8 of the Very Best Woks

What we’re looking for

Material: Carbon steel | Shape: Flat bottom | Handle: Mandarin style with wood handles

Over the several months that I’ve been testing my Joyce Chen, I’ve been impressed by its sturdiness and how it handles heat. It sits on my stove and never tilts over, and the carbon steel is sensitive so it heats up with the flame but cools down when new ingredients are added to the mix. When I want to get a golden sear on chicken, not burn the vegetables and aromatics that go in after, and reduce the sauce, I can do so, all without adjusting the heat. (By contrast, this isn’t possible in my heavier cast-iron, which takes a while to get hot and then stays so hot the different components end up unevenly cooked, even if I do turn the burner up and down as I go.) I also like that it isn’t too heavy. It has comfortable handles that stay cool enough to grip well so I can maneuver all the pieces around easily. By contrast, “the loops on metal woks get super hot, and you need pot holders to handle,” says food writer and editor Matt Rodbard.

Joyce Chen is one of the most widely known (and trusted) names in the category, and it’s no surprise: Taylor Erkkinen, co-owner of The Brooklyn Kitchen cooking school, told me that the brand was the first to introduce flat-bottomed woks to American households. Kim has had hers — a fairly standard 14-inch size that comfortably feeds two to four people — for over two decades and doesn’t see herself having to ever replace it. “It can handle a ton of vegetables,” she says. “I especially like it for greens that start so giant in volume. You can add everything in and then move them around easily as they shrink.” She also notes that the ring at the top of the handle allows it to hang nicely in her kitchen.

Material: Carbon-steel | Shape: Flat bottom | Handle: Mandarin-style with metal handles

Greenpan’s wok, made in collaboration with Food52, is another great option. Like the Joyce Chen model, it has a flat bottom — but the surface area is even wider. Whereas the Joyce Chen flares up and out, the GreenPan is less dramatically sloped. Both sit sturdily on my stove grates, but the GreenPan’s wider bottom means more consistent contact with heat, which is especially nice if you’re not as confident rapidly stirring and tossing. It also means it’s suited for searing larger cuts of meat, which I wouldn’t necessarily cook in the Joyce Chen. It has a steel handle, as opposed to a wooden one. In my experience, the material doesn’t get too hot to the touch, and has a nice curve to it, which makes it comfortable to hold and tilt.

Josh Grinker, co-owner of Brooklyn’s Kings Co Imperial, likes the metal handles of this wok, too; he says they hold up and are easy to clean. It also has a feature unlike any of the others: a removable steel grate in the shape of a rainbow that fits along one half of the edge. I’ll admit: I didn’t find this piece particularly useful in my own cooking. But others might. It could be a resting place for keeping food warm as they make different components of a dish, or for draining oil if they’re frying foods like tempura.

Material: Carbon steel | Shape: Round bottom | Handle: Mandarin style with one wood handle, one metal handle

Traditional woks have round bottoms, which allow them to reach intense temperatures over burners that shoot the flames straight up rather than in a circular pattern. If you can use one at home (you’d need awok ring to replace the grate and metal disc of a gas burner, for example),Amelia Kang, co-owner of and chef at New York City’s MáLà Project, recommends the Pow Wok, made from conductive carbon-steel. “It’s suitable for quick, high-temperature stir-fried dishes,” she says. But be careful, as “it’s especially easy to burn the dishes if you are not fast enough.” While honing speed takes some practice, Munzerin Uddin and Harvey Wong, co-owners of Brooklyn’s The Monkey King, say putting in the effort is worth it so that you end up with perfectly cooked components every time. They’ve used this wok at their restaurant and in their home for several years and say the round bottom ensures food moves around easily and never gets trapped in the edges. Wong says he also likes the short wooden handle, which doesn’t get too hot and provides good control (the closer you can grip to the bowl, the sturdier your flips will be).

Material: Cast iron | Shape: Flat bottom | Handle: Cantonese style with cast-iron handles

This Cantonese wok — which has two smaller loop handles on both sides, rather than one long handle — is made from cast iron, giving it a weight that’s not so easy to maneuver around the stove. But “nothing retains heat like cast-iron,” says Jew. And unlike with stir-fries, this is an important attribute when it comes to fried rice, the success of which depends on the grains staying hot throughout the whole cooking process. “With a home stove, you’re simply not going to get to that same level you do in a restaurant,” he says, so you might as well set yourself up the best you can.

Material: Carbon steel | Shape: Flat bottom | Handle: Cantonese style with metal handles

If you don’t want to invest quite so much but are intrigued by the idea of a Cantonese-style wok, this hand-hammered one from Webstaurant (one of our favorite online retailers that sells as many commercial kitchen goods as your local restaurant-supply store) fits the bill. Many of our experts mentioned that such shops are the perfect places to snag an inexpensive wok (as with sheet pans, there are a lot of great options out there, but you won’t be worse off for going with an affordable and practical option). It’s hand-hammered from carbon steel, like the round-bottomed model above, which means it’s also lighter than Jew’s recommendation.

Material: Carbon steel | Shape: Flat bottom | Handle: Mandarin style with wooden handle

While a lot of recipes you make in a wok require pretty constant flipping and stirring, a lid that fits snugly over the opening will allow you to expand the number of dishes you can make in it.Chef and writer Lauren Joseph reaches for this Jia, Inc., wok any time she wants a pan with a wide surface area and high sides — but sheparticularly appreciatesthe lid, which she says is handy for braising a load of greens, steaming dumplings and cabbage rolls, and simmering fish curry. And while most options on this list allow you to buy a lid separately (and the less expensive one below comes with the full package, too), what makes the Jia, Inc., lid especially appealing is its transparency, so you can see what’s going on inside without releasing any steam or heat.

Material: Carbon steel | Shape: Flat bottom | Handle: Mandarin style with wooden handle

For a more affordable set with a lid, consider this one from Taylor & Ng.When recipe developer and cookbook author Hannah Che was shopping for a new wok about five years ago, she knew she wanted one with a lid because it makes the pan much more versatile than it would be otherwise. Like Joseph, she uses it to simmer liquids and steam (for the latter task, she notes the lid helps the water boil faster before you put your food in). But she also finds it useful when making stir-fries. In the first steps, you’re releasing moisture from the aromatics and vegetables, but right at the end, she always introduces some liquid for added tenderness and flavor. “That’s when the lid goes on for 30 seconds to a minute,” she says. The brand also makes an even less expensive set without the steamer grate and spatula.

Material: Carbon steel | Shape: Flat bottom | Handle: Mandarin style with metal handle

Though Made In makes a flat-bottom wok, this model from the brand is a hybrid between a that and a frying pan. Overall, the shape is more in line with a standard skillet than the others on this list (the GreenPan above comes in second). Especially if you’re a wok novice like me, the wider bottom is efficient at distributing optimal high-heat and moisture evaporation for that quick-cook effect without so much dramatic flipping, tossing, and turning.

But pros like it, too: Eric Sze, chef at 886 and Wenwen, says the shape is especially helpful with the reduced BTU of home stoves, and that when he does need to maneuver it around, the handle is “slightly curved” and “comfortable to hold,” whether close to his body for tossing or further out when it gets hot. Chef Lucas Sin notes that though the sides aren’t quite as sloped and high as a traditional wok, they’re high enough that he can still use the pan for braising, steaming, and boiling. And I find they’re high enough that when I do need to move ingredients around with a utensil, they don’t spill over.