Great cast iron wok with perfect size
I rated myself as a capable Chinese home cooking ethusiast and I am also a big wok fan who knows the difference between materials of wok.I have already owned several 12/13 inches carbon steel woks at home. For this wok I am specifically looking for something smaller in size and maintain temperature level better so that I can do "宽油" (which means wok filling frying oil) deep fry in a more effective manner.This wok impresses me a lot. I have reduced 1/3 amount of oil used to fry same amount of veggie / meats compared to my other wok with larger size.I only need medium heat to maintain oil temperature during the frying process. To achieve the same on my other carbon steel woks I need to continously do medium high / medium heat for the oil temperature to keep the oil temperate steady during deep fry. Only downside is for this cast iron wok is the temperature rises a little slower compared to carbon steel one but it's not a big deal.For stir fry and pan frie this wok is also very easy to operate. The smaller size translate to lighter and easier manuever. I can flip my Kung-pao chicken perfectly during high heat stir fry without spilling out anything.Thanks to the smaller size of the wok, I am intentionally reduce the portion of food to be stir fried. This makes the cooking faster and leads to improve on the overall texture of my dish. The meat is more tender with quick stir fry on smaller portion. Plus it reduced my family's calorie intake which is also a nice side effect.I was originally worried about rust and maintenance issue for cast iron wok given previous experience dealing with lodge cast iron steak pans. This cast iron wok seems to be fine with initial oil burn-in process. I am not specifically do oil seasoning after each use and it is holding up without rust for 1 month of usage so far. Will keep monitor the situation.Getting this wok for $49.99 on cyber monday sale is like a steal to me. I love this wok and will recommend this to everyone who is a wok fan.