Joyce Chen 21-9971, Classic Series Carbon-Steel Nonstick Wok Set, 4-Piece

Initial Review: July 24, 2023--------------------------------The box was compressed with the Fox Run utensils box on top. Hence, the box looked a bit mangled on the top. Luckily, nothing was damaged. The wok is heavier than my frying pans or heavier than my expectation since this is supposed to be 1.5mm thick carbon steel. I measured the side walls with my calipers and the reading are between 1.75mm to 2.15mm thick. So, it's not thin - which is a nice surprise. This is an un-season wok and everything about it is totally silver, without any scratches or imperfections. Looks great! I assembled the handle - took a bit of tinkering initially to get the ring's tight fitting on but once on, it's pretty secure. The lid only requires a screw for the top knob to be secured.Wok without lid is 1470g (3.24lbs)Wok with lid is 1962g (4.33lbs)All in all, so far, the wok looks great. I'll be seasoning it outside once I get a chance to wash it and burn it outside. Can't wait until I get to finally cook with it. I really hate cooking with those non-stick frying pans! I'll provide further reviews with a few more pics during seasoning and post seasoning.Update: July 25, 2023 - First Season------------------------------------------The seasoning of this wok took several hours! I washed and scrubbed off the initial manufacturing film and wiped the wok dry as instructed. The bluing took an hour or more since I don't have a high burning gas stove. Initially, I started with heating the whole wok without the main handle inside my BBQ at over 550F. The wok started to turn golden color but never turned blue after 20-30 minutes. All the smoke was gone; so, I quickly moved the wok out of the BBQ to the kitchen gas stove inside the house. Attaching the wooden handle back onto the wok is fairly quick and simple. The bluing on the wok is a long process. Some parts of the wok blued faster than other parts. I had wrapped the other side of the wok handle with aluminum foil before putting it into the BBQ but it didn't help while I was bluing the wok in open flames. Not sure why the wood is needed for that part of the handle as it actually got burned and went into flames for a few seconds before I was able to blow it out. I did give that handle some character. During the burn-in process, I noticed that the rivets on the main handle to the wok has loosened. I also noticed that the wok can flex if you grab the two handles and lightly push against the wok walls. I'm actually kind of surprised! Not sure if the carbon steel thinned out or if the metallic properties of the carbon steel is softer or more malleable after high heating.One thing to note during the high heat bluing of the wok - don't use the oven mits to touch to lift the wok on the walls. The mit fabric will imprint onto the wok and it takes forever to burn off. However, this can be scrubbed off with steel wool during the second wash.After most of the bluing, I let the wok cool and then rewashed the wok a second time as some of the oily residue from my hood fan landed in the wok. I used a medium course steel wool to get off all residue and to re-polish out residue that was left over from the burning (and from the oven mits). I had to re-scrub the wok with a course plastic scrub cloth once more with soap and water to really get out any of the black residue. You know when the wok is completely free of residue when you wipe it dry and the paper towel is still white. The blue burning was done a second time but it took another 20 minutes. I let the wok cool off a bit before doing the actual seasoning with medium heat with a thin film of oil. This part of the seasoning smoked quite a bit to build up the first layer of patina. After the smoke subsided, I put in a bit more oil and stir fried some red onions. The seasoning started to look good on the wok. I dumped out the onions and let the wok cool down once again before seasoning again with sliced potato with skins. The wok was pretty much non-stick at that point and you can see a pretty good layer of patina at the bottom of the wok. I dumped out the fried potatoes, which smelled and looked like french fries. I should've tasted one since they're golden brown without any black soot. I let the wok cool a bit before wiping off the excess oil. The paper towel with the excess oil is also wiped on the outside of the wok. The bluing on the outside is very nice all the way around. I let the wok cool down to warm before wiping off all extra oil. Done! Wok looks great and no rust!The only things I worry about the wok are as follows:1) The rivets are soft and loosened during the seasoning with high heat. I used a