The 5 Best Woks for Effortless Stir Fry and More, According to Our Tests

Our Favorite Wok

Overall, our favorite wok is the Yosukata Carbon Steel Flat Bottom Wok. This pan is versatile, durable, and affordable. And thanks to the carbon steel construction, it conducts heat quickly and retains it throughout the cooking process, which is an essential factor to consider when shopping for a wok. The Joyce Carbon Steel Wok is also a fantastic option if you’re looking for an affordable wok that’s efficient and easy to use. 

Factors to Consider

Pan Material

The material a wok is made from is one of the most important factors to consider when selecting a wok. Huynh says, “[The] material is what will allow you to achieve what we call “wok hei” or the “breath” of the wok — which refers to smoke, seasoning, and flavor that is created when you use the wok regularly in high heat.” 

• Cast Iron: Woks are traditionally made from cast iron, which is a heavy-duty material that’s capable of reaching and maintaining high heat. However, cast iron woks can be heavy and difficult to turn and maneuver.
• Carbon Steel: Huynh says that carbon steel is one of the best materials for woks because it can reach high heat easily while being a more lightweight alternative to cast iron. Carbon steel is a material that combines the heating benefits of cast iron with the ease and efficiency of nonstick cooking, and they're much easier to maneuver than cast iron pans. Plus carbon steel pans are just as sturdy and reliable — they’re capable of achieving a perfect sear thanks to their excellent heat-conducting abilities while natural seasoning helps them remain slick and nonstick. As a result, carbon steel is a fantastic material for woks.

In addition to carbon steel and cast iron, modern woks can also be made from stainless steel or other nonstick materials. Stainless steel takes longer to heat up, but it does retain heat evenly and thoroughly. That means it’s great for achieving an even and consistent sear on meat or vegetables. Though nonstick pans can be convenient, they don’t conduct heat the same way as carbon steel or cast iron woks, and the nonstick coating can begin to degrade at the high heat required in wok cooking. Because carbon steel develops nonstick properties over time, it’s a fantastic alternative to a standard nonstick wok that doesn’t conduct heat as well.

Bottom Shape

Round Bottom: Traditional woks are made with a round bottom, but this style of pan requires a cooking surface that can accommodate it. A restaurant-quality wok burner is specifically designed to safely hold a round-bottomed wok, helping to heat it from all sides while holding it steadily in place.

Flat Bottom: Unfortunately, most Western home kitchens aren’t equipped with a wok burner. As a result, a flat-bottomed wok is preferable for use at home. A flat-bottomed wok is still capable of conducting high heat and is a great option for households that use an electric stove or induction cooktop. 

Handle Style

Handles are important to consider when shopping for a wok because they’re directly related to how easy it will be to use. Wok handles should be angled to help relieve pressure and strain on your wrist, and the angle should make it easier to tilt and turn the wok while stir-frying. Aside from the angle of the handle, also consider what the handle is made of. Woks are capable of reaching high heat, so finding a handle that’s made from a heat-resistant material, like wood or something similar, could make it easier to maneuver. 

How We Tested Woks

Design: To assess the best woks for use in home kitchens, we first examined the specific design elements that made each wok easy or challenging to use. We took features such as their handle's length, material, and angle into account, especially when assessing each pan's maneuverability. We also considered whether they were flat- or round-bottomed when determining their ease of use and practical application in home kitchens.

Heat Conduction: To determine their overall functionality and get a better picture of how the design of each wok impacted its performance, we put each pan through a series of culinary tests. We started by boiling six cups of water in each pan to assess how quickly the material conducted heat and recorded how quickly it cooled down before moving on to our cooking tests.

Stir Frying, Non-Stick Abilities, and Maneuverability: Next, we cooked fried rice and examined the texture of the rice at the end of the cooking process while keeping an eye on whether or not the eggs in the recipe stuck to the cooking surface or if the pan's seasoning was enough to keep its surface nonstick. Since fried rice benefits from flipping and turning during the cooking process, we also examined how easy or challenging each pan was to maneuver, flip, and turn when full of food and assessed the comfortability of each handle in the process.

High-Heat Performance and Seasoning Retention: Finally, we fried beef to determine how each pan performed in high heat. We examined whether or not the pan reached a high enough temperature for the beef to achieve a crispy sear and took into account the texture of the beef after it was cooked. We then considered how easy each pan is to clean and care for, taking note of how the pan’s seasoning reacted to the cooking process and whether or not any of the seasoning was lost from regular use or cleaning.

Other Woks We Tested

Strong Contenders

Mama Fong Pre-Seasoned Blue Carbon Steel Flat Bottom Wok ($98 at Amazon)

While this wok came close to some of our top picks in performance, we noticed that it didn't seem to hold its seasoning very well, which affected the outcome of some of our tested recipes. We loved its overall functionality, but we also would have liked to see a more ergonomic handle placement for easier lifting and tossing.

Cuisinart 10-inch Cast Iron Wok ($35 at Amazon)

The Cuisinart 10-inch Wok produced great results overall, but its smaller size and some drawbacks in its design kept it from ranking higher on our list. With such a small cooking surface, it's easy for this wok to get overcrowded, but this could still be a great pick if you're only cooking for one or two.

Made In Blue Carbon Steel Wok ($139 at Amazon)

Made In is known for the excellent quality of its cookware, and this carbon steel wok is no exception. Its shape, design, and overall performance live up to the Made In name. However, unless you plan to order the special manufacturer-made seasoning wax for this line, you may run into the problem of your seasoning dripping or becoming very sticky in the pan.

ZhenSanHuan Hand-Hammered Iron Wok ($260 at Amazon)

The price of this wok kept it out of our top picks. While the exceptional hand-crafted quality of its construction explains the hefty price tag, we found that its considerable weight and awkward handling prohibited its practical functionality and undermined its value. But the end results we achieved with the ZhenSanHuan wok still make it worthy of competition with some of our favorites.

Williams Sonoma Carbon Steel Flat-Bottom Wok ($30 at Williams Sonoma)

We love that the Williams Sonoma Carbon Steel Wok is incredibly lightweight, but that proved to be a double-edged sword in the kitchen. Its minimal weight made it effortless to maneuver and toss food while cooking, but also made it pretty easy to tip over and required at least one hand to stabilize it when stirring food — a somewhat difficult feat with the close-set handles reaching very high temps.

What Didn't Make the List

We've tested several more woks, but some factors such as price and design kept them from being higher performers. We wanted to like Food 52's Ultimate Carbon Steel Wok, but based on its design, we felt it didn't quite live up to the standards of traditional wok cooking but fit better in the wok-style skillet category. Other models we tested, including Taylor & NG's Starter Wok Set and Milk Street's Hammered Carbon Steel Wok, simply didn't deliver the performance we expected, and their prices kept them from being a real value. Some woks we tried just missed the mark on quality and durability.

Our Expertise

Laura Denby is a food and kitchen product reviewer and former professional chef. Throughout her food writing career, Laura has tested hundreds of pieces of cooking equipment — from nonstick pans to cookie sheets to candy thermometers. She has a degree in Culinary Arts from the Institute of Culinary Education and has over five years of experience working in professional kitchens in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Hamptons. You can find more of Laura’s product reviews at FoodNetwork.com, Forbes, Real Simple, and People.com.