Wok Shapes
Traditionally, woks are round-bottomed. This makes food easier to toss, and minimises splatters.
It is slightly more difficult to move the food around in a flat bottomed wok, although most woks are flat as they can be used in more places.
If you have a gas stove, you’re lucky – you could go for either a round bottomed or flat bottomed wok. However a wok ring is desirable for a round bottomed one on a gas stove. It will help stabilise it and also directs the heat to the very bottom of the wok, where it’s needed.
| Money Saving Tip – an upside-down grid on a gas stove is sometimes the right shape to act as a wok ring. |
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For an electric stove you need a flat bottomed wok. These need to be cleaned well after each use to avoid small food particles getting stuck on the pan.
An alternative, if you have an electric stove, is to get an electric wok. These are stand-alone appliances with good heat conductance properties. They are, however difficult to use if you want to flamboyantly toss your creation around, so perhaps lose some of the magic? The best one I saw is here.
Sizes of Woks
Sizes range from 10″ (25cm) that would be large enough for a meal for 3, up to 16″ (40cm), enough for 12 people, or much larger for commercial use.
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Handles
There are two types of handles – loop and stick.
Loop handles are traditionally the most common and are made of bare metal, although most now have wooden or plastic covers. Cooks need to hold the wok with a thick towel or oven gloves. A fair amount of hand, arm and wrist dexterity is needed for tossing the food.
Stick handles are long and usually made of steel, although, again, usually covered. Sometimes called Peking Pans, these are easier to toss if the wok is not too large. Larger woks often have a loop handle as well.
Seasoning
Carbon steel and cast iron woks need to be seasoned before their first use. This involves rubbing the inside of the wok with oil, placing it over a gentle heat so that it begins to smoke, and then removing and allowing to cool. After removing excess oil with kitchen paper, the process needs to be repeated two or three times.
