Best wok for fried rice- Top 5 reviews and buying guide 2020

Getting a wok is the best decision you can make when it comes to stir-frying as well as all other forms of cooking. How do you ensure you get the best wok to suit your rice-frying desires?

Woks are becoming increasingly popular for both home and restaurant use, as is frying rice instead of simply boiling it. Frying rice involves using pre-boil or otherwise cooked rice together with a combination of fried ingredients to come up with the perfect fried rice mixture. It is important to get a quality wok that will not burn your food, or get it stuck while ensuring equal distribution of heat in the pan for even cooking.

Comparison table

Wok	Wok name	Shape	Material	Dimensions	Check on Amazon
	Helen Chen's Asian Kitchen Wok,	Flat bottom	Carbon steel	14 Inches Wide 10 Inches Deep	Check here
	Lodge Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet	Round bottom	Cast Iron	7 Inches Wide 2 Inches Deep	Check here
	ZWILLING Plus Wok with Handle	Flat bottom	Stainless steel (aluminium core)	12 Inches Wide 3 Inches Deep	Check here
	Lodge Cook it all kit	Round bottom	Cast Iron	14 Inches Wide 5.5 Inches Deep	Check here
	Calphalon Triply Stainless Steel Wok Stir Fry Pan	Round bottom	Stainless steel (aluminium core)	12Inches Wide 5 Inches Deep	Check here

Helen Chen’s Asian Kitchen Wok – Top carbon steel model

This kitchen wok is unique in its combination of diverse features including the side loop and long handle design, the carbon steel material and its flat bottom.

Specs

• 14 inches wide and 10 inches deep
• Carbon steel material
• Combines the side loop and long hand handle designs
• Flat bottomed shape
• The set comes with a tight-fitting lid and a bamboo spatula

One of the impressive factor about this skillet is that it is carbon steel yet flat bottomed, a rare combination allowing it to give you the best of both worlds. Its flat bottom allows for its use on any stovetop, gas, electric or otherwise. Also, its dimensions allow it to be used to prepare food for a reasonable number of people. It also combines the side loop handle with a long hand handle which makes it suitable for tossing your rice as you fry it and also making it easy to remove from the source of heating using the side loop.

Since it is made purely of carbon steel, this skillet is quite tasking to maintain involving consistent re-seasoning and careful washing, drying and storage to ensure that it does not rust.

Pros

• The set comes with handy additions (dome lid and bamboo spatula)
• It is very easy to use because of the side loop and long hand handle combination
• It can be used on any stove top because of its flat bottom

Cons

• It requires careful and consistent maintenance

Verdict

A little love and care is all it takes to get the most out of this traditional yet modern wok, which is not much to ask for. It would be a wise kitchen investment.

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Lodge Iron Skillet– Best Cast iron model

This best cast iron model is ideal for stir frying and a variety of other uses because of its material and make.

Specs

• Cast Iron material
• 17 inches wide and 2 inches deep
• Round bottomed shape
• Comes 100% vegetable oil seasoned
• Dual handle design for easy handling

The pros of this skillet are very wide. First, it is made of cast iron which is the best for stir frying, on top of having a dual handle design that makes it very easy to use when stir frying or otherwise. It also comes already seasoned, saving you the trouble of the initial seasoning on top of being seasoned purely by vegetable oil which is the healthiest alternative. It is oven safe, greatly diversifying its kitchen uses beyond stove uses.

Cast Iron is known to be highly prone to rust, so it is important to ensure that the cookware is completely dry after use and is stored in an equally dry place.

Pros

• It is made of the best material for stir frying (Cast Iron)
• It is suitable for oven use
• It comes per-seasoned (100% vegetable oil)
• It comes from a highly trusted brand

Cons

• It is highly prone to rust

Verdict

Cast Iron is always preferred material for frying rice, while this Lodge skillet is the top cast iron wok model, making it the ideal choice for your kitchen.

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ZWILLING plus Wok – Top stainless steel model

This stainless steel model was made for stir frying, particularly its unique ‘ceraforce-ultra’ coating which has all the properties of Teflon, with the ability to withstand high temperatures.

Specs

• Stainless steel material
• Flat bottom shape
• 12 inches wide and 3 inches deep
• Comes with a tight-fitting glass lid

This wok has dual stainless steel layers sandwiching an aluminium core one. This allows the kitchenware to combine the durability of stainless steel with the heat distribution properties of aluminium in the most proportional and advantageous way. The stainless steel allows it to be dishwasher safe, oven safe and microwave safe while the aluminium core ensures that heat is distributed evenly and efficiently throughout the pan. Its flat bottom allows it to be used on any stovetop.

It takes a while to heat up, which may be inconvenient in the case where a user is in a hurry. This could be due to the multi-layered base.

