Performance: To analyze a wok's heat conductivity and distribution, we boiled water in each, monitoring how long it took to come to a boil and how long to cool down. We also recorded how well a wok seared beef and browned rice. Design: The best woks have a classic sloped sides, enough cooking space for a 4-person household, useful handles, and look great when left out on the stove. We rated woks higher when those handles stayed exceptionally cool when over high heat. A wok's price tag is just that, a price tag: We tested a few woks more expensive than any on this list. We found that there wasn't anything extraordinary about their performance or design, and a couple were even harder to use.

Storage & organisation Furniture Textiles Kitchenware & tableware Kitchens Lighting Decoration Rugs, mats & flooring Beds & mattresses Baby & children Smart home Bathroom products Laundry & cleaning Plants & plant pots Home electronics Home improvement Outdoor living Food & beverages Christmas Shop Shop by room Ease of Use: Woks are meant to be moved around during cooking. We assessed how easy a wok was to maneuver on the stove, especially when we were tossing food around while making stir-fry or fried rice.

The best woks can do it all, but only a wok can turn out stir-fry as it's meant to be: with vegetables that are vibrant, blissfully blistered, yet tender-crisp; meat that captures a little browning without drying out; and dishes with little oil but a lot of naturally extruded flavor. Not only does a wok allow you to cook high-volume ingredients—like the vegetable-heavy dishes Asian cuisine is known for—by virtue of its tall sides, but its sloping sides also catch heat in a blooming pattern, creating different zones. Where the flames hug the bowl is where you sear; up toward the edge is where you keep warm and dry. Our Lab team has spent collective decades working in professional kitchens, developing recipes, and testing kitchen gear.

We like the generous 14-inch diameter of this wok, which allows you to cook several portions at once. There's more than enough room to feed four people, to make enough food for a dinner party, or to even do a little meal-prep for your workday lunches. A long handle and stay-cool silicone helper loop provide yet another failsafe, and a flat base means anyone with a gas or electric stove can get cooking. Home woks come in a wide range of sizes, from small 8-inch versions that are ideal for singles, all the way to 36 inches for feeding a party. A good average size to have is a 12- or 14-inch wok, which fits well on a standard stove, and can typically feed three to four people depending on their appetites. It will give you enough room to stir-fry a generous amount of food without worrying you might accidentally toss some of it out of the wok. A wok's handle is equally as important: A too-short wok handle could mean it getting too hot to handle (or worse, using a kitchen rag and risking it catch on fire). An uncomfortable handle means tossing food with two hands or arm fatigue while cooking. The worst handle is one that can't be taken off and can't go into an oven when the wok itself needs proper oven seasoning. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ We did find that this carbon steel wok was on the heavier side, so keep that in mind if you have any issues with strength or mobility. As with all carbon steel, you'll need to keep up the pan's finish by taking some time out to clean the wok and go through the seasoning process once more before storing it away. During that seasoning process, you'll need to remove the handle before placing the oven as only the wok itself is oven-safe.Cast iron is another heavy-duty material perfect for high-heat cooking because of its ability to maintain heat—this makes it the perfect choice for searing and deep-frying, and also for keeping foods warm for a long time. While cast iron requires a little bit of special care to maintain its seasoning, cookware made from this material has a very long lifespan and can be used on virtually any cooktop. This material is great for big-batch stir-fries; however, hot handles and heavy weight make it unsuitable for tossing if that’s your wok style. We cleaned this wok with soap and water, but according to Chen, the process of scrubbing, rinsing, and heating your carbon steel wok really is the best way to keep it clean—no soap is necessary. It does require stovetop drying and oil rubbing after every use, but this meticulous care ensures it continues to get better with use. Woks are incredibly versatile," says Chen. "Stir-frys are easy because you can toss the vegetables easily in the conical shape of a wok as it creates more even cooking. One can deep fry, steam, poach as the shape allows for more efficient use of liquids like water and oil." What is the best way to prepare your wok for cooking? Traditional, round-bottomed woks are meant to be used with a special stove featuring a burner that is fitted to cradle a wok. This setup creates a hotspot at the bottom while sending heat up the sides of the wok, and also allows for a smooth scooping motion to stir ingredients around. Flat bottoms are an evolutionary allowance for flat cooktops. These center the hot point on the surface that touches the burner, taking a longer time for the sides to capture and keep higher temperatures.

We love the slightly-wider-than-normal bottom that allows you to cook more food in less time. We also like the design, from the curvy, yet comfortable, handles to the inlaid glass window in the cover. That allows you to see what's happening inside whether you're making fried rice or popcorn. And while this is a big pot, it's nice enough that you'll want to keep it out and large enough to be constantly useful. It is dishwasher-safe, though you might end up hand-washing since it will take up a good amount of room. However, raw carbon steel requires a lot of seasoning, and all carbon steel is higher maintenance than other materials, as it must be hand-washed, kept dry, and oiled frequently. In a home kitchen, the metallic odor will take some time and use before fading. Additionally, rounded-bottom woks are only suitable for gas stoves with a wok ring.We tested 18 woks side-by-side in our Birmingham, Alabama, testing labto find out which were easiest to use and produced accurate readings. Additionally, our expert testers use certain models in their home kitchens, and regularly supply us with home-cooking insights and updates on long-term wear and tear. Traditional woks are constructed out of carbon steel, an alloy made of iron and carbon. It has many similar properties to cast iron: it holds heat well, can be used on any sort of cooktop (including open flame and induction), and is extremely durable. Carbon steel is lighter and less brittle than cast iron and is also more responsive to changes in heat. The malleability of carbon steel also lends itself well to shaping and pressing, so the surface of a carbon steel pan will be smooth in comparison to the rougher surface of a cast iron pan. This 1800-watt Pro model is a serious upgrade from the standard Breville Hot Wok, offering an additional boost of energy that allows this model to cooker hotter—up to 425 degrees—and faster than before. That’s just the right formula to help you sear and seal, but 15 other heat settings make this appliance just as functional as a wok over a fire. You can warm, slow cook, deep-fry, or steam with ease, especially since the tempered glass lid has an adjustable vent that gives you better control over covered cooking. We recommend it for stir-fry, fajitas, and steaming. Plus, you can use it to make wings for a crowd. After cooking, we were able to wash away everything easily with a gentle scrub and rinse, and re-seasoning with oil and a paper towel helped pull away anything that was left behind. The only thing we could really complain about were how hot the metal parts of the handles get, but that's easily solved by keeping an oven mitt or dish towel nearby to protect the hands when needed.