Carbon steel is lighter and can be shaken and tossed thus is more versatile
in the finished effect of the dish. Cast iron on the other hand is the
choice for 'old hands' and is particularly good for cooking large quantities
of similar food, as the wok doen't need to be cleaned in between and retains
heat better. It's also the choice of a lot of households in China where
there is a wood burner around.


> wrote in message
...
> People in this group seem quite knowledgeable and I truly appreciate any
> help they've ever given me. I don't want to start world war 3 but I
> would really like to hear from those of you who have ever used one of
> the (I think are fairly new on the market) cast iron woks I have seen
> advertised on the internet lately. They are supposed to give superior
> cooking results! I have read that the chinese used this wok before they
> started using the hand hammered, high carbon steel ones. I've tried to
> read all of the customer reviews they had on them and 2 or 3 of them
> were very negative!!! These folks claim they love to cook with cast iron
> and own several different types of cast iron cookware but they came
> right out and said that the cast iron woks were terrible for stir
> frying!!! One man said his took too long to heat up and it stayed hot
> for too long after he was done cooking and the vegetables turned to
> mush!!! I don't see why they would if you remove them as soon as they're
> done cooking. I remove the food I cook in my carbon steel wok as soon as
> it's done and never have mush! I'm hoping those of you who have ever
> used them will give me your honest opinions! I have searched the area I
> live in high and low and I finally found a camping store that has just 1
> left in stock. It's only $30 but I hate to throw money away that could
> better be used on something else and while we're on the subject of woks,
> how about the aluminum anodized ones that cost anywhere from $50 to
> $150.What kind of results do they produce ???? All opinions and any
> advice is very much welcomed! Thanks again folks!!!!!
> Niki
>