JOYCE CHEN Professional Series 14-Inch Cast Iron Wok with Maple Handle

I love this wok!! It works great with my ceramic stovetop, heats quickly, evenly & adjusts to whatever temp I choose (do not use in the oven tho). Arrived without a blemish & is such an asset to my kitchen. (Don't forget to order Joyce Chen's 13.5 lid separately too... wish it came w/ lid, but it doesn't.) I previously had an electric wok that didn't heat up high enough & I suffered with that piece of junk for 25 years not knowing I could find a quality lightweight, flat bottomed cast iron wok that would work with my ceramic stovetop. Problem solved!) It says it's already seasoned, but I decided to do as others recommended in the reviews. Before my first use I rinsed it out with hot water, dried w/with paper towel, then put a small amount vegetable oil covering all inside surfaces & heated it on my stovetop on high for a minute or two. I NEVER use detergent on it & just scrape out any food with the PAO stainless steel wok spatula (recommended in reviews & I would highly recommend it) then just rinse with hot water & dry it well, then wipe inside with a small amount of veg oil before storing it or it will rust & that will deteriorate the cast iron. Don't put into your sink or put cold water in it or soak it .....I heard it would crack cuz temp changes are bad for this wok. You can heat up warm water on stove on high if you want to sterilize it a bit. I just followed a few rules I saw in reviews .... & it's been working like a dream! The wok, lid & spatula came to less than a $100, which seemed like a fair price for a quality product that will hopefully last for years. Now I can start experimenting with more new Asian recipes! No regrets here! Enjoy! Hope this helps others too! :-)

UPDATE: The coating applied at the factory started bubbling and peeling off. It got into my food. I don't know what it is, but I presume is the same basic coating Lodge uses on their cookware, which is some kind of edible oil. I guess I wasn't that worried about it from a safety perspective, but the flakes did get into my food. Still it was unsightly, so I stripped it down to the bare metal. Unfortunately, you can't season this thing in an oven because of the wood handles, so I did it over my charcoal grill. It worked well enough. As far as cooking goes, it definitely works OK with charcoal or open flame, but is quite miserable with surfaces that are electric, including induction. Only the very bottom gets hot--the sides, less so. I'm changing my rating to one-star because of the limited cooking uses and the peeling. It does what it says, is relatively easy to clean, and is light. I don't think it distributes heat well, though, especially on electric, induction, or glass-top ranges. Very hot on the bottom, very cool on the sides. I'm sure it would do much better on gas. I'm going to try it on my outdoor grill as soon as the temperature gets better.

I don't write many reviews, but wanted to give this one to assist others who may be trying to choose the right wok. This is definitely a well crafted wok, however its performance on a western gas stove of 12,000 BTUs is inferior to the carbon steel flat bottom 14 inch American made wok from the Wok Shop, which has a thicker "core" or base area at the bottom, or as another reviewer stated "it has a heavily 'padded' bottom of steel." I've stir fried with both woks and can say without reservation that the carbon steel wok referred to here is the better choice for a standard western gas stove. The Joyce Chen cast iron wok is actually thinner at the base area than the carbon steel one (the carbon steel wok weighs 4 pounds compared to the Joyce Chen cast iron wok at only 3 pounds, 11 ounces), causing it to lose heat rapidly when adding the liquid ingredients, and then it takes longer time to recover than the carbon steel wok, which is not what you want in a stir fry because it will turn it into a braise instead. Other considerations: The 14 inch carbon steel wok mentioned above also has a smoother transition from the flat bottom area to the sides than the Joyce Chen cast iron wok which has a more abrupt "turn" from the flat area to the sides. The carbon steel has more of the feel of a round bottom wok when stir frying with a wok spatula or "wok shovel." Also the carbon steel wok seems to preheat slightly faster than the cast iron in spite of its heavier weight, as well as recovering faster after adding liquid ingredients, or sauces. Another slight advantage to the carbon steel wok is that there are no rivets to contend with on the cooking surface. The carbon steel is also less finicky in that you can wash it out while it is still fairly hot. I have to agree with Grace Young that the carbon steel is the best bet. I hope this review is helpful.

Used 3-4 times a week on an induction cooktop. Wok is well made and cooks evenly (allow a few minutes to heat up completely). It's barely heavier than a carbon steel one. No problems with food sticking, even eggs. It is cast iron, so requires a bit maintenance. After cleaning, heat the wok until it's quite warm, add a tiny bit of flax or grape seed oil and wipe it over the inside with a cloth until it disappears. I haven't experienced any on the reported issues with the factory seasoning or warping. Perhaps some are heating the pan too quickly or leaving it too hot too long. Cast iron retains heat, so once it's up to temperature, you need to modulate the heat so you don't burn the food or the pan. On my induction hob, I've never cooked anything at high. Medium high setting gets the pan up past 260C (500F) in just a few minutes. Once it's cooking, I often turn it down to medium.

Seriously good quality wok. I've used dodgy ones before and it's so damn nice to have a real cast iron one. Now to figure out how to cure these things... :)

Terrific wok. I got it because I wanted to increase my iron intake from using cast iron pots, and stop using my potentially poisonous non-stick wok. Light and easy to manage. Seasoned properly so food doesn’t stick. So fabulous I bought a second one.

This is not a real cast iron pan. It is more a non stick coated pan. I have a Lodge cast iron pan, the food would stick when used for the first time. For this one, when I just got it, even water couldn't stay, exactly like the teflon or other non stick coated pans. Then I tried to pan fry some meat, nothing stuck on it, totally shining. I already used it one time, can't return it anymore, so this is going to be a waste for me. To my knowledge, any coated pan shouldn't cook at high temperature or use metal utensils. Forget about stir fry. Maybe boil some vegetables or make scrambled egg is good with this pan.

I bought this a year ago. This company claimed it's none stick and won't peel off because it's cast iron. It also claimed the woke can stand high temperature. The coating started to come off unless than 6 months after I started to use. Now the coating on the base is almost gone. I can see this company has changed list of the features in this website. I wish I took a picture of the previous list of features and posting in this review, so people can see. They should be truthful describing their product.