A cast iron wok with lid is the Prince Charming of your kitchen. It’s the Right One pan for most of your delicious meals, regardless of if you prefer to go for ethnic or traditional dishes.
And indeed, choosing the best cast iron wok is just as tricky as finding your soulmate. There are so many models and brands available on the Internet and in stores. It’s difficult to pick the one that is perfect for cooking the dishes you love, and that doesn’t cost you a fortune.
That is why we have arranged a quick guide for you to help you spot the best cast iron wok. But, before diving deep into the guide, we want to put aside a question that comes first into everyone’s mind.
Should you season your cast iron wok or get a pre-seasoned one?
A pre-seasoned cast iron wok makes cooking at home much easier and efficient. However, you can still re-season your cast iron wok to make it perfectly non-stick and enhance the taste of your dishes. This requires some efforts and attempts, especially if this is the first time for you to season a cast iron pan. Let’s move to more interesting questions!
How to spot the best cast iron wok with a lid?
Perfect shape of a cast iron wok: shallow or deep?
Shallow cast iron wok
The shape of cast iron wok matters a lot. A shallow cast iron wok is the one with less depth and more spread at the bottom. This type of cast iron wok can hold less food and make the tossing and frying quite tricky for beginners. It is not bad! It is ideal to avoid overcooking your food and works wonders to spread the heat evenly on the pan.
Deep cast iron wok
A deep cast iron wok is ideal for cooking a reasonable quantity of food while tossing and frying it perfectly. The depth of this wok really works well with the recipes that require high blaze along with continuous blending.
So, which one is ideal for you? We recommend you get a cast iron wok with a height of about 10 cm and a diameter between 30 cm to 35 cm.
Perfect bottom of a cast iron wok: flat or round?
Most cast iron woks have either a flat bottom or a round bottom. A wok with a flat bottom is an excellent choice for electric stoves, and one with a circular base is excellent for flame stoves. However, most professional cooks will tell you that the ideal cast iron wok should have a rounded bottom. Why? Because it helps to toss, spread the heat entirely and avoid overcooking.
The ideal handle of a cast iron wok
There are two qualities to look for in the perfect grip for a cast iron wok: the material and the shape of the handle. Plastic and wood handle are not ideal for baking and cooking on high flames. An iron handle is just perfect most of the times, you should only pay attention to the fact that it can get hot very quickly. Wear gloves when moving your cast iron wok, you don’t want to end up with burnt hands. The perfect shape of a cast iron wok handle is the one which ensures the safety and comfort of your hands while cooking. That’s why small handles are a big no-no!
The ideal weight of a cast iron wok with lid
Since a cast iron wok is usually used for frying and stir-frying, it means that weight is a crucial factor that can positively and negatively impact the comfort of cooking. If a cast iron wok is too lightweight, it can easily slip on the stove. If it’s too heavy, it’s difficult to handle it while cooking. So, what is the ideal weight for a cast iron wok? We suggest you find a work with a weight of around 4.5 kg without the lid and about 7 kg with the cover included.
The bonus tip
We hope that after reading this post, it will be easier for you to spot the best cast iron wok with lid. To make things even easier for you, we can share the name of our favorite cast iron cookware brand: Velosan. Velosan offers high-quality cast iron kitchenware, kitchen tools, and knives. Their products are designed to make cooking more efficient, sustainable, and fun. One of their most famous products is the cast iron wok with lid, called “Friedrich August II”, with a diameter of 32 cm. We tried it, and it’s totally worth it!