Bielmeier 13.4 inch Traditional Carbon Steel Pow Wok, Hand Hammered Woks and Stir Fry Pans, Flat Bottom Wok Pan with Wooden and Steel Helper Handle

Some recent low reviews of this wok prompted me to finally write a review. I have four, yes 4, woks: non-stick, stainless steel, granite coated and this carbon steel. Anyone considering a carbon steel wok but don’t like using oil to stir-fry, non-stick woks will be the better choice for you but understand you’ll never be able to cook on ultra high heat or get wok hei. Anyone who isn’t willing to put in the effort to season properly, heating properly and maintaining properly, stop here and go look for something else. Carbon steel woks, similar to cast iron pans, require ongoing maintenance. Simply as that. Also, this is a carbon steel wok. It CAN have nonstick properties but do not mistake it for a nonstick pan. You will have to use oil in the wok. But if you put in the initial time to properly season CS woks (and cast iron pans), they can be some of the best things to cook with! Yes, there’s ongoing maintenance but it really doesn’t take too much effort.The manufacturer’s instructions are okay but not complete. I’ll add some more detail here for how I prepped and seasoned this wok. This works other carbon steel woks as well.I find seasoning a wok is much easier on a gas stove than an electric. A gas grill can work too. You can also use the oven but it’s a bit of a hassle and precautions need to be taken with woks with wooden handles. If you’re going to use your oven, please search for a how-to video before attempting.This Bielmeier wok is heavier than other CS woks I’ve used before, by a pound maybe. It can get pretty heavy with food in it. Only issue out of the box was a bit of rust where the handle meets the wok, most likely because the manufacturer’s protective coating couldn’t get between riveted section. I used a slightly moist paper towel to wipe away all the rust. This also told me that there must be a bit of rust between the rivet. No worries because it’ll get sorted during seasoning.PREP BEFORE SEASONING:If you look at the picture, my wok has been properly seasoned until it’s almost black. Started by hard scrubbing the wok in hot sudsy water to remove all the manufacturer coating. Dried the wok gets a thorough drying.Turned the fan on high, going to get smoky. Using high heat, heated the wok until smoking. Used a pot holder so not to burn myself on the metal. Rotated and heated the wok in sections, making sure every inch turned blue. This took a long time, about 20 minutes, until all of the wok is blue, including the underside. Also made sure to get the rivets. Turned off heat and let wok cool completely.SEASONING:Turned the heat on high. Heated the wok up until smoking. I used metal tongs to hold a folded paper towel dampened with vegetable oil and wipe the entire inside of the wok. This will put a very thin layer of oil on the surface. Heated each section like during the prep until the surface was no longer shimmering and all micro specs of oil disappeared. When the surface changed from shimmering to matte, moved on to next section. Again, this took patience and time. Set aside to cool completely. (Took me about an hour to get to this point.)After cooling, any stickiness on the surface meant it needed more heating. Just repeated the heating process some more, then cool. Now repeated oiling and heating until the surface is a beautiful blackish color to build the nonstick surface. (I seasoned a total of 10 times over a period of five days.)How to cook with this wok:Heat the wok on high until smoking. Add cooking oil, coat the walls of the wok. I swirl and use a wok spatula. Once oil smokes, turn the heat down to medium or medium-low, or according to your recipe. Food can stick if not enough oil was added or if the wok wasn’t properly heated to start.I chose rice and eggs for the picture because they are notorious for sticking without proper heating or enough oil. I have about 2 Tbsp of oil in there to start. I had no sticking with the eggs or rice at any time.How to wash and maintain this wok:Don’t soak the wok or pour boiling water into a cold wok, both can remove the coating. I sometimes will use one drop of dish soap with lukewarm water to remove excess cooking oil but not often. If the wok is cold, I add a bit of tap water then add some very hot water to it. Then use a stiff brush to clean the surface. Dry thoroughly.Turn the stove on high. Heat the wok to dry completely. If needed, repeat the seasoning process then cool completely. Store in a dry location.If you’ve gotten this far, thanks for sticking with me and I hope this review will help you enjoy many cooking sessions to come with this wonderful wok.

