Joyce Chen Pro Chef 34 cm 14" Carbon Steel Wok

I've used this wok for a while now and it's a big sturdy wok, I have no regret buying this wok, it's just great to use

Pensé que sería mas pequeño y menos pesado, quizá no sea la opción si quieres usarlo para saltear como en los videos de comida oriental, se complica un poco curarlo en estufa, pero solo en donde están las agarraderas, pero se pueden desmontar y ya es menos complicado, nunca se me ha oxidado, siguiendo las recomendaciones no pasa eso, fue buena compra, entregado a tiempo.

One of my best wok. Non stick not too heavy and easy to clean.

OK so I want to start this review off by saying this is my first wok. I'm fairly confident in the kitchen and I've seasoned cast iron for years, so I wasn't afraid of the seasoning process for a wok. It took me 3 days to do my first seasoning. Some of this was definitely mistakes on my part and the wok maintenance learning curve, but I'll walk through my process so hopefully someone else can learn from my mistakes.Day 1: I heated the wok on my gas burner. I wrapped the handles in tin foil to protect the plastic. I started with wok flat and then occasionally picked it up and tilted it over the burner for a minute on each spot. I spent like 3 hours doing this and here is my first mistake. I didn't realize how much coating was actually on this thing. I thought I had gotten it all off, so I started using vegetable oil to season. I did 3 rounds of vegetable oil coating when I went to google because it just didn't "feel" right to me. This is when I realized that I hadn't removed all of the initial anti-rust coating, because I started applying vegetable oil when the pan hadn't even gotten to the completely silver/gray, let alone to the dark bluish gray that was needed. Well shit, /sigh. This site had some good images of what the wok should look like at each stage. I cobbled together seasoning tips from a few sites as well as the instructions that came with the wok, so I didn’t follow their steps exactly, but the pictures helped a lot. https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-season-a-wok/Day 1-part 2: This time I set up a heavy pot behind my wok and laid each side spot over the gas burner for at least 15mins, and the coating really started coming off this way. It will smoke and have a slight chemical burn smell, use your fan. I slowly turned it until I got a nice silver/gray sheen coming through. Then moved on to the next spot. This is the better way, it stops the wasting of heat, each spot gets cooked long enough to heat up and burn off all of the nasty stuff. Slowly turning it for like a minute on each spot like I did initially was stupid and a huge waste of time. I got the vast majority of the vegetable oil and coating off this way. But there were still a number of stubborn parts (mostly around the handles) that I just couldn't get to. This is when I figured out that you can remove both the handles. The helper handle has 2 screws and the long handle you simply turn/unscrew the holder hook and it comes out. But I was done for the day.Day 2: I washed and scrubbed with dawn dish soap and then dried and threw it in the oven at 500F (After I removed both handles). It was in there for hours (6hrs+) and not much was happening, the remaining spots were definitely getting lighter, but they were still there. I moved up the rack until it sat as close to the broil element as I could and made sure that the two handle spots were aligned with the burner element. And I broiled for another 3hrs. This loosened up some more but after another 3hrs the gunk was still there. I should mention that besides the stubborn spots the rest of the wok was getting to a nice dark bluish black color, I had gotten down to the carbon steel on about 80% of the wok at this point. I turned off the oven and let it cool down in there and went to bed.Day 3: I washed it in the sink with more dawn soap and a copper scrubber. It took a little bit of the gunk off but not enough. At this point I figured my gas bill was going through the roof, so I took some bar keepers friend and the scrubby side of a dish sponge and covered it in bar keepers friend let it sit for a minute and scrubbed it. Rinse and repeat 2 times. I finally had a perfectly clean, no residue left wok!!!! It was a triumph. In hindsight I think I could have probably just started with bar keepers friend. I now had the perfect bluish black tint all over, and now it was time to do my actual seasoning. I dried the wok, put the handles back on, and put it back on the burner with medium high heat and let it heat up for about 3 minutes. Then I dropped 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in and coated it as much as a I could by swirling. Then I folded up a paper towel and swirled around the hot oil, getting all the way up the sides, while wiping off excess. This is when I learned that 2 tbsp is way too much oil for this step. You only need 1 tbsp. I kept it on the burner until it the oil looked even, and I couldn’t see any clearly defined, overly oil spots. The oil will smoke during this step, especially when you are wiping away excess. You have to kind move the wok around to see if there is excess oil anywhere. I let it cool, rinsed with warm water and lightly scrubbed with the soft side of the sponge, this removed the sticky dried spots of oil. Then I dried and repeated this step 3 more times. I got a nice patina everywhere.I used it that same night to make some stir fry and it worked great. I did have to re-season about 3 times after my first use to get the bottom to have the same nice patina as the sides, but I figure that's normal for the first dozen or so times I use the wok.This is my seasoning adventure. Hopefully you learn something from this epic tale, and it doesn't take you 3 days to get to the final level. The image above is after my first cook, you can see the bottom isn't quite as seasoned as the sides, but I'll re-season before I cook again. But that nice patina is what you are looking for after you season.

I posted a review about the Helen Chen Excalibur wok, and am essentially repeating the same information here.I love these Excalibur pans. They have been the best non-stick pans I've owned. They're tough, durable, and get super hot on just medium heat (hot enough to carbonize/burn/sear food in a minute!)You get a fabulous wok-hee effect on your foods, even with the low heat typical of a household stove. These pans are heavy, so they do not warp (do NOT put it on high heat, it WILL destroy the pan - I wouldn't even put carbon steel or cast iron on high heat - only stainless, and then only to bring liquids to boil).These pans are a breeze to clean up. Hot soapy sponge, rinse, done!Being so heavy, this is a bit of a detraction for me, I have arthritis weakened hands. But, I manage.The Helen Chen Excalibur pans are slightly more expensive, but the quality is worth it to me. If they endure more than 5 years of abuse in my kitchen, I will have gotten my money's worth! These pans tout a 25 year prorated warranty on defects (which probably doesn't mean much, as it does not cover "normal wear or scratches" - but it's nice to see a manufacturer backing their product up with a warranty of any kind these days.)I think this Excalibur coating gives Dupont Teflon a run for their money. I searched for info about newer non-stick coatings, and found a chart that compared several, including Teflon, generic PTFE, ceramic, and others. Excalibur had the better results overall, particularly durability and heat tolerances. Google "excalibur coating" and you'll come across the test results from the manufacturer.Sorry Fabreware & Teflon-Pro, you were good in the past, but now something better has come along. I'm switching all future non-stick pan purchases to Helen Chen's Excalibur :)Now if Helen Chen would make a nice flat griddle pan, for pancakes, and a saute pan for omelets, etc..... :)

Cant really fault my new wok. Really good solid steel, nice modern look to the handles. Really like it.