Excellent wok, with one caveat about initial seasoning.
I cooked with my new wok today (more on that later). I wanted to share this photo of the new wok beside my trusty 40 year-old family heirloom, which is a handmade hammered steel wok. It has been a workhorse. The hammer marks on my old wok serve to hold food that you want to pull away from the hot middle while you add more ingredients, or reduce a sauce. The hammer marks on this new Souped-up-recipes wok are more pronounced, so should serve the same purpose even better. They are manufactured, not hand- hammered.I followed the seasoning instructions exactly, including washing off the protective wax. I think not all the wax came off in hot soapy water though, as the seasoning oil just wanted to slide off. I made two applications of oil and hour-long bakes in the oven. However, the seasoning process was not really successful.Tonight I cooked kung pao chicken in the new wok. The first ingredient was marinated chicken in a generous amount of oil. The chicken stuck really bad! After cooking the chicken, I paused the recipe to deglaze the pan with some water and a lot of elbow grease. The good news is that I think the wok is ready to be seasoned again, the bad news is that we probably got some of the wax in our food.Bottom line, compared to my trusty old wok, this wok looks to be high quality. The weight is nearly the same, and the flat bottom is a little easier to deal with on the stove. Unless I come back to update this review in case I am not able to get it properly seasoned for nonstick cooking, then you can be sure that this wok is a good buy. It seems very sturdy and should last decades.*Update* After seasoning again, and doing some deep frying, this wok is perfectly seasoned and completely non-stick.*Another update after 10 months* I use this wok at least once per week. I haven't had to re-season even once. It has developed a beautiful patina making it completely nonstick. As soon as I dump the food into a serving dish, I take the hot wok to the sink and rinse with hot water. Everything comes off easily with a few scrapes of the spatula, and a few swipes with a nylon brush. No soap! Back on the hot stove with the burner off for a quick dry while we eat. I couldn't be happier with this wok!
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Sarina E.
February 03, 2026
Amazing Wok for a great price!
I've this wok for over 2 years now and I it is amazing. Congratulations on such a quality product and it's a pleasure to use every time I cook. What I value most is the ease of cleaning. I contacted you a few years ago because I was nervous that I had somehow messed it up as I was learning to use a proper wok made a carbon steel. You were kind enough to write back. I solved the problem in the end, but the personalized attention was lovely. I'll keep following your work and thanks so much for making hours in the kitchen even more fun.
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Wonderful Wok
Love this carbon steel wok! You can build a high-quality, durable non-stick coating that improves with use. Simply remove the factory coating with a thorough soapy wash—that’s the only time you’ll need soap. It’s incredibly versatile and ideal for cooking a wide range of Asian dishes. Just be sure to heat it until it’s smoking hot before adding ingredients to maintain its non-stick performance.
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Good wok, but it is being retired.
I have now used this wok for about 2+ years and still going strong as long you know how to take care of a wok. I have recently bought a real hand hammered wok (Oxenforge) because the pivots made by the machine is making me use more oil then I want to, plus it is also harder to clean with those pivots. I will probably still use it for other task (when lots of oil is required like pan fried or deep fried).Dec 18 2025 UPDATE:I have gotten myself an 13.3" Oxenforged Wok that is really hand hammered. I didn't know what I was missing till I got the OXenforge wok. I don't blame this wok at all other than the machine hammer markings. But I now use the Oxenforge wok with a dedicated wok induction burner, and the TRUE wok-hei is here, the sides actually being heated, not just the bottom.
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Some Person
April 25, 2020
Best Value For Your Money
Best value for your money. Not only do you get a great quality wok and lid, but you get a wok spatula, instructions and a whole load of recipes via YouTube. I had no problem seasoning the wok and it really holds a lot. I've only had it a few days but already cooked noodles, Bang Bang noodles, pork fried rice, beef broccoli, and donuts.Update:I've had this wok for 8 months. I've been using it almost daily. Today, I decided to re-season the wok. I'm getting the sense that most of the bad reviews about coating and other things are from people not actually following the instructions and the videos. My seasoning was mostly fine, but I made the mistake at one point, about 7 months in, of letting honey caramelize and harden onto the bottom. I scrubbed it out with a scouring pad, which took off some of the patina.I redid the seasoning today using the side burner on my grill (last two images are of the grill and the final patina). It took about 40 minutes doing this by hand and being careful to only spread a thin coat of oil and letting it smoke off, while rotating the wok on a ring to various parts where I wanted to build a patina. It worked well to restore the patina and I was able to immediately cook pork fried rice with no issues. You have to maintain your wok, people.After every use, I immediately rinse it out with no soap. I scrub off any food particles that may be left with a soft scrubber (no metal). Then I dry off the bottom, place it on the stove on high and let the water evaporate (so the thing doesn't rust...it's carbon steel!). Then, I put a very light coat of oil using a paper towel and tongs and let it smoke off. That's it. Take less than 5 minutes and I can put the thing away. The lid doesn't go in the oven, I don't use it every time I cook and it's been perfect for me.When I first built the patina, I followed the directions by cleaning and it then putting it in the oven and building the patina an hour at a time with a fresh thin coat of oil. You have to be patient. My guess is that if you do what you're supposed to and be patient about it and make sure to put at least 5 coats on to build the patina (that's at least 5 hours), you'll be set for a very long time. When I redid the patina, I did it by hand in 40 minutes and it's solid.
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