Mr. Bar-B-Q Cast-Iron Wok
by MR. BAR-B-Q
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List Price: Our Price: $44.00 Availability: Usually ships in 3-4 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Mr. Bar-B-Q Cast-Iron Wok
Customer Review: Great, but re-season it.
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a fantastic wok. It has a round bottom on the inside and a flat bottom on the outside so it fits on a flattop stove with no problems. It's the closest your gonna get to a traditional thin-steel wok on this kind of stove. HOWEVER, the fist time I heated this thing up it emitted some seriously noxious fumes. A the *least* you need to throughly wash the thing (with soap) before you use it. A better option would be to totally re-season it. The factory seasoning can be removed by running it through your oven's self-cleaning cycle. This will turn the existing seasoning to ash which you can easily wash off.Customer Review: Has its good points, but still not quite what I wanted.
Summary: 3 Stars
I love cast iron and wok cooking, so this was almost a no-brainer purchase. I love cast iron because of the ability to season it to a non-stick surface naturally. The biggest downfall of this piece of equipment is that I cannot quite accomplish that because the cooking surface is not smooth enough. The surface is fairly rough and irregular, which is slightly difficult when trying to stir-fry.
On the other hand, it is a very convenient size for cooking; neither too small or large, and very sturdy on the stove. The handles are not only convenient, but necessary because it is very heavy. It stands alone so you can use both your hands for just the cooking. It does make storage difficult due to its size, and because of its weight, you can't cubby it standing on its side. I have to keep it on top of my fridge and then I have to wash it before I use it each time.
The last problem I had with it is that, no matter how long I seem to leave it on my gas stove prior to cooking, it doesn't seem to get quite hot enough or retain high enough heat to get a really good sear or even, quick softening of the veggies. I would venture to say the thickness through the base is detrimental. I want to love this item, but I can't quite get there. I must say, in its defense, that I haven't found one better, either.
Bottom line: if the inner surface were smooth like the inner surface of other cast iron skillets, I think it would be much much more useful.
Customer Review: Heavy Wok
Summary: 5 Stars
According to the advertised description of this cast iron wok, it weighs 11 lbs. I didn't realize how heavy 11 lbs. would be until I received this wok! If the weight of the wok is not an issue, then I would recommend it for several reasons. Not only is the price excellent, but the wok is easy to season and maintain. It heats evenly and is capable of cooking a great deal of food at once. All the cooks in my family love it!Customer Review: Heavy but great wok.
Summary: 5 Stars
I wanted to switch from a thin metal wok to a cast iron one because the mass of cast iron can store a lot of heat. This one works perfectly for me in that regard and is just a good wok once you have it properly seasoned. The only hesitation anyone should have in buying this, is the weight. It is very helpful in building up that heat so it doesn't cool down mid stir fry but may be a bit big for some people. I am a pretty big guy and it is still a two hand kind of wok for me. I can't call that a problem though, since the extra metal soaks up the heat that lets you come close to the type of stir frying that restaurants can do. The price is very reasonable for such a big wok as well.Customer Review: Heavy but love it!
Summary: 5 Stars
After reading the reviews, I was a bit nervous about buying this wok due to the negative comments. I eventually decided against buying the $50+ wok and went with this one. I received and used my wok on yesterday. The wok is heavy, but it does a GREAT job. It's worth the weight (no pun intended--hahaha). I was a bit concerned when going through the initial cleaning and seasoning process, thinking that I was not getting the gunk off. When oiling it (I rubbed the oil in with a white paper towel), the paper towel turned black. I rewashed the wok twice and the paper towel would still be black. I finally decided to proceed and put it in the oven for an hour as recommended in the instructions. There was a weird smell, but I figured it was the rest if the gunk burning off. After all was said and done, I cooked in it, the food was GREAT, and when I rinsed the wok out and reseasoned it, there was no black stuff. Good wok, good price, and highly recommended.