Pros

• It is dishwasher safe
• It is very easy to maintain
• It comes with a tightfitting lid ideal for conserving heat and light steam cooking
• It is manufactured by a trusted brand (lodge)

Cons

• It takes a relatively long tome to heat up

Verdict

This Wok is great for a variety of uses on top of being ideal for frying rice. It is also very easy to maintain, making it the perfect combination of high quality and low maintenance.

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Lodge Cook it all kit– Top cook it all kit

This cook it all kit is ideally made for deep frying, though it can be rather convenient for stir frying.

Specs

• Cast Iron material
• 14 Inches wide and 5.5 inches deep
• Round bottom shape
• Very Heavy (13.3kg)
• Comes with a tips and tricks booklet
• Dual loop handles

This cooking set would be great for frying rice because of its superior cast iron material combined with its round bottom shape. The dual loop handles ease its handling and moving around while its width and depth make it ideal for frying enough rice for the standard family.

This skillet is very heavy making it rather difficult to carry around or toss food during frying. This is because it is tailor-made for deep frying

Pros

• It is made from the best material for stir frying (cast iron)
• It is produced by the highly trusted lodge brand
• It is dishwasher safe
• It has dual handles making it easier to navigate with its weight

Cons

• It is very heavy (13.3 kg)

Verdict

This cast iron skillet would be great for both stir frying and deep frying.

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Calphalon Triply Wok– top multiply model

This tri-ply model combines the pros of stainless steel and aluminium, while effectively using them to negate each other’s cons.

Specs

• An aluminium core sandwiched between 2 layers of stainless steel
• Combined side loop and long side handle
• Round bottom shape
• 12 inches wide and 5 inches deep
• Comes with a transparent tempered glass lid

An unique feature about this skillet is that its cooking surface is non-porous, which makes it safe to use with all most heat withstanding utensils. It also comes with a tempered glass lid which is not only aesthetically pleasing but also makes it convenient to check on food while on the stove or in the oven

Like most multi-ply kitchenware, this wok takes a while to heat up.

Pros

• It is low maintenance
• It is oven safe
• It is microwave safe
• It is dishwasher safe
• It comes with a Calphalon lifetime guarantee

Cons

• It takes some time to heat up

Verdict

On top of combining the durability of stainless steel and consistency of aluminium, this wok is safe to use with metal, wood, nylon and coated utensils, making it a worthy addition to any collection of kitchenware.

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What you should consider before buying a wok for frying rice

• Material

Cast Iron is always a recommended wok material for frying rice. This is because of its ability to evenly distribute and maintain heat. However, there are a variety of materials available for woks, which could also do the job:

Teflon (Non-stick) – This material is specifically suited for steaming and stewing. However, it can be used to fry rice in the vent that you are intending to combine oil frying with slight boiling. It would be ill suited for complete frying because the heat melts the Teflon coat which is harmful when ingested and spoils the pan.

Aluminium – This material gains and loses heat very quickly, making it the worst option for deep frying rice. It could be used, like a Teflon pan for a combination of frying and boiling.

Carbon steel– This is a great material for frying rice because it is the most inexpensive yet durable wok material. With the right maintenance and care, this material is akin to Teflon, without the risks involved with extreme heat. Its downside is that it heats up rather fast, making it difficult to control the heat in the pan

Cast Iron– This is the most recommended material for frying rice because it is easy to use and regulate heat in the pan while it also helps in maintaining heat after cooking is done. The downside to using cast iron is that it requires quite a bit of care and maintenance because it is highly prone to rust.

• Bottom shape

The conventional wok shape is a round bottom. However, with increased demand for woks, there are now both flat and round-bottomed woks in the market, each with their good and bad.

Flat bottom- This is the new shape for woks, and is ideal for all stove types, making it very popular. The downside to this shape is that food can burn very easily on it, which implies that you have to be very vigilant when using it.

Round bottom- This is the traditional shape and is convenient for cooking where food requires even and consistent distribution of heat or when using a spatula for cooking. The downside to this wok shape is that it is limited to the utility on a gas stovetop.

• Size

Similar to buying any cookware, when picking the perfect wok for frying rice, it is imperative to pick one that is just the right size. This is determined by your family size as well as the storage space available. It needs to be big enough to make enough food for as many people as you intend it to while being small enough to be stored in whatever space you have at home.

• Quality Vs Price

It is very important to get proper value for your money in every purchase you make, and buying a wok is no different. We are always on a budget, but this is no excuse to settle for a substandard product. It is advisable to buy a product that is within your price range but still of great quality.

• Brand

When it comes to cookware, the brand is very important. This refers not only to the manufacturer but also the distributor. Due to the high and rising demand for woks, there is an overflow of counterfeits in the market targeted to take advantage of non-suspecting first-time and even naïve experienced users. This means that it is very important to do your research online and also offline by asking around, to make sure you get the highest quality and reliable brand of Wok available.

Final thoughts

Buying a wok would be a worthy long term investment in accomplishing all your rice-fry goals. However, it is important that you take care of whatever wok you decide on and make sure that you follow the buying guide in choosing a reliable brand, good quality and suitable material.