Amore Kitchenware Flamekiss 12" Red Ceramic Coated Nonstick Wok w/ Glass Lid

I was an avid Tefal user and have been using it's 12" wok for a few years until it's non-stick coating wore off bit by bit and I knew I needed a replacement. I've also recently started using a 14" carbon steel wok just to see how I like it since I could not find a similar 12" non-stick wok replacement at that time. However, I knew I still needed a non-stick wok for cooking pasta meals, thus I purchased the Amore non stick wok for it's raved reviews. So far, I've only attempted cooking chinese stir-fries and breakfasts since receiving this wok 2 weeks ago. Here's what I like and don't like about this wok:What I like:- Amore's ceramic coated non-stick wok performed better than my previous Tefal's teflon coated wok in terms of heat conductivity. You could cook using high heat with Amore's wok without subjecting yourself, your family (and your pets too) to any of those toxic fumes. It definitely is the healthier choice here.- It is light-weight. I could easily hold it with one hand while pouring the food into a dish.- Affordable price tag. I've seen similar ceramic non-stick woks for more than double the price.- Comes with a lid (though I've never used it) which would be useful for vegetable stir-fry.- Has a smooth interior without any screw heads which made cleaning a breeze. I rinsed it with hot tap water after cooking, wiped dry with a paper towel to prepare cooking the next dish.What I don't like:- The accompanied glass lid was heavy in my opinion. Since I have my lightweight Tefal glass lid with silicone rim, I used that with this wok instead and it fitted perfectly.- I have cast iron grate on my stove top, and the fact that this wok didn't have a smooth baby's bottom like my other Tefal woks, they scratch each other pretty bad. The red paint was chipped at the bottom while my cast iron grate was left with whitish marks. Not happy about that. Will have to take care not to adjust the wok once I start cooking.- Chinese stir-fries didn't turn out as good as when I cook with my carbon steel wok. It lacked that extra oomph I came to desire and crave. Cooking breakfast eggs, etc was as expected.Overall, it is still a good non-stick wok but for the best chinese stir-fries, I would stick to using the carbon steel wok. I hope the ceramic non-stick coating will last us a good while.

Update: 3/1/2013An easy fix to not pernamently damaged surface:Use paper tissue, add a bit of water and rub the surface with some soap, then try to rub off the grime from not using oil or overheating resulting in certain hard-to brush off grime that looks like 3M sticker residue.If you do not take care of these, you will just lose non stick quality gradually and these grime will be harder and harder to deal with.Update End of Feb/2013:I do find that you just cannot pour tap water into a heated non stick cookware, the same way you can for wok that are well seasoned. I have not tried to abuse this, but in the one instance that this happened out of my care, I can see that later some residue seem to stick. Also, please do not use zero cooking oil if you play to deep cook something. There is something called deep frying which obviously means using a huge amount of oil. So please do.Otherwise still works like a charm.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------For those of you who don't read the descripition, here is a copy paste done for you:Scratch Resistant, Extra Smooth Nano Ceramic Nonstick CoatingFeaturing a nano ceramic coating that is 2-3 times tougher than Teflon, Flamekiss pans ----CAN BE USED WITH METAL UTENSIL---- and will remain scratch free. The durable nonstick coating will not fade or peel and the pans are dishwasher safe.Environment Friendly, 100% PTFE and PFOA FreeFlamekiss pans are 100% PTFE and PFOA free. No harmful chemicals or pollutants are released even when the cookware is placed over high heat.FDA Approved Antimicrobial Silver Ion TechnologyNano silver ion is a modern technology proven to inhibit growth of microbials, mold, mildew, etc. These antimicrobial ions are included in the interior nano ceramic coating.Energy-Efficient Body Design for Superb Heat Retention and DistributionFlamekiss pans feature a base specifically designed to trap and direct heat to the cooking surface. This results in less energy waste and an evenly heated pan.Premium Quality Cast Aluminum ManufacturingFlamekiss pans are premium quality and are manufactured by cast aluminum process for enhanced cooking quality and heat retention. No heavy metals are used in the manufacturing process.Additional DetailsThis product comes with a complete 12 month manufacturer's warranty. Flamekiss by Amorè Kitchenware is a 2Go Products, LLC trademark.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 fast2 clean(super slick, any food or grease oil glide off like silk onto your eat-ware)3 beautiful4 relatively light considering it is a rather big frying pan(12 inch), pretty deep( can pile up a good dozen of big drumsticks and still cook, or put a whole small turkey in there and close the lid-buy seperate)5 Bakelite handle is very sturdy, thick, plastic, designed to be easy cleaned and residue build up free6. "A molded lip" is actually 2 lips on two sides, so u have more freedom and lefty friendly....But, it is not going to help a lot( i am just guessing) with soup, judging from the fact that as u can see in the pic, it is barely visible unless u look close.bar none the best wok i have used. carbon steel wok seasoning and rusting bs?? cast iron skillet heavyweight and rusting an sticking bs? teflon coated stratched up bs? stainlesds steel bad form factor