Side by Side Comparison of: Eastman Outdoors vs Joyce Chen

Bought this as a Christmas gift for the boyfriend who enjoys doing most of our cooking. He loves this wok. I was afraid we would have trouble with the handle as many others who reviewed did, so be made sure to fasten it on tightly and it seems great.

I love this pan!! This is my new favorite kitchen utensil. You will need to season it first and ensure that you clean it properly so definitely look up how to care for a wok. Considering that I never cooked on anything other than a non-stick skillet I'm surprised at how fun and easy it was to learn. The best part is dinner can be whipped up in minutes (especially if you pre-chop everything) and it's easy to pull odd ingredients you have in the kitchen and turn them into delicious stir fry.

Very well constructed wok. The wok transfers heat very well.I am just getting into stir fry and purchased this particular wok as it was recommended by the blog Serious Eats.

You treat this wok like cast iron. It must be seasoned before using.I took my time and watched some videos online about seasoning and did that prior to my first use. I would suggest doing it outside on a grill's burning if you can because my house smelled like stir fry oil for about a week. Seasoning took about 1 hour total.

I love this wok and paused when I saw that it didn't have amazing reviews, I now think I know why. If you don't season this properly, treat it with respect and understand how to use a wok, this isn't the cooking implement for you. You really need to spend a lot of time seasoning this wok right when you first get it. I used a combination of Grace Young's ginger and scallion method and then seasoned it in the oven multiple times (we're talking 15-20 times). I put the link to Grace Young's guide to wok seasoning below, for the oven method, heat the oven to 450* and cover the wooden handles with damp cloths and then cover the cloths with tin foil, rub a thin layer of vegetable oil just on the inside of the wok. Place in the oven and let bake for 20 min. Take out and let cool completely, your wok should have taken on a copper color. If you continue to repeat this multiple times, it will take on a dark color. That is what you want. Until your wok is older, stay away from metal utensils as they can chip away at the seasoning on your wok and try not to boil and steam in your wok until it is older. If your wok feels sticky, use Grace Young's method of rubbing about a teaspoon or two of oil in your wok with a teaspoon or two of salt. This will get rid of any sticky oil residue and can also help get off food particles. When you want to wash your wok just use hot water and a natural fiber brush with no soap, then let dry on your stover over low heat until it is fully dry. Rub with oil and put away. If you love cooking asian food, this is a perfect tool for your kitchen, I have made many stir-frys, traditional Sichuan and Chinese recipes and it has performed beautifully. If you're a once-a-year stir-fry enthusiast, maybe just get a non-stick pan as this is a pretty clunky pot to have if you don't use it regularly and see it's worth in the kitchen. I love this pot and am very happy with it and can see it lasting the rest of my life and hopefully into my children's life.

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-season-a-wok-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-171893

This wok is awesome quality and seasoned very well. I used a method found on YouTube under the name Dennis M. I washed thoroughly with steel wool and dish soap, dried it well, then coated the inside and outside in vegetable oil, and baked upside down (handle off) for 20 min at 425 degrees. After baking for 20 min the wok had a nice golden glow. I then recoated the inside with oil and began stir frying some green onions and ginger until they were charred (maybe 20-25 min). That created a nice dark color on the bottom. I'm excited to watch this wok progress! If you use the baking method be sure to cover any exposed wood with a damp cloth and then aluminum foil.

Nearly perfect. I should not have let my husband convince me to go with the double handled version as the secondary handle is not removable. I've had to smoke out my house to keep it seasoned rather than unscrewing the long handle and seasoning in the grill. Great carbon wok, meh on the second handle.

Google "wok recommendations," I'll wait...

Did you do it? The reviews (outside of Amazon) are accurate. This wok feels great in the hand (nice weight, well constructed), comes with a lid and bamboo spatula (enhanced value for the money). Spun surface (I imagine not hand-hammered, but irrelevant), so it has the concentric circles that keep foods from sliding around. Fast, even heating. Make sure you season first (instructions included). Fast even heating.