This wok is comparable to ones costing four times the price!! Ignore the negative reviews about this wok rusting, it is made from low carbon steel and like all cookware made from low carbon steel it will rust IF YOU DON'T SEASON IT PROPERLY/AT ALL!!! This wok doesn't come with an eye hook in the handle if you want to hang it, but the handle has a centered starter hole so I just put my own in, if you do use a drill with a small bit to make a pilot hole because the handle is made from good quality hard wood. IMPORTANT!! Season the wok before you use it, scrub it with a stainless steel pad and dish soap, REALLY scrub it to remove the factory coating, if you dont the wok will smoke when seasoning and ruin the finish of the wok. Spend time on this step, do this least twice you will know when you're done when you can smell the metallic smell of the bare metal. When you're done cleaning the wok, it's time for seasoning it, or applying thin layers of high smoke point oil to polymerize the surface of the wok to make the wok naturally non stick over time. I seasoned my wok in the oven because it's easier and more effective than doing it on the stove. Dry it and put it face down into a 500 degree oven for one hour, after the hour is done, turn the oven off and leave the wok in the oven for 2-3 hours. When the wok is warm to the touch take it out it should be a nice blue color, this is normal. Now put about a teaspoon of a high smoke point oil in the in the pan I use grapeseed oil because its cheap and easy to find and it has a very high smoke point ,about 450 degrees coat the inside and the outside with a sheet of paper towel, get another clean sheet of paper towel and remove any excess and put it back into the oven past the smoke point of the oil you're using, this helps with polymerization of the surface of the pan and helps make it non stick, in my case using grapeseed oil I set the oven at 460 degrees again I leave it in for an hour and let it cool for 2-3 hours until its warm to the touch. Repeat this process as many times as you want, keep in mind the more layers you add the more seasoned/ naturally non stick the wok will become, I initially did 6 layers but I'm OCD, 2-3 layers will be fine to start, it will get darker after each layer, this is what you want and is completely normal. The key is to put each layer of oil on thinly, and wipe off the excess no more than a teaspoon of a high smoke point oil like grapeseed oil. I see people complain about woks in reviews and I have no doubt that they used their woks without seasoning them properly, if at all, I made the same mistake years ago and educated myself. After cooking with your wok, be sure to wash it with warm water without dish soap as soap will remove the layers of seasoning, use a bamboo swish or non abraisive pad to remove debris if there are any in the pan then dry the wok throughly, next completely dry it on low heat on the stove to dry it completely and when it is dry let it cool until it's warm to the touch then coat it with a thin layer of oil, hang it up and you're done. A wok can last a lifetime if you maintain it my friend has a wok her grandmother owned and it's still going strong.

Not for me to much maintance. Gave them away to Salvation army. Went To walmart and bought a teflon cover on. Better quality, easy to clean. Low maintance.

Look no further; not all carbon steel woks are created the equal. One has to consider price, dimensions, thickness of steel, machine stamped or hand-hammered, weight, etc.This wok is IT. Nothing sticks to this wok after a good traditional seasoning. I burned off the factory film and observed the wok change color to a light blue hue. Hand washed with some soap water, thoroughly dried it and then reheated the wok till smoke appeared and pour in a cup of canola oil.Heated the oil until 350F and then added a sliced whole large onion and couple of slices of ginger. Deep fried the pungent aromatics until dark browned before removing and discarding. Allowed the wok to cool before pouring out the oil and wiping down with paper towels.Reheated the wok until smoking and then added some oil and swirled it around the wok until smoking again. Dropped in two eggs, right out of their shells and gave it 10 or so seconds to set. They floated above the surface of the wok and I experienced no sticking whatsoever.This is the real deal and bar-none the best wok for the price I have ever tested. Buy with confidence.