and easy stick/stains?say goodbye.My initial feeling is that this is superior to Ozeri's textured one, and the first reason that comes to mind for my judgemetn and trust in this one is that-this is a minority product. And, this is MADE IN KOREA. that ozeri? it is made in china if I remember correctly, because I remember correctely that the Greblon coating(whatever that is) is made in germany as they claim, and they have the temper to actually ship it to china and assemble. that is pathetic, it makes for having Made in Germany coating almost worthless--any product, even a random cluster combination, has to be coherent to be really good quality. I do not trust made in china stuff, regardless of where material is from. I trust Made in Japan, Germany, USA stuff, regardless of where they get parts.there is non other, i fell in love with this wok the first day i used it, this is it. this is the king. this is my dream cookware.--------------Update after a rough 5 days of continuous usage:1. Got notified by manufacturer: this and all flamekiss bellakiss lineup from Amore uses ceramic SUPERIOR to the established GREBLON that was used only on Verdi from amore, and commonly from other brands of ceramic pans. I am no nanomaterial chem scientist, but from my experience using namely the super popular Ozeri textured pan that had been on the market too long to compare to Amore in terms of "novelty" as selling point, THE DIFFERENCE IN EVERY ASPECT OF THE CERAMIC COATING IS EVIDENT IN A HEARTBEAT. 1) glide: way faster 2) easy of cleaning: for this wok at least, smooth surface beats textured Ozeri hands down. I sat up with it,but my roomie hated the textured ozeri and opted to use a heavily scratched up teflon pan of 2 years old.(he is health conscious), and not only is it smooth, due to fact 1, all food material will easily go into your plates, none left behind. If you are careless and intentionally overcook stuff(i will mention later ), the burnt mark does not stick either. regular burnt marks can be easily wiped off with paper towel, and I only imagine it getting easier as my ordered German brush tools come in. 3） cooking effectiveness: the perks of having a overall high quality coating, is first and formost evident in the cooking. A significantly marginal amount of oil is needed comparing to Ozeri textured pan, helen chen carbon steel wok, generic cast iron skillet, and teflon coated skillet(stuff I have used extensively in the past 2 and a half years of college life), yet the cooking suffers nothing in terms of speed, quality, it is almost as if I have been abusing the amount of oil I used in the past, but I have not done extreme testing on expensive steaks I buy to see if they taste decent without any cooking oil. Either way, this saves you the expensive cooking oil bill, and adds to the product value, without deterring cooking value. 4) the micro silver ion, for those uninitiated, has been used as early as when I was in primary school, by Adidas in their apparel to help with body odor, and is now commonly found in outdoor apparels too. not sure about it's real life benefit, but if it works, then it will-together with the non stick property-aid in convenience of maintenance--specifically, you don't even have to wipe off the oil film(which I am sure contain some microscopic food particles) even if you want to wash off the majority of the visible oil leftover.2. Suggestion to amore: make more wok, not that there are a majority of wok users, but that for those who do use wok, or are interested or on the fence, wok is just superior to pans in terms of versatility. In that regard to see more pans product from any cookware company than wok is just a very pathetic thing, and I hope that Amore is brave enough to make a difference at least in the ceramic field.That's it for now. 2/7 2013---------------------------------------------------------------------update again: friday：left it on medium heat heating up some milk, forgot all about it and took a shower./ mcame back, mild bubbling, bottom seemd toasted. used a utensil, the bottom merely glided off like they were covered silk( the trash u get from overheating milk)conclusion: this thing is just invincible. golden. cannot be trashed, will try to let a cook use it in an oriental restaurant with their crazy fire blowing stove. my guess is this thing still won't get trashed. but aluminum has a limit, one which your average kitchen cannot reach.Minor setback: the bottom downside of the bakelite handle easily gets overheated. Not a big deal unless you are making deep stir fry which will overheat obviously everything, as long as you don't prolong your cooking session you are fine. And there is totally no need to use a cooking glove or any glove at that, it is again, very heat resistant, but the nature of it positioned very closely(almost seamlessly, will talk about that next) with the actual metal body of the wok, makes it inevitable（unless they did do something special and very effective about this issue, of which I am not positive ） that 1. the handle is closer to heat source at the bottom. 2 it is easier, disregarding material, to transfer heat, either by radiation or direct transfer-the latter of which, you'd have to do a study on Bakelite to know for sure.That is the only flaw I have seen so far. The bottom has been very stratch resistant, and since this is a wok you want to hang on your kitchen wall and have that amore and made in KOREA bling satisfy your cooking swag and showing off to folks, for peets sake don't intentionally abuse if you have an induction stove with metal stand and if u move the wok when you cook( i mean if you buy a wok it is obvious you will)