[sandidan]

Wondering if I should purchase one or stick with my old carbon steel, which is looking pretty yucky. I'm wondering about performance. I like the all clad pots/pans, but not sure about the wok......Do any of you have experience using one??
Thanks ahead of time.

[boar_d_laze]

All-Clad is nice for many things, but a wok is not one of them. The heavy, multi-ply construction is too slow and too even.

You want a fairly steep temperature gradient going from the bottom to the top of the wok. You also want to be able to set the temperature quickly, without waiting for a heavy pan to warm up. Then there are the stick/non-stick qualities of stainless and carbon.

If "yucky" bothers you, go ahead and clean your carbon steel wok all the way down, with oven cleaner for instance, and simply reseason it. You can do it as often as you like.

If you really and truly need a new wok, try and find a carbon, round bottom wok with a stove ring which will work for you. I just bought a 17", stubby handled, monster for $20. Assuming you have to spend twice as much, the saved difference between your new carbon and an All-Clad will allow you to purchase some really cool wok small-tools, and a great Chinese meal to inspire you, with money left over.

BDL

[KYHeirloomer]

Nothing, but nothing, compares to carbon steel for a wok.

As BDL notes, there is a specialized heat-gradient involved in wok cookery. Neither stainless nor cast iron (the only other material I've seen) work for this.

[ED BUCHANAN]

Both post above 100 correct. SS wok wont cook it will burn.To many hot spots. Has anyone ever seen ss oversize woks in chinese rest or take outs? No , even though some of the new chinese water stoves are ss.

[Suzanne]

You're cooking on a home stove, not on high-BTU restaurant equipment, right? So what if it takes a bit longer for a pan to heat up? It's not like you have to turn out order after order after order in rapid succession. If this is what you're considering, there's no doubt that it costs many many times what a carbon-steel wok would. The All-Clad is so pretty, but I don't think that matters, actually.

I've had an All-Clad chef's pan (basically a flat-bottomed wok; this is the closest you can get now) with a stainless-steel interior for more than a dozen years, and it works fine as a wok. And it's much easier to clean and care for than my carbon steel wok. In fact, my experience has been the opposite of what's been stated above: I've had things burn in the wok that cook just fine in the All-Clad, because the wok overheats in spots while the A-C is more even. (Frankly, I think they're confusing straight stainless steel -- which is terrible for cooking, very uneven -- with the multilayeried A-C.)

I'll be using my A-C pan tonight to stir-fry some rice noodles and vegetables.

[boar_d_laze]

Originally Posted by Suzanne

Frankly, I think they're confusing straight stainless steel -- which is terrible for cooking, very uneven -- with the multilayeried A-C.

If "they" includes me, you are mistaken. I am not confusing All Clad with "straight stainless steel."

I don't doubt the accuracy of your reporting or your experience with carbon and multi-ply woks even though it is not the same as mine. I much prefer to wok, whether high heat or medium-high heat in a carbon steel wok with a round bottom -- because of the hotter bottom and cooler sides. And I can't even imagine how you can do "passing through" with a flat bottom pan -- no matter how round the sides. No doubt there are workarounds.

Clearly, the lesson to be drawn from our differing conclusions is that other things are more important to producing good food than the identity of the equipment.

BDL

[phatch]

While I too would argue for fully round carbon steel wok for the low/non stick and heating properties, whatever works for you works.

On a standard US stove, woks don't really perform to their potential and you can do a decent job in other pan types. Grace Young, who argues strongly for a flat bottomed carbon wok, goes into good detail on adapting stir fry technique to these wimpy US stoves.

On one episode, Americas test kitchen displayed an interesting graph of how a wok heats on US stoves on average compared to their 12" non-stick skillet. From memory, the skillet got up around 400 and dropped to 275 with a SLOW rise there after. The wok got hotter (450) faster but dropped down around boiling and stayed there.

I credit it that to ATK overloading the wok with regards to the power of the heat source. That is one of the major adaptations you must make for good stir fry on domestic equipment. But it is also the reason ATK just sticks with a 12" non-stick pan because they simplify. Too much simplification in my opinion for the impact on the results.