Best wok pan

With a ceramic coating and a lid included, the Sola Wokpan Ceramic Deluxe ø 30 cm is our top recommendation for anyone who wants to stir-fry without seasoning or a learning curve. That coating only lasts a few years, even with careful use. A wok for life is the bare Blackwell Wokpan / Wadjan Gietijzer ø 32 cm. You will, however, need to take care of the seasoning and the handwashing yourself.

A bare carbon-steel wok is only advisable if you have a powerful burner at home. On a regular gas stove you can often stir-fry even without a wok.

Best wok pan

A bare carbon-steel wok is only advisable if you have a powerful burner at home. On a regular gas stove you can often stir-fry even without a wok.

Which wok will last for years?

Woks that last for years are mostly those without a coating. A bare wok made of cast iron, steel or stainless steel in principle never needs replacing. That only changes if it is dropped or if you neglect maintenance.

A non-stick coating doesn't last as long: after a few years it's worn out. That applies to a ceramic coating and to a standard non-stick coating, even on a more expensive wok and even with careful use. Using a wooden or plastic spatula and not running the burner at full power will give the coating more time.

Reviews rarely show that wear: people who write them have often only stir-fried a few times in the wok, and then everything still releases well.

Has the Consumentenbond also tested woks?

The Consumentenbond hasn't tested woks; it has tested frying pans with a ceramic coating.

In Belgium, Test-Aankoop published at the end of 2023 a test of eleven woks with a non-stick coating, both ceramic and non-ceramic. In the scratch test the ceramic coating wore away faster than the other coatings.

Our advice per type of wok therefore weighs three things against each other:

how much work it requires, from seasoning beforehand to the washing up afterward, since washing up returns after every stir-fry;
how long it lasts, because one wok is worn out after a few years and another lasts a lifetime;
which heat source it suits, because not every wok works well on the hob you have at home.

Has the Consumentenbond also tested woks?

Can you stir-fry on an ordinary gas stove without a wok?

Yes: in a large frying pan your stir-fry often cooks more intensely on a regular gas stove than in a wok. We described the difference between a wok, a sauté pan and a frying pan in our article on sauté pans and woks.

A classic Chinese wok is made from bare steel and needs a powerful burner. Even the largest ring on a five-burner stove gives such a wok, according to our pan expert, too little heat. If you cook on induction, then choose the best wok for induction on different points than a wok for gas.

Can you stir-fry on an ordinary gas stove without a wok?

Does it matter which non-stick coating your wok has?

A ceramic coating and a standard non-stick coating both do what you expect from a non-stick: as long as they're intact, your stir-fry will release easily. They do differ on two points: how quickly they wear, and whether they contain PFAS.

The Sola Wokpan Ceramic Deluxe ø 30 cm comes from the Ceramic Deluxe line, which we recommend in our shop as a pan with a ceramic coating. It comes with a lid, which is uncommon among our woks, and the handle is a cold-grip. At just over 2 kilos empty this Sola is the heaviest of our ceramic woks, and therefore less convenient to shake by the handle. The Sola is not oven-safe.

Of our coated woks, according to their product pages only Beka's Mandala woks are also suitable for the barbecue. From those we choose the Beka Wokpan Mandala Gietijzer ø 28 cm: cast iron under a ceramic coating, with a cold-grip acacia wood handle. The cast iron doesn't make it a lifetime wok, because you cook on the coating. This Mandala is not dishwasher- or oven-safe.

The Cookinglife Wokpan Asia ø 30 cm may go in the dishwasher and the oven. It is made of steel with a ceramic coating.

A standard non-stick coating is found on the SCANPAN Wokpan CTX ø 32 cm, a wok from the higher end of our range. Under that coating there are five layers of steel and aluminium, and it is oven-safe up to 250 °C. According to its product page you don't need to reach for a wooden or plastic spatula with this coating. This wok also won't last a lifetime, although a non-ceramic coating lasted longer than a ceramic one in the Belgian scratch test.

For a PFAS-free wok you have two options with us: with a ceramic coating or completely without a coating. Both are listed under PFAS-free woks. None of our SCANPAN woks shows the PFAS-free attribute on the product page.

Does it matter which non-stick coating your wok has?

What's the best material for a wok without a coating?

Two questions decide between stainless steel, cast iron and carbon steel: whether you want to season your wok yourself, and whether you cook on a powerful burner?

Stainless steel is the middle ground between a coated wok and a bare cast iron or carbon-steel wok. You don't have to deal with seasoning, but in a lukewarm wok or with too little oil your stir-fry will stick quickly.

Our recommendation in stainless steel is the Beka Wokpan Maestro ø 30 cm, made of five-ply stainless steel with an aluminium core and without a non-stick coating. According to its product page it is dishwasher-safe and oven-safe up to about 200 °C.

For uncoated cast iron our preference goes to the Blackwell Wokpan / Wadjan Gietijzer ø 32 cm, which arrives bare and not yet seasoned. Seasoning a bare wok is done on a gas burner, and because a fair amount of smoke is released you should open the windows. With two handles and 2.5 kilos empty you won't shake this wok back and forth; turn the food using a spatula.

You’ll find bare steel in the Blackwell Wokpan Carbon Staal ø 30 cm, with a long handle and 1.5 kilos empty. According to the product page you season this wok before first use. If you cook at home on a powerful burner, it is our choice in steel. On an induction hob it doesn't get hot enough even for seasoning.

The dishwasher is off-limits for bare cast iron and steel. After a hand wash with little detergent, put the wok back on the burner for a while, because where water remains, rust will form.

If you're also choosing a frying pan soon, it's worth reading the differences between aluminium, stainless steel, steel and cast iron.

What's the best material for a wok without a coating?

How much should you spend on a good wok?

The bare Wadjan of 32 cm and the Carbon Steel are among the more affordable woks, and yet they are precisely the ones that can last a lifetime, provided you maintain them well.

Per price bracket you can expect these kinds of woks from us:

under €50: aluminum woks with a ceramic coating, for stir-fry convenience that lasts a few years;
€50 to €100: woks with a ceramic coating, and that coating is usually thicker than those under €50;
from €100: woks built from multiple layers of metal, with or without a non-stick coating, and which according to their product pages are also oven-safe.

A few years of stir-fry convenience for little money is a fine reason to choose the lowest tier. If you want to see the woks with their current prices and in all sizes side by side, open the full wok range.

How much should you spend on a good wok?

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