vise grip clamp to press the rivets together and it does work. After pressing the rivets with the vise clamps, you can definitely see the vise teeth marks on the rivets on the inside of the wok. The rivets should be done with stainless steel in the first place. The metal used for the rivets is too soft for the high heat!2) The wood on the opposite end of the main handle - it can't be taken off since it is dowelled through the riveted steel handle. Hence, during the blue-burning of the wok, that wood gets heated so much that it starts to burn and mine actually caught fire!3) The wok flexes quite a bit after being in high heat for over 30 minutes. Even after cooling, the wok flexes a lot! Not sure if the carbon steel thinned or if the metallic composition weakened but it really flexes, almost as if it is made of 20 gauge tin! Coming out of the box, the silver carbon steel is solid without flexing at all. So, I was kind of surprised by how much flex there is after the high heat burning and seasoning.I will further update this review on use. Currently after seasoning, the wok looks good and I can't wait to stir fry my next meal and to get rid of some of the frying pans inside my oven!Update: Aug 2nd, 2023---------------------------After multiple uses, I haven't had any rusts on the inside or the outside of the wok. The wok does get food like meat, egg, and noodles stuck on the bottom if it's not seasoned correctly or if not enough oil is used. I'm still getting use to cooking with the wok and it's not as easy as it looks in some of the videos I've seen by amateurs and home cooks. However, definitely lots of oil is necessary in order to cook properly with the wok. I used pure Avocado oil and the seasoning and taste is awesome! What's good about the wok is that it fries the garlic and onion instantly and you don't have to wait for these to brown. Cooking starchy liquids and noodles is something I have to figure out. These stick to the wok but I can scrape them off with the hoak (stainless steel spatula) as I'm cooking and with the adding of more oil. You can scrub hard with warm to hot water to get all the stuck-on food that's left in the wok. Some of the patina can be scrubbed off but you can re-season the wok once it's been dried. The re-seasoning doesn't take all that long and a patina builds up with each successive cooking. I definitely like the amount of food a wok can cook vs a non-stick frying pan and I don't have to worry about high heat or scratching the teflon. The only thing I've said about the Joyce Chen carbon steel wok is that it flexes a lot. I've tightened the rivets as stated in the previous update. However, the walls flex so much that you can see the sidewalls flex inward/outward with a minor touch to either ends of the handle. I guess I'll provide a long term review just to see how long this wok will actually last. For now, I think the wok is a great addition to the kitchen. My foods now come out tastier and in a bigger portions for a larger family or for leftovers for next day.Update: Sept 6th, 2023---------------------------I think I've mastered some skills in using the wok so that the patina is pretty much non-stick. Definitely, the more you use the wok with oil and vegetables, the better it gets with the patina. Udon, chow mein, and other starchy ingredients are hard to cook because on higher heats, they do stick. However, if you cook the veggies first (like scallions, garlic, green peppers, etc...), then put in the noodles handful at a time and stir fry as you add more and shoving the stir fried ingredients to the top side, this will reduce the stickiness. No additional oil is necessary if you do it this way. I also started using the handle to do the flick along with the shoveling with the chaun. I showed it to my wife and she tasted my Shanghai noodle afterwards and commented it tastes as good as what you get in a Chinese restaurant. One thing I noted to my wife is that you have to prepare all the ingredients ahead of time. The cooking is so fast that you need everything ready to put into the wok to stir fry immediately. If not, you're gonna burn everything or you need to turn off the stove to prepare and add ingredients. Doing that, the end result is a mess - guaranteed. With everything prepared ahead of cooking and adding things in as you stir fry, the end result is amazing! The amount of avocado oil I use for cooking is actually not much - just enough to coat the bottom and a bit of the sides when cooking starts. The main thing is garlic - the browning starts immediately - 5 seconds or less. After that with the aroma, start adding all the veggies, then whatever else in piece meal. I wished I had a wok 20 years ago!

