On 2014-05-27, T Blake > wrote:

> But since the Chinese are the masters of the wok, i wonder if there is a
> reason in terms of their use and convenience for this *preference* for
> carbon steel ?

Go to yer library and check out The Breath of a Wok, a book dedicated
to the mythos of the classic carbon steel wok. It covers all that
how/when/why stuff in detail with a heavy dose of nostalgic reverie
thrown in. Then, make up yer own mind.

I have a 14" carbon steal wok with a perpendicular wooden pan handle
on one side and a helper handle (sqr loop) on the other. The only
thing I would change is to remove the wood grip in the helper handle,
as it's gonna get burned, anyway. Is it better or worse than a SS or
cast-iron or even a hand-hammered wok? Damned if I know.

What is really important when comes to cooking with a wok is the heat
source. I don't care if you have a nat gas/propane stove or an
oversized electric hob or any of that stuff. None of it is hot
enough. I use my wok on my turkey fryer burner, which is 5X-10X
hotter than any kitchen stove and I still wish it was hotter.
Commercial wok burners have an adjustable foot fuel pedal the cook can
step on to immediately supercharge the burner flame and keep the wok
at high stir-fry temps when dumping in a buncha food. Otherwise you
gotta toss in smaller amts of food or wait for the wok to get back up
to s/f speed.

nb