Want to know why you should use a wok instead of a frying pan? If you want to find out and change your life, just keep reading! You might be surprised.
Wok pans have been around for a long time, but so have frying pans. These two cooking methods have long since been butting heads, and people usually love one or the other.
While the frying pan might have a special place in many people’s hearts, the wok has mine. To me, there’s nothing better than cooking your favorite dish with a wok – there’s just something about it.
However, I don’t expect everyone to turn to the wok side just because I said so. No – you need proof. Proof that the wok pan is a superior cooking utensil. That’s exactly what I’m going to do today – prove to you that the wok is the ultimate weapon of the kitchen. If you want your life to be forever changed, just keep reading.
Wok vs. Frying Pan – the Differences
Before I can get into why woks are so great, it’s important that you know the difference between a wok and a frying pan. Sure, it might be obvious to some, but if you aren’t much of a chef yet, it’s possible that you don’t know! We all live and learn, so no judgment here.
Let’s take a look at the differences between a wok and a frying pan below.
- Shape – the shape of a wok is much rounder, while a frying can is flatter. The shape of a wok means that it’s a great utensil for stir-frying food, while the frying pan’s cooking process is a lot slower and longer.
- Weight – wok pans are typically lightweight, making them very easy to use. On the other hand, a frying pan is typically much heavier, making it more difficult and unpleasant to use.
- Material – wok pans are usually made of carbon steel, a very light metal with great heat retention properties. This material also takes less time to thoroughly heat up, making it great for quick cooking. Frying pans are typically made from stainless steel, which takes a lot longer to heat up and cook food properly.
- Stickiness – woks are naturally made from non-sticky materials while frying pans can be very sticky.
- Food Type – woks are renowned for their relationship with healthy food. These cooking utensils require very little oil while frying pans need a lot more in order to get the job done.
Why a Wok is Better Than a Frying Pan
There are lots of reasons why woks are better than frying pans. Let’s take a look at some of the best reasons below:
- Woks cook food quickly – the time you spend cooking is reduced when you use a wok to cook. You don’t need to spend so much time waiting for the wok to heat up, and the cooking process is faster. Frying pans usually take around 2-3 minutes to heat up. While this isn’t long, when you have other things to do, cutting that down to 30 seconds is a great switch.
- Wok pans have a much larger capacity – in a wok, there’s a lot more space to work with because of the great, circular shape. You can cook multiple ingredients at the same time together, rather than being limited like you would a frying pan. The round shape of the wok also means that you can stir foods a lot easier and evenly heat everything up with the movement of using the wok.
- Woks are better for stir-frying foods – this one is pretty well-known but still worth mentioning. The wok is known for making stir fry foods, and it’s very good at it. It uses less oil and can even fry up any vegetables or meat with minimal effort and oil compared to a frying pan.
- Woks make much less oily food – when you’re using a wok for cooking your food, you are using much less oil than you would in a frying pan. The nature of the wok means that food is continuously stirred around, while a frying can is flat, and the food stays in place. As such, the small amounts of oil in a wok get moved around and spread, while the frying pan needs enough oil to cover the entire bottom of the pan.
- Woks are made from carbon steel instead of stainless steel – I already briefly mentioned why carbon steel is so great, but it’s worth mentioning again. The use of carbon steel means that heat is retained really well, but it’s also incredibly light and easy to use. You don’t have to worry about sore wrists! Heat is retained, and food is cooked evenly. When you use a frying pan, it isn’t uncommon for food to be undercooked on one side.
Why Cooking With a Wok is Advantageous
There are four main points to consider about woks and why they’re so great. Let’s take a look at them here:
- It’s versatile – you can cook just about anything in a wok. From stir-fries to boiling or sautéing anything, you can use a wok to do it. I can’t say the same of the frying pan, which you can only really use to fry select foods in.
- It’s got a great capacity – you’ve got a lot more space to work with, so you can cook more food at once. Can you do this in a frying pan? No.
- It provides uniform cooking – carbon steel means you get great, even cooking when you use a wok. You don’t have to worry about food being unevenly cooked anymore.
- It doesn’t cause a loss of nutrients – the quick preparation time with a wok means that time and nutrients aren’t wasted like they would be in a frying pan.
The Disadvantages of Cooking With a Wok
Like anything in the world, there are disadvantages to using a wok. I hate to say it, but it’s true. Let’s take a look at these possible disadvantages below, just to be fair:
- Some woks have rounded bottoms – a rounded bottom means that the food on the side will cool down while the bottom will get hot – you need to know how to use it properly.
- You need a little skill to use them properly – wok pans aren’t as simple to use as frying pans – you need to learn how to move it to flip food and get the most out of the product.
- You might need a ring for cooking if you have an electric stove – depending on the wok you get, some will have rounded bottoms while others have flat bottoms. The ones with flat bottoms are suitable for electric stoves, while rounded ones require a flame.
Is There a Difference Between Cooking With a Wok and a Pan?
Yes! I covered these in the points below, but it’s worth mentioning that cooking with a wok really does make a difference. You might want to cook with a wok because:
- It cooks the food uniformly
- It uses less oil
- It makes delicious food
- It doesn’t burn food very easily
- It cooks food very quickly
- It cooks a lot of super healthy food
- It’s a non-stick product
- It makes cleaning up very easy
- It is a light product and easy to use
- It can fit more food in it
- It’s very versatile
I don’t know what else you could want in a cooking implement other than that!
Final Thoughts
Woks are incredible implements for cooking. They are light, making them easy to use, and they produce amazing food. Unlike frying pans, a wok doesn’t need a lot of oil to get the job done and also heats up very quickly. While there are some things to note about works, like the shapes of their bottoms and the fact that you need a little skill to use them, they are worth the effort.
If you decide to get a wok and try it out after reading this, why not let me know how it goes? There are so many delicious recipes out there; you just need to try making them in a wok.