear. I use this wok almost everyday, and I am not worried about scratching it - It's one of the benefits of having cast iron-like cookware - even if you scratched it, you can still re-season it and "fix" it. I use a combination of metal tong and wooden spoon to work with this wok, and so far I have not managed to scratched it.

Pros:
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- Cheap
- Sturdy & thick
- Sears food perfectly once properly seasoned
- Almost non-stick once properly seasoned
- Welded-on handles

Cons:
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- Requires cleaning immediately after use (my wife think it's a pro, this forces me to clean up my mess right away)
- Heavy
- Requires more care (but worth it to some)

Overall, I treat this wok just like my cast iron pans, except I don't put it in a 450 degree oven because I am afraid of the wooden handles catching on fire.

I love this wok. Heavy duty compared to woks you buy at oriental stores. I highly recommend it.

I have owned several non-stick woks. This was my first carbon steel purchase. It seems like a great solid wok, however, I had a hard time getting the handle on and when I got it on, it still slightly wiggles. Wok is nicely roomy and works well otherwise.

We have found this wok to be decent, but you can tell it may not be of the best quality or hand craft. The handle did not fit well into the orifice so we had difficulty in the set up. But once we were cooking with it, we found it to do the job a wok is supposed to do.

I really love this wok, having been stuck with a pathetic little 9-inch wok for tooooo long. This one has nice surface area and the handles are great, they did not get hot. We seasoned it really well and used it at high temperature so we had no sticking issues.

Just the right size to stirfry without all the food ending up on the stove -- you'll need a good size stove with high output burners to use this large wok properly. You need the two wood handles to use a wok this big. Good Luck & Good cookin!

The wok is OK, however the "lacquer" coating is impossible to get off...I followed the instructions to the letter...it just won't come off, I practically managed to bake it in. In desperation I started to sand it...and yes that will take the lacquer off but only after over one hour of sanding. And the lacquer is not odorless or tasteless as they claim in their pamphlet. I don't know how Typhoon can ship a product with such an obvious flaw; maybe someone changed the formulation of the protective lacquer without thinking that it should be easy to remove... I should have returned it to Amazon but it looked really bad after my failed attempts at removing the lacquer; plus, it isn't Amazon's fault. I really hope Typhoon reads this and fixes this problem.

This pan is wonderful - it is heavy duty and has a great handle. It was a little tricky to assemble, but once done, it is sturdy. I think this is an incredible bargain for such a great pan.

Horrible, horrible, horrible. I wish I had read these reviews before making a purchase. I followed lacquer removal procedure to the letter but there is no way of telling whether it has been removed. I assumed that it had an invisible coating that I had removed with the oil during cleaning. It worked well as a wok the first (and only) time I used it. But even with wooden implements, chips of lacquer came off into the food. (Very crunchy but no thanks!) I don't understand how this comes out with a 4.5 Amazon rating. Perhaps there are different product lines, with some woks having easy to remove lacquer.