On a thrift store slum, I bit on a Lodge cast iron wok (Cantonese 2-handled). I measured and it will fit inside my large BGE.
I gather that the Lodge options are much thicker and heavier than their Asian counterparts, but I couldn’t resist trying this, mostly because of the flat bottom base, yet with a traditional concave bowl.
Has anyone here used the Lodge woks?
Yes. Not a fan of it for my use.
But it depends on what you’re planning to use it for I guess.
(Someone in my family likes it for deep frying because of the stability – hot oil freaks them out, but then I have deep fried in kadhais from 4" on up depending on item and quantity, so that’s not an concern I share.)
I will never understand why cast iron would be used for a wok (as opposed to carbon steel).
It is both heavier, less reactive to heat and equally non-stick stick as carbon steel.
The only advantage that cast iron has is heat retention, but for 99% of what woks are used for (stir fries) it’s largely, if not completely, irrelevant.
I owned one but gave it away because it was SO heavy. A rather dangerous workout.
Well, in this case, the Lodge has a flat base, yet a round interior. So it functions and is stable on all cooktops without use of a ring, and you still get the round bottom. I will perch this atop a grill grate in the BGE and also on gas cooktop grates and glass-tops.
There’s also the issue of temperature crashes with carbon steel woks on normal home hobs. Less of a problem with cast iron.
This is one of my problems with it. I instinctively want to move a wok, but a cast iron wok is not meant to be moved around.
I don’t see incremental value to the wok shape in cast iron vs a cast iron pan with more floor space.
Nope, never tried it, but I know people who love it.
My first timid attempt in it after seasoning was a Philly cheesesteak. No flat top, so I had to break out the Searz-All to griddle the roll and melt the prov (smothered in the photo, as I like). Cooked the ingredients in a sequence on the radiant electric, then recombined for more tossing.
Turned out tasty.
I think the disco holds a lot of promise for this, due to flatter shape and larger size.
I’m pleasantly surprised this CI wok cleaned up so easily with just a little hot water.
Eggs scrambled into the leftover cheese steak filling tomorrow for breakfast.
I’m continuing to use and season this wok. There are still some areas where the very small pits in the CI left after grinding and polishing have not filled in, and they look slightly different and lighter in color. But it’s a wok in progress…
I’ve yet to use this–or it’s brother, the discada–in the Egg.
I didn’t know you were a Dad…
I have one that I use a lot. I don’t have a stove that gets things screamingly hot enough for the true stir fry experience, but I wouldn’t be able to do that with carbon steel, either. Also not sure I’d be tossing a carbon steel wok much, being not that strong.
It doesn’t stick, cooks just how I want it to, cleans easily, and I love it.
Kaleo- what did you grind yours with to smooth it?
I burned as much of the gunk as I could out of it with a torch, then I hit it with an angle grinder with a 60-grit flap disk–not a flap wheel. It takes a lot of grinding to get rid of all the “bumps”. Then the same angle grinder with a 240-grit to smooth it out. I woulda gone finer but 240 was the finest I could find.
I bought mine new so there weren’t any divots on it, and yeah, it’s bumpy a little, but it doesn’t seem to affect performance. Were the bumps carbonized food?
No, the bumps were the “peaks” from Lodge’s sand casting. The “valleys” were where the carbonized food/seasoning settled.
Lodge claims this roughness is actually good. I ask: When was the last time you saw a roughened carbon steel wok?
Understand. It’s not exactly the smoothest, but I haven’t had a problem with it. One day I might take that on. You’ve put a bee in my bonnet
