The Best Woks and Stir-Fry Pans of 2021

There’s nothing traditional about the Cooks Standard 13-Inch Wok, but it was our favorite in our first round of testing. It had more surface area on the bottom as compared to the other woks, making it a true hybrid between our favorite skillet and a wok. The rounded, sloped sides were effective at holding cooked food as we went, and it was light enough to toss the vegetables while we stir-fried. This pan was also our favorite for deep-frying potato chips, creating minimal splatter and perfectly browning the chips on all sides.

It’s worth noting that traditionalists don’t like stainless steel woks because they take longer to heat up and don't usually heat as evenly as carbon steel pans, which is why we dethroned this one when we revisited the round-up this year. While it was definitely true that it took longer to heat up the Cooks Standard, we were impressed at how much more effectively it retained that heat once it got there. The aluminum core and multi-clad metal construction was a game changer, making the pan light enough to use comfortably while also creating even heating with little to no hot spots.

The Calphalon Signature 12-inch Wok is simple and practical, featuring a smooth nonstick finish with hard-anodized construction, making it durable and relatively lightweight. It comes with a glass lid, which fits snugly on top.

Thanks to its PTFE nonstick coating, using and cleaning this Calphalon was a breeze. And the second stainless steel handle on the opposite side helped us lift up and transport the wok easily during and after cooking.

Overall, the Signature shares many characteristics with the Calphalon Contemporary but is a bit larger in diameter, which makes it more ideal when it comes to cooking for a crowd. The edges of this wok are slightly curved outwards—a small detail that encourages easy pouring of the foods once cooking is done.

The downside is that this wok took more than five minutes to heat up. Additionally, the heat retention was rather disappointing—we saw dramatic temperature fluctuations during the deep frying test. Conversely, the lid gets hot quickly during cooking, so we recommend wearing oven mitts when handling it.

Another drawback is the steep side of the wok, which made it hard to fit a ton of food when deep frying, unless we added extra oil, which defeated the purpose of using a wok for deep frying in order to conserve oil.

The pre-seasoned Souped Up Carbon Steel Wok is gorgeous, featuring a dimpled flat bottom and a wooden lid that resembles that of a traditional Chinese wok. The addition of a spout on the side helps pour the cooked food effortlessly. It took two rinses to take off the protective coating and the helpful user manual guided us through the process. The manual also has plenty of tips for later uses, how to build seasoning, and recipe suggestions.

We were impressed by how quickly this wok brought oil to frying temperature—it only took us three minutes to go from 75°F to 280°F. But temperature consistency was a constant struggle as we started to fry potatoes in the pan. This wok either dropped temperature more dramatically than needed for deep frying or couldn’t stop from overheating.

Another minor quibble we had was with the wooden lid. Though it’s beautiful and great for retaining the heat when simmering and steaming, we prefer a domed glass lid so we can better monitor the cooking process.

This 14-inch wok doesn’t come cheap, but it's constructed from American-made steel and it also comes with a lifetime warranty. If you do a lot of stir-frying, it might be worth the price tag: The All-Clad Stainless Open Stir Fry is the only pan we tested that didn’t have a single hot spot. Although it took longer to heat than any of the other pans, the tri-ply bonded steel heated evenly once it got there and retained that heat just as well. While it was a contender for our top pick, a few little things dropped it out of contention. Beyond its pricey cost, the contoured handle was too uncomfortable to flip vegetables with ease and its flat, wide slope made it difficult to remove the potato chips as we fried.

There was a lot to love about the American-made Lodge 14-Inch Cast Iron Wok, but one major flaw dropped it down a few notches on our list. Cast iron is heavy, and this pan weighs more than 10 pounds! The Cantonese-style handles on each side made it easy enough to lift, but between the pan’s heft and lack of a long handle, it was impossible to toss the vegetables. On the plus side, the Lodge wok created beautifully seared food, and it didn’t budge on the stovetop as we used it (even when we really tried). That stability makes it ideal for deep frying, and the beautiful pan can double as a serving dish if you bring it straight to the table. Just make sure to grip the handles with oven mitts, because they got super hot.

As compared to the other pans, the Joyce Chen Pro Chef 14-Inch Excalibur Nonstick Wok was heavier than we expected! Most nonstick pans are relatively light, but this one definitely had some heft (especially when it was full of food). We weren’t impressed with the evenness of heating, and it had hot spots all over the place. While we loved the traditional shape, we found the slopes too slippery to move food around effectively.

You might be attracted to the budget price of the T-fal 14-Inch Nonstick Jumbo Wok, but it definitely wouldn’t be our first choice. The PFOA-free nonstick coating made the pan easy to clean, and on the plus-side it was one of the lightest pans we tested. It was fun to flip vegetables, but it was nearly impossible to get a hard sear on the food. This type of coating is not ideal for use in high-heat cooking as it can break down quickly over time. Since that's kind of what woks are all about, it's a bit of a deal-breaker.

Overall, we were pretty happy with the performance of the Craft Wok Traditional Hand Hammered Carbon Steel Pow wok. It looks absolutely gorgeous, too, with it hand-hammered carbon steel and a wooden handle. Unfortunately, the rounded bottom means this wok isn’t for everyone. If you own an electric stove, you’ll need to pick up a wok ring so the cookware can balance above the element. And while we love the quick-and-even heating of carbon steel, keep in mind that the seasoning process requires some patience. It was easy enough to season, but time-consuming nonetheless.

The Yousukata has a more rounded bottom than the other woks, but it didn’t negatively impact its performance. When our tester tilted the wok slightly towards her on the grated gas stovetop, it worked out fine. However, this wok may just be less suitable for an electric or induction cooktop.

This pre-seasoned carbon steel wok heats up quickly and is relatively easy to re-season and care for. If you’re looking for some restaurant-quality stir fry, this wok won’t disappoint.

However, when it comes to ease of use, the wooden handle wasn’t the most comfortable to hold and the pan was heavy to carry around. We also noticed hot spots in the middle during testing, which prevented food from getting cooked evenly.

We were less than impressed with the Joyce Chen Pro Chef 14-Inch Carbon Steel Wok. Like the other carbon steel wok we tested, it heated up quickly and didn’t have many observable hot spots. However, we had a hard time seasoning this wok, and it left us with a burnt base and nearly clean sides. Overall, it did a nice job at stir-frying our vegetables and deep-frying potatoes, but it was too heavy and the back handle got in the way as we tossed food. All in all, we prefer some of the other woks better than this one.

While we’ve been impressed by Made In cookware’s durability and heavy-duty construction in the past, it’s a different story when it comes to woks. Despite being able to sear beef perfectly, the Made In Carbon Steel Wok was the least user-friendly one we’ve tested. It’s on the heavier side of the woks in this list, which made tossing vegetables feel like an arm workout.

The heft also made pouring out cooked food hard. Typically, a wok features a second handle on the opposite side so you can easily lift up the pot using both hands.

Among the unseasoned woks we’ve covered in this round-up, most came with a user manual explaining how to season it, except the Made In one. After a little internet research, we eventually figured it out. During the pre-wash, we had a difficult time thoroughly washing off the black protective coating and it took us six times to run them off under soapy water. In comparison, the other woks required three washes in soapy water, tops.

This wok could be good for searing large pieces of meat, but generally speaking, we think there are much better models out there.