I've been using this wok for over eight years now. The patina/seasoning is ugly. Black, dark brown, blotchy...but that is how a well-used and well-cared for wok starts to look like with time.New carbon steel woks do stick at first so seasoning and using enough oil while cooking is important. I maintain the seasoning in a manner almost identical to how I use it to cook. Let the wok get hot enough to lightly smoke and only after that do I add the oil. If I'm seasoning it after cleaning, then I use a very small amount of oil and rub it in well over the course of a few minutes. I tend to heat it, oil it, wipe it down and then let it cool. I repeat the process three times every time I've cleaned it after meal preparations. Don't let the oil pool at any given spot and never, ever use a cooking spray unless that spray is 100% high-temperature oil. No PAM.Never use an abrasive on the inside of a wok unless it has been allowed to rust. If it rusts, you'll need to scrub off all the seasoning and start the seasoning process all over again. I keep a container of cheap table salt under my sink and a couple of bamboo wok brushes in a drawer to help with any stubborn stuck on bits of food. And it never gets put away wet. Before storing it, I do apply oil to the cold wok just in case humidity gets high (not likely where I live but better safe than sorry). I just give it a quick wash up with warm soapy water to remove that storage oil before I start the process of heating it up to cook.

This is a great wok, but please make sure to follow these steps....don't worry about the instructions the wok came with, TRUST ME, I've gone through two of these suckers.1. Remove wok from box and attach handle.2. Fill about 3/4 of the wok with water and boil (this will help get that sticky oil off).3. After boiling for a few minutes take off the burner.4. Wash with a copper or steel scrubber and a little soap!!! (wash the entire wok , I mean top/bottom all over to scrub the oil away (this will be the last time you use a scrubber or even soap to wash the wok)(There is a factory lacquer oil on the wok, you can't see it but you'll definitely smell it, you must get as much of that oil off before starting the seasoning process).5. Dry (it's okay if you leave a little water since you will put it right back to the burner).6. Get the wok back on the burner on medium heat, you will notice the bottom of the pan will start developing a golden color, then almost blue, then darker...7. After the bottom has some color turn the wok to the side to get the side some heat, repeat this until most of the wok is dark goldish brown/blue, it's perfectly fine if it's not dark all around and is blotchy.8. Remain on medium heat and even the wok back flat on the burner, now get some oil in there, something that has a high smoke point, lard, canola, veggie oil.....and rub the oil with a paper towel all around the wok, let the wok sit on the medium heat burner for about 5-10 minutes, add more oil if too dry, it might get super smokey so get your windows open and fan running.9. Now, you should have a seasoned wok!10. Feel free to throw some bacon in the pan to season even more, I did that but did not eat the bacon, just tossed it out.After you are done just wash the Wok with a soft sponge and warm water, NO SOAP, NO HARSH SCRUBBER, that will take away the hard work you just put in.I think it's a great Wok, I will give it 4 not 5 stars because I think it could have come with better instructions on seasoning, I ruined my first one, also it would have been nice to know that there was a lacquer based oil on the wok, I didn't realize that either.....

First off, the instructions though somewhat limited, are just what one needs to do to season this wok. The only thing that I did a different was to wrap the assist handle with tin foil so I would not burn it during the seasoning process. I filled it with water to about 3/4 or so, put it on the gas stove and let it come to a boil, ie,, faster with the lid on. Let it boil for about 10 minutes. Rather than carry it over to the sink I used a small pan and scoped out more than half of the water to make it easier to carry and not spill a bunch. Took a brush and hot water and washed it several times scrubbing pretty hard. I did not use any type of hard metal scrubber like steel wool. Dry well, and let it set out so that it very dry before beginning the seasoning.I have a gas stove so I went for the big burner. Used peanut oil with tongs and paper towel and rubbed down the wok and put it on the fire. Started smoking pretty fast, and yea, get those vents on, and open the doors and windows. With tongs in hand loaded with a paper towel I moved the wok around and around the fire tilting up and down trying to hit every spot. It started turning deep golden very quickly. Keep hitting the wok with the paper towel and if it stops smoking put on more oil, doesn't take much. I did this for about 10 minutes, lifting it ever so often to get a good look at where it needed more treatment. Took it off the fire and set it aside. My house was smokey, but no alarms going off. Lucky we had a bit of breeze so that helped. Had to go off for the rest of the day, but decided the second seasoning was going to be on my gas grill outside as it has a side burner on it. The other grill burners might work but did not try that way.Second day I did the gas grill. Fired it up and did the same process and worked great though I had been sceptical that the flame was big enough, but worked very well. Did the same process as the first one. No smokey house. After two seasonings I may or may not do a third as it is such a nice deep golden color not sure I need more. But will keep it in mind should it need it later.Will update later once I have used this baby, but see no problems.A note or two. I saw where a few have heated the wok prior to oiling it. The instructions say DO NOT ever heat wok with no oil in it. Also note that the instructions come for two different type woks so read carefully to make sure you are doing the right wok. My first page was for a non-stick wok, and on the next page were the instruction for the carbon steel. I have also seem comments about the lid not fitting, but it is not a top fit, it goes down into the wok just a bit rather than a sealed fit like most pots and pans.Happy woking.After the two seasoning process I have used the wok to cook three times with no sticking and no signs of rust. Works great, very happy with product.

Buying a cheap spun wok is hard. Every product has poor reviews and you have to sift through them.Let me break it down:For the beginner:This is a carbon steel wok. It's a PITA to mantain, and you know it buying this. It isn't non-stick, used improperly, it will rust. It will change color and get stained. That's by design and will happen to every carbon steel wok regardless of price.You NEED to season it. If you don't, it will rust, no matter what. Seasoning is not heating some oil on it, or rubbing some oil while it's hot. You need to carefully get every part of the surface to a extremely high temperature. It will change color. Then, you need to rub some oil on it until it smokes, covering every inch of the surface. Let it cool, heat it and oil 2 or 3 times more, and it should be brownish-black all over. Then you can cook.After every use you quickly wipe, rinse or wash and immediately dry, heat and oil again. If you don't, it might rust.Most negative reviews are about stains, rust, or sticking. Properly seasoned this is reasonably non stick, but people think this will behave like a aluminum non stick wok, and it won't. If you want CS, you must be aware and willing of the measures required to make it perform. Otherwise, choose another material. This is not meant to cook several pounds of food, it will flex. the size is for stir fry and tossing. Properly used, is not the best available, but for the price it's pretty darn good.The good:Solid wok, good material. The small handle doesn't come off, the larger one does. Very thin and heat responsive. Seasoning it was a breeze, after one pass, a fried egg slid off no problem.The bad:The handle is attached by 2 rivets, doesn't feel super solid. Material has some flex. The lid and spoon feel cheap, but that's not the point.