Go for it!

Upon receipt of the wok, I seasoned it over an outdoor gas burner. It came out very good. I made stir fry chicken and spare ribs with it last night and it worked wonderfully. No sticking at all. It certainly beats teflon coated frying pans.
The only thing I regret is not going for something bigger than 14". Well, one always can use more than one wok, right?

Update: After one year of moderate use (once a week), the handle, which is attached to the bowl by two rivets, came loose. I drilled one rivet out and replaced it with stainless steel bolt, locking washer and nut. It worked well but then the second rivet is now also losing its grip. I'm going to drill it out and replace it with bolt and nut. This time I will permanently epoxy both bolts with JB Weld.
The steel material used to build the bowl is rather flimsy. I found a wok of same size at local Walmart store. This one is built with thicker steel and the handle is attached with two solid anchors. I have been using the Walmart version everyday for the past six months and the handle is still solid. I paid $18 for the Walmart version. I consider it superior to this Joyce Chen version.

This is a great wok, but please make sure to follow these steps....don't worry about the instructions the wok came with, TRUST ME, I've gone through two of these suckers.

1. Remove wok from box and attach handle.
2. Fill about 3/4 of the wok with water and boil (this will help get that sticky oil off).
3. After boiling for a few minutes take off the burner.
4. Wash with a copper or steel scrubber and a little soap!!! (wash the entire wok , I mean top/bottom all over to scrub the oil away (this will be the last time you use a scrubber or even soap to wash the wok)
(There is a factory lacquer oil on the wok, you can't see it but you'll definitely smell it, you must get as much of that oil off before starting the seasoning process).

5. Dry (it's okay if you leave a little water since you will put it right back to the burner).
6. Get the wok back on the burner on medium heat, you will notice the bottom of the pan will start developing a golden color, then almost blue, then darker...
7. After the bottom has some color turn the wok to the side to get the side some heat, repeat this until most of the wok is dark goldish brown/blue, it's perfectly fine if it's not dark all around and is blotchy.
8. Remain on medium heat and even the wok back flat on the burner, now get some oil in there, something that has a high smoke point, lard, canola, veggie oil.....and rub the oil with a paper towel all around the wok, let the wok sit on the medium heat burner for about 5-10 minutes, add more oil if too dry, it might get super smokey so get your windows open and fan running.
9. Now, you should have a seasoned wok!
10. Feel free to throw some bacon in the pan to season even more, I did that but did not eat the bacon, just tossed it out.

After you are done just wash the Wok with a soft sponge and warm water, NO SOAP, NO HARSH SCRUBBER, that will take away the hard work you just put in.

I think it's a great Wok, I will give it 4 not 5 stars because I think it could have come with better instructions on seasoning, I ruined my first one, also it would have been nice to know that there was a lacquer based oil on the wok, I didn't realize that either.....

I've used this wok several times, to replace the Helen Chen wok I purchased a year ago. This wok is SOOOO much better. It heats up faster, it's bigger, and I can't say enough good things about this wok.The teflon is made of Xylan, which is a better material than Helen Chen's teflon which is made of Excalibur.Xylan is much better and doesn't scratch as easily.I use a Bamboo Wok Brush to clean my wok now and I always use hot water when I clean. Then I just take a cloth or paper towel and wipe dry. I rarely use detergent now on my wok just because the food particles come off so easily with this Xylan material.=========== Updated July 4, 2011 =============My 1st Joyce Chan wok started losing it's non-stick coating. It was my fault because I used soap to wash off some gunk that stuck to the pot because I didn't wash it right away after I cooked. I also boiled some beef stew in it, which is a big no no.So I got a second Joyce Chan wok. This time I wasn't going to use the Bamboo Wok Brush to clean but I did season the wok. I read the often conflicting instructions on how to pre-season this carbon steel wok and it started peeling after I rubbed the oil on with a paper towel. This didn't happen with the first wok I got. I then cooked a batch of vegetables and it was covered in black flakes. So $45 for the wok + $5 for the veggies. I lost $50 in one night.At this point I've given up on Joyce Chan's wok. It's kind of a hit and miss with this wok. I'm going to try 3 Piece 14" Preseasoned Flat Bottom Wok Set and see how it goes.

