Joyce Chen 22-9938, Pro Chef 14 Inch 10 Piece Excalibur Non-Stick Wok Set

For people who are serious about stir fry
My family cooks with a wok at least 3 or 4 times a week so we have tried a lot of different woks in the last few years. We have tried the fancy Calphalon, but at 12 inches it was just to small and shallow for cooking family size dishes. Great if you are single or have no kids, but I have two hungry boys to fed. We have also tried the old fashion iron wok from China town. It was huge and tough as a nail but no non-stick coating so you better use lots of cooking oil or else a real work out to clean. So I was really glad to find this 14 inches wok with the excellent excalibur non-stick coating because it is big and deep like a real wok should be, and yet has the high tech coating to make it easy to live with. The excalibur coating is the best one I have used and can stand up to all the abuses in a real kitchen. Great product.

Don't buy
Edit: 6/23/06

After using this wok for a year, the non-stick coating has degraded. The wok smokes quite heavily when it is being pre-heated without oil, much like a cast-iron skillet.

Also, the coating on the bottom of the wok where it contacts the burner has peeled off and there are large areas of rust and carbonized material.

Therefore I can't recommend this wok. It is simply not durable enough. I guess I'll go back to a non-stick skillet.

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I got this wok with some hesistation because I've had bad experiences with nonstick woks in the past due to the nonstick coating coming off. I'm happy to say that the Excalibur coating on this wok seems very durable (it was the reason I got this wok).

I've made the standard Chinese dishes with this wok and it performs well. The size and shape of the wok is perfect and the dishes come out great.

Some people question the practicality of a...

Better than traditional wok.
I've been using this wok for 8 months and it is great! I had a traditional carbon steel wok for a year and a half before this one and was always having problems with it sticking with starchy sauces. Nothing sticks in this wok. The food actually taste a little more flavorful because less is being stuck on the surface of the wok. I use a little less oil in meat dishes. If you do buy this wok you do need to be careful about the heat. It heats hotter than a carbon steel wok, so food will cook faster (and burn if not careful).

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