Welcome to Wok Talk. I'm Chef Larry. We're going to talk about woks today. Let's talk about stainless steel. The beautiful thing about stainless steel is the temperature control: very easy to heat up, very easy to cool down. The cleaning process is very simple and doesn't require a lot. Just simply scrub it out, put it away, let it air dry.

Some of the drawbacks with stainless steel. Let's start with the price point. Because of the durability of stainless steel, it makes it a little bit more expensive. Another drawback with stainless steel is that it doesn't really provide that non-stick surface. When cooking proteins, it usually leaves a little bit of a sticky residue at the bottom that we call the fawn, but the beautiful thing about the fawn, it is a perfect base for building your sauces.

Typically in the industry, you'll find a carbon steel wok. It is phenomenal for short order cooking. It gets really high in temperature. It provides that non-stick surface that you're looking for, and there's not a lot of work required when you're moving from meal to meal. In a short order environment. It does require scrubbing with soap and water, but then you also need to make sure that it's completely dry. That includes putting it back on the heat and letting all the water particles evaporate and then seasoning it again after you're done cooking.

You might've heard me mention Cantonese-style woks, which is the woks that have the looped handles.

This is the Mandarin-style wok. It typically has a wooden handle, and it gives you further distance away from the heat source to allow for flipping and safer cooking process.

Cast iron. Cast iron gets hot. It stays hot. It allows you to move from frying to sauteing to baking with ease. It's so versatile and so useful in the kitchen. The sheer weight of the cast iron does provide a little bit of difficulty maneuvering in the kitchen, but it's still a versatile piece of equipment that I would love to have. To maintain the non-stick surface in your cast iron, just like the carbon steel, you need to do a little bit of work after the cooking process. You need to scrub it out, make sure it's completely dry, put it back on the stove, and then season it again.

So if you were to ask me my favorite, I would choose this flat bottom, carbon steel, mandarin wok. I can get the wok experience in any environment on any range. Carbon steel, cast iron, stainless steel, you can't really go wrong. Hopefully this video will help you choose. Enjoy.

Types of Woks Video