Wok Shopping

If you have the BTUs and want an authentic Chinese stir-fry experience, I recommend that you check out the Wok Shop (http://www.wokshop.com) and look at their selection of hand-hammered carbon steel woks. They are the online outpost of a pretty famous shop in Chinatown, SF. They were mentioned in _The Breath of a Wok_ which is a really great cookbook you should also check out.

You need to season carbon steel woks but there are directions for that. It's similar to cast iron skillet seasoning. Eventually the surface becomes non-stick with seasoning and use. I used to use a non-stick, flat bottomed wok but I really can't go back.

I don't use a wok ring either but I have a BlueStar cooktop and the grates come out so you can drop the wok practically on top of the 22k BTU flame. It's great for stir fry but my hood can't keep up. If you get a single-handle wok you can use that with one hand to keep it steady. I find most wok rings raise the cooking surface too high to get the heat you are looking for.

Good luck!

-----
Wok Shop
718 Grant Ave, San Francisco, CA

clean_freak in Cookware