JOYCE CHEN Professional Series 12-Inch Carbon Steel Stir Fry Pan with Phenolic Handle

I look at the bad reviews here and have to shake my head at people who just have no idea what they're doing. Someone posted a photo of how food stuck to their pan. A pan that's shiny silver and obviously never seasoned. Somebody else said to season to a brown color, not burnt black. Look at the woks in any Chinese restaurant kitchen and they're black.I've had mine for quite a few years now and it's my everyday pan. It gets used for almost everything except for stuff that needs a wide, flat area, like cooking bacon, pork chops, steaks, etc. Seasoned it once and the seasoning has stayed fine over the years as it renews itself with every use. I can cook fried rice with not so much as a grain of rice sticking. Same with eggs. Just get it nice and hot, add a tablespoon of oil, swirl it around and then the food. Cleanup is very easy. A quick rinse and maybe a quick brush with a bamboo wok brush.Works great with my induction cooker. Heats incredibly fast, smoking heavily within 60 seconds even at only 50% power. The bottom has warped slightly but it's still fine. It doesn't sit completely flat, mainly because the weight of the handle makes it tip toward that side. Wish it had a lighter handle.

A couple of tips if you are buying this wok: The coating is a real pain to get off all the way. I boiled water in it and then scrubbed with a steel dish scrub in hot soapy water as the instructions state, and I'm a landscaper so it wasn't wimpy scrubbing. I then coated in oil and put into the oven, cooled and coated a couple more times. (The handle comes off nicely by unscrewing the hanger on the tip of the handle). It seemed to take on a nice brown seasoning, but when I went to cook with it there was a strange odor and plasticky goop bubbling off. So, I took sandpaper to it and sanded off all the seasoning I put on and made damn sure I got all the coating off.Which leads me to my next tip. In the process of reseasoning, I put the wok on the coil to dry and it warped the bottom slightly. Make sure there is oil in the pan or this will happen to yours. Dry wok on burner=wobbly wok and no one likes a wobblewok. I took a hammer to the bottom and while it's not perfectly flat, it sits without wobbling now.I love it though, once it starts to season up, nothing sticks and it can cook big meals. It was also fairly inexpensive. I would buy again, but this time I would start by using steel wool on the entire thing, and make sure I don't leave it on the coil dry again.A bit of work, but worth it for me to not eat teflon. Let's face it, teflon pans are garbage.

Had an expensive non-stick pan and it started to stick after a year so looked for alternative and found carbon steel seemed viable so gave it a try. The pan is very good quality with medium weight steel and good, balanced handle. It has a flat bottom so it works well on my gas stove.The seasoning process took about an hour, but one thing that I did not expect was how much it smelled and the amount of smoke it generated. My kitchen and whole house smelled for 3 days afterwards. I probably used a bit too much oil.After it was seasoned, I tried stir frying some chicken with vegy and wow it made a huge difference. It used to take about 12 minutes to cook over medium heat using the non-stick pan (because high heat destroys the non-stick surface). With this carbon steel pan I was able to cook on high heat and it only took about 6 minutes and it was much more flavorful! It's deeper so fits more ingredients and very easy to flip. A 3 course dinner took about 15 minutes to cook.Is it non-stick? Absolutely! After cooking I rinsed it in hot water and scrubbed with brush then put it back on the stove and heat for a few minutes to dry it up then coat the inside with a few drops of oil.For seasoning the pan, I would suggest using just enough oil to "coat" the pan and not so much that oil sits at the bottom otherwise it would turn into black tar. Just lightly coat it and burn for like 7-8 minutes until it starts to turn brown, not black. I have seen reviews where others do the seasoning on an outdoor bbq.Overall, very good quality pan and truly non-stick when properly seasoned and a healthy alternative to non-stick. From what I have read, it's supposed to last a life time :)Edit: After a few uses the seasoning came off and it started to stick so I re-seasoned it and re-seasoned it until it got completely black from too much burned oil. Wife hated it and made me throw it away. I scrubbed it as much as I could with steel wool then re-seasoned. I think I have finally found the right way. Forget the instruction that came with it. Here's what you do and it will take some time. Drizzle a tablespoon of oil in the pan and wipe it with a paper towel inside and out. Heat on stove until it starts to smoke then remove. Don't burn it. If it burns and turns black it's burned and you need to scub it out. Repeat the process about 2-3 times a day for at least 7-8 days. Then it will have a nice coat of seasoning. Now my pan is dark brown inside and black outside. I can fried an egg and make hashbrowns with minimal sticking which I use a spatula and it comes right off. YOU WILL NEED TO USE MORE OIL THAN NON-STICK PANs otherwise it will stick. I absolutely love my wok love love love!