The nonstick coating on nonstick woks (like the coating on nonstick pans) degrades from high temperatures and the constant spatula contact of stir-frying, so it’s not ideal. A wood handle that has a little girth is helpful for safe maneuvering of the wok.
Also great: Yosukata Flat Bottom 15-inch Pre-Seasoned Blue Carbon Steel Wok
This lovely pre-seasoned wok provides a shortcut to a slick surface, though it still requires some prep. It’s stable but heavy, so lifting it requires some strength (and likely both hands).
If you’re looking to jump the turnstile on the seasoning process, the Yosukata 13.5-inch Pre-Seasoned Blue Carbon Steel Wok comes with a ready-made patina. Yosukata doesn’t make it entirely clear how the wok has been pre-seasoned (the website describes it as having been “pre-seasoned at high temperatures using special techniques”). But the outcome is a slicker, more nonstick surface right off the bat.
Its nonstick seasoning is slicker to start with and resists flaking. During our steaming tests, other woks’ seasonings sloughed off in spots, but we saw less of that in the Yosukata wok.
This wok is also beautiful. The hand-hammered bowl has a dark teal hue, achieved through a “bluing” process that makes its carbon steel more resistant to rust and corrosion.
The shape is stable and smooth for easy stir-frying. Its flat circular base is even wider than that of the Sur La Table wok, measuring 6.75 inches across; neither wok budges on a gas or glass-top range. Like our top pick, the Yosukata wok also curves subtly up the sides, so a spatula can run along its interior nearly as smoothly as with a round-bottom wok.
But the wide basin requires more oil when deep-frying. This is less ideal if you’re frying in small batches, but the upside is you also have room to fry more items at once. And because the bowl is hand-hammered, oil can pool a bit in areas along the wok’s base. In use, this didn’t bother us much, though.
This wok is also 5 ounces heavier than our pick. But it’s still significantly lighter than Yosukata’s round-bottom version, and it was in the middle of the pack compared with the weights of the other models we tested.
Its thick handle is harder to grip, too. Plus, the wooden handle is wrapped with metal for a couple of inches at the base. If you need to choke up on the handle to lift the wok while the wok is hot (which we found we had to do), you need to cover that metal with a thick towel. (At least the metal has a distinct band where it meets the wooden handle, so you know that it’s there. Other woks had wooden handles that transitioned almost seamlessly to wood, making it easier to slide your hand into a painful burn.)
Why you should trust us
Marilyn Ong is a supervising editor on Wirecutter’s kitchen team, and she has made countless batches of fried rice in her wok since she bought it 10 years ago. She’s also written and edited dozens of guides for Wirecutter, covering chopsticks, hot pot, skillets, and more. Before that, she reviewed restaurants in Beijing.
The Truth About Non-Stick Woks! – Steel Wok vs Non-Stick Wok! Which should you buy?!?
FAQ
Do nonstick woks work?
Is non-stick wok better than carbon steel?
What to avoid when buying wok?
What is the best material for a wok to be made of?
Are non-stick woks good?
Nonstick woks require less oil and can make your food much healthier. Non-stick woks are also great for beginners who’ve never used woks before. They can be sort of a training wok for people like that. So, yes, non-stick woks have their advantages.
Does a Wok have a non-stick coating?
With the current interest in low-fat cooking, many manufacturers now offer woks with a non-stick coating. How well non-stick works will depend on the individual coating and how it is applied. However, in general, non-stick coatings don’t work well on carbon steel.
Can a non-stick wok use oil?
After a while, you might be tempted to try out other materials for your wok like a cast iron or stainless steel; but none of them will use as minimal amount of oil as a non-stick wok. This makes the non-stick wok the healthiest choice among all the other types of woks.
How to take care of a non-stick wok?
A few more things that you should be careful of are how you choose to take care of your wok. You cannot use anything rough to clean them like steel scourers. They are too rough and will scrap the non-stick coating of your wok. Non-stick woks work wonderfully when their surfaces are intact and unscathed.