This seems to be a well-constructed wok, but like previous reviewers, I have found that despite diligent 'curing' the metal tends to show 'rusting' after each use. The sides of this particular wok are 'grooved or slotted' which is different from the 'hammered' sides on my previous wok - I believe that I prefer the latter, although this design has not caused any concerns. Of course, this wok does not come with a 'lid', so the cost of the total investment is not inconsequential - worth compare shopping.

Was good for the first couple of times I used it. Then I made some chicken in it and it had stuck to the bottom of the pan. Tried to scrub it off, but didn't work. Then, tried to scrape it off and the coating came off with it. Now, it has rust on the bottom, where the coating came off and am sort of scared to use it again.

It is a lot of work to maintain. Instructions say 20 minutes to season every time you scratch the seasoning or burn anything. Pans that you can season in the oven are much easier. Otherwise a nice pan.

The pan is great, but...the protective plastic or resin coating they put on it is a pain in the ... behind .... to get off. We had to burn it off. Lucky for us we have a decent outdoor propane stove so this was a fairly easy process, but if I had to do it indoors wow that would stink! After that some steel wool to make sure the chemical residues were off then a good seasoning, and it's now a great pan! We were hoping to just season and use, and the extra hour of prep time before use earned it a three star, otherwise would be a five star

Not a very good product. Requires constant seasoning otherwise it rusts. And because the pan is so thin, it develops hot spots. This causes the seasoning to coke over time - becoming soot black which indicates the presence of high carbon organic molecules which are probably carcinogenic.

Given that the material is steel, why not just make it stainless steel and avoid all this pain ?

The one I ordered did not come with any of the extras.

The wok didnt even have a handle...

But from what I could see, the wok seemed okay. hahahah.... . . .

For some reason the provided instructions offer cleaning and prep instructions for a 'non stick pan' that is not part of this product before 'carbon steel' instructions you actually want to read. They are vastly different and you may rust your wok immediately after first use if you make the mistake.
The product maker needs to separate their instruction pamphlets per product, particularly with such a finicky type of metal.

We like the wok, but had to use channel locks to tighten the handle. Otherwise, it was not safe to cook with.

Flimsy wok , sent it back. Got a 2 mm thick one.

This is the "4 pc. 14 in. Xylan Nonstick Wok Set" [...] From the description on the Amazon product page I was expecting the "4 pc. 14" Carbon Steel Wok Set" [...]

The pan looks nice, but has the handle problem others described. There is a metal component that goes through the wooden handle and screws into the part bolted onto the wok. That bolt is too long so if you hold the wooden handle the pan will spin upside down. Not a good thing to happen when cooking hot food!

I'll likely be returning this since a natural carbon steel wok is more authentic and cooks hotter and I don't feel like cutting down the bolt to get the handle to actually function properly.

I let the wok soak for about 15 minutes and the wok was ruined which left a huge ring of rust! I had to throw it away . First time using it too

It's a great wok but definitely will not last a long time. After 8 months with this wok the non-stick is already peeling in the middle of wok so now it's unusable. In the garbage it goes. Definitely will not buy again.

It came misshapen. Lid does not fit it.

My first wok. Seasoned via YouTube info and went very well. BUT, after seasoning the handle is unacceptably lose and feels like it will fall off any second. I will use this as long as it stays together. Next time I'll go to the local Asian Market and get one from them.

The accessories are great but the walk moves around the cook top as it heats. Not worth what I paid for it. Does not work on flat surfaces.