Helen's Asian Kitchen Wok, Carbon Steel, 8-Inch, for Single-Serve or Smaller Portions

I wanted a small carbon steel wok for my camping van, but this one is so useful it works in my home kitchen most of the time. With use and proper cleaning, it has taken on a nice, non-stick patina just as it should. Sized perfectly for 1-2 person cooking; too small for a family. I have other carbon steel and cast iron devices, and this one is as good or better than all the rest. Definitely has a place in my kitchen.

I bought this flat-bottom wok to use on my Viking induction plate. It is a beauty, with solid and sturdy wooden handles. I believe this is termed a "spun" factory-made wok, because of the concentric circles that are evident in the metal. The gauge is the proper thickness and when I press on the sides with my hands I cannot bend it. If you don't know how to season a wok this one comes with very clear and concise instructions for seasoning. Personally, I think everyone buying a wok for the first time should also consider buying Grace Young's The Breath of a Wok: Unlocking the Spirit of Chinese Wok Cooking Through Recipes and Lore . You will find many helpful "recipes" for seasoning a wok in that book. In fact, if you are new to wok-ing, and not in a big rush to get started, you should buy the book before you buy the wok. It is the best stir-frying cookbook I own, and is more important to a novice wok-er than her newer book Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge: The Ultimate Guide to Mastery, with Authentic Recipes and Stories . I also have a 16" round bottom wok that I use on an Eastman Outdoors 90411 Portable Kahuna Burner out in the yard. (Sorry, I tried to provide a product link, but failed. It is offered by Amazon, though.) The 16" wok is a higher gauge metal (which means it is a thinner metal) and I can bend the sides by pushing on it with my hands. The thinner metal gives me some trouble on the powerful burner, and I am much happier with the thickness of this Helen Chen wok. The long, wooden handle makes it easier to manipulate the wok--it is way easier to work with than the metal "ear" handles of my 16". I love to stir-fry, but I hate the smell in the kitchen. So I try to keep my stir-frying activities out-of-doors. Along with this new wok, I also bought a metal cart with wheels Seville Classics SHE18321 Stainless Steel Kitchen Workstation . Now I keep the induction plate and the wok on the cart and wheel the whole setup out to the porch. I can now stir-fry anytime I want to and not worry about the wind. (The powerful flame of the Portable Kahuna Burner does not mix well with any wind over 5mph.) The only thing I don't really like about this product is that the name "Helen Chen" is wood-burned into the top of the long handle. You can not see that in the picture. I consider it a distraction.

I have a couple of different homes and my wok in MN is fantastic. I don't even recall where I purchased it as it's been years. I never had to oil it initially, it works great and is so easy to clean. Nothing sticks to it and I thought most woks were made this way. I literally pulled it from the box and used it and it doesn't have a Teflon-like finish. It's just an awesome wok. Well, last season here in FL, I was searching for one and ended up with this one on Amazon. OMG....what a nightmare! Before using this product, the instruction have you alternate heating the wok and then oiling it. You need to do several rounds of this. It takes a long time! After the initial seasoning, I used it once last season. Here I am a season later and I pulled it out today to use it. The entire interior of the pan was covered in an orange-rust like film. I tried scrubbing it off with my scouring pad and paper towels. I wasted about 30 minutes of my time trying to get this rust off the interior of the wok. I removed as much film as I could and reseasoned the wok with sesame oil. I made my stir fry and the end result tasted like rust. The entire dinner ended up in the trash. In addition, all of the chicken stuck on the bottom of the wok and I couldn't get it off. Nothing got it clean. In the trash it went and so please, if you're reading this, look for another wok. This one was horrible and I can almost guarantee you won't be happy with it. There are tons of other ones out there. What a waste of money!

Proper cooking in a carbon steel wok requires preparation and technique. Important to note is that seasoning a carbon steel wok is not like seasoning a cast iron pan; you're aiming to blue the steel, then blacken it, forming a protective layer against rust. If you try to treat this like seasoning a cast iron pan, you will likely be upset with the results if you use this to do traditional high heat Cantonese style dishes; that polymerized oil seasoning will be destroyed at those temperatures. I use a 3,600W induction burner and have no issues getting wonderful wok hei in my dishes. Unlike thinner and cheaper carbon steel woks I have used, it has not warped on the bottom at all, despite many trips up to 580+*F (according to my infrared thermometer). If you treat this wok right, it is a wonderful tool. Note: The actual measurement is 13.5" ish across, not 14 though. Price is a little steep compared to my old wok but it comes with a lid which is nice for this size of wok.

Excelente producto, lo he usado únicamente para hacer huevo frito con arroz, la patina ya tiene buen grosor. Excelente artículo si sólo cocinas para 1-2 personas.

Muy bueno pero muy pesado

Perfect and exactly what I required for small stir-fries!

Tres bon Produit. Je le recommender à tous les monde!!! Merci beaucoup!