School of WokSkinny Wok, Carbon Steel, Healthy Eating Wok, Use Less Oil, 12"/30cm

So so glad I got this. I was getting tired of using so called non stick pans where the non stick coating fades over time, loses their effectiveness and needs replacing. This wok is what a good quality carbon steel pan should be and as a Chinese person with a family of chefs, I’d like to think I know what I’m talking about. It needs to be ‘seasoned’ (prepped) well before first use (instructions are on the packaging and also very easy to do). On each use, make sure to heat the wok up so that it’s hot and starting to smoke before putting any oil in. This will ensure the pan has a non stick quality. The best thing about this is that you can use metal utensils without the worry of damaging the pan. Most importantly to know, carbon steel pans must be cared for in a particular way! You must always completely dry the wok after each use - do not let any moisture sit on the surface as this can cause rusting! Best and most effective way is to wash as normal and rinse off any soap (ideally don’t use washing up liquid at all, just hot water), then place back on the heat to get rid of and dry out all of the water. Swipe a dry cloth over if necessary. Once dry hot, turn off the heat - you can get a paper towel with a tiny amount of cooking oil on it and coat the pan. This will help to protect the pan from moisture while stored away and will also assist with the non-stick quality on the next use! These pans are supposed to darken and discolour and only get better with use. All the reviews that complain about rusting are not caring for their pans properly and those complaining about darkening clearly don’t have a clue about carbon steel pans! These woks are designed to actually work and last for years, not sit and look pretty. It is a lightweight wok that heats up quickly and distributes heat well. It does bow a little after seasoning so is no longer completely flat on the base but works perfectly fine on a ceramic/flat cooker top, it would be even better on a gas cooker though! I have absolutely nothing bad to say about this and if you are serious about cooking and want a good quality pan that will last, I highly recommend this!

The media could not be loaded. I bought this based on the weight, and the size of the base. It is wider than most electric stoves which is rare. Weight is great. Wooden handle insulate the heat well. The non stick elements, well that depends on your seasoning skills. This is my first carbon steel and managed to get a really good coat on it all round using a portable butane stove.

Really wanted to try this (we love Jezza) and not use a non-stick (coated) pan. I've watched countless seasoning videos and used our induction hob, gas bbq, and a plumber's gas torch to try to season this to the point it was non-stick using 3 or 4 different oils (including linseed), and while it's fine for greasy foods i can't say it's anything like a non-stick wok - stuff burns on every time in the same place on the bottom at which point you must clean it properly and then go through the (long) cycle of re-seasoning.It looked great brand new and is very light but it's that thin steel that makes it a 'mare to cook with - esp. on induction. Our old gas range cooker might have been fine, but on an induction hob it does warp on the base (i tried to counter this by heating very slowly first time and hitting the bottom 'in' with a mallet when it started to expand) and therefore just spins uselessly on the smooth glass. The thin steel also heats up immediately in the base (hence burns) but the sides take a lot longer.I'd say for induction you need a heavier flat base (even slightly concaved) and ignore the claims of being non-stick in the traditional sense and just think this is better for the environment a little bit. I do think the rippled effect helps with food sliding around, just not anywhere near as much as a good teflon (or other trade name) coating does.If Jezza wants to send me a much heavier based one, i'd be happy to try that on induction and give my 2p worth....

Bottom is not flat, when heat up goes a bit wonky and wobbly.

i was a bit unsure to buy a steel wok when i saw the reviews mentioning rust and everything, but really wanted to try... after 5 months using it, i can say it's the best kitchen tool i ever used (besides my best knife)!let's do a pros and cons list:+ doesn't stick, it's beautiful how the veggies slide in there!+ heats fast+ i love the smell of it+ feels like you can keep it forever+ that will sound weird, but i love taking care of it, it feels like sending some love to your cooking in the meantime!- once you finished cooking, you've got to empty whatever you cooked in your plate or whatever container and then clean your wok immediately and most importantly, dry it very well! otherwise it will get rusty! so if you like to eat hot and do the dishes an hour after, this wok won't be for you, beware!+ if you forgot to dry it, as it happened once to me, it will get rusty, but if you take a metal brush/sponge and scrap the rust away then re-season it, you're good to go again like nothing happened!- the junction of the handle and the pan part is a little loose on mine, it holds with no worries but i just hope it won't break at some point, otherwise that will mean i can trash the whole thing as i don't know anyone to solder it back together... a little more attention from the makers would have been welcome here, even in that budget.so, to be clear, it's really not for everyone, you need to season it when you get it the first time and redo it every couple of months too ideally. it's a tool you've got to take care of and not something easy/average at all. now if you enjoy cooking with good tools and if you are a well organized person that manages to get their kitchen clean by the time everything is ready to serve, then you can easily serve and clean the wok quickly before you eat and you will love this wok!if you are the type of person that leaves the kitchen in chaos after cooking and who likes to take some time to eat before cleaning everything, get something else because you will be disappointed! :D