Trying to decide if I should keep it or send it back. Basil color on sale 170 before taxes. It's not as deep as I was thinking. I like the lid it will fit a 30 le creuset I have with no lid. Does anyone have this pan? Are you finding uses for it?

Hey all,

Its my first time buying an enamel cast iron cookware and I've recently stumbled upon a deal on the 30cm perfect pan wok for a good price.
I held of on buying it because I wanted to know if its going to be worth it on the long run and thought I'd ask for other user's experiences with that pan. What to cook in it, how to use it effectively (heat/sticking), and if there's special care tips to keep in mind.

Hi! So I just acquired a mini/baby wok, thinking it would be good for breakfast. 1. It came in the wrong color (graphite gray vs the matte black I wanted); 2. It's REALLY small, but maybe it's fine! Does anyone use this, and for what? Also do you prefer the grey or black? I kept going back and forth about either keeping it (the gray is growing on me); it really just is small, so not sure how usable it is with all the other variables out there. Thanks!

So, one fine day, I came across a Japanese cooking channel on Youtube where a Japanese lady cooks with her vast collection of Staub. Since then, for the past 3 weeks, I've been checking out the baby wok and the chistera braiser every night. I checked them out on store and the baby wok is too cute I fell in love with it. The braiser too, what a beauty. The Japanese seems to have a special obsession with Staub that they have a dedicated Staub cooking book, as well as describing how insanely delicious the food cooked in the braiser.

The problem is I don't even have a kitchen. I'm renting a room with shared kitchen. I mainly cook for 1 except for weekend where I cook for my partner too. I kept my pots and pans in my room, such as a collection of an LC DO, a thick SS pan, a cheap 24cm cast iron skillet with dual handle, and a 28cm Tefal deep skillet. The cheap cast iron pan does the job but too shallow for braising or stir frying, though anything i cooked in it taste really delicious. I don't have a space for another braiser, lol. I was planning to get Staub braiser to replace the cheap cast iron skillet, but I feel the bare iron has its own use!

And the baby wok, I just can't get it off my mind, though I haven't think of much example of use (that can't be performed by the existing cookware). I'm fairly a large eater so I don't know if this is a sign to cut down my portion and be creative in my cooking. The wok is half price of the 28cm braiser, so it's better not be an impulsive buy.

Oh dillema. Don't get me started with the 10cm cocotte. The Japanese youtube channel cooked eel steamed egg inside the 10cm cocotte and fitted 3 cocottes inside a 24cm braiser. It's just too beautiful that I'm partially relieved Staub is expensive so I am not tempted to collect them all.

First and foremost, I've read through the FAQ. Despite seeing the cast iron section, I didn't see anything about cast iron woks. I've done some research on this sub and some others, and there's a lot of information regarding cast iron woks, enameled woks, high-temp stove tops, "seasoning" the wok, etc etc etc.

Frankly, it's all a little overwhelming. Especially given the fact that I'm a newbie, relatively speaking. Parts of it are scary, too. I've seen a lot of posts and comments basically saying that a cast-iron pot is "wasted" or "worthless" on an electric stove, and that would really suck, since this was a ~ $250 gift from my boss.

So, as the title suggests, I just received a very nice Staub enameled, cast iron wok for Christmas. My girlfriend and I want to "christen it" by using it tonight. It's big, brand-spankin' new, very expensive, and way fancier than anything I've ever cooked on.

I also read that because its enameled and cast-iron, it can store heat better than a carbon metal wok. But it takes awhile to heat up since I'll be working with an electric stove like a peasant, and thus, I should preheat it for 10-15 minutes so it can get "close to mimicking a wok in a real Chinese cuisine kitchen."

All of this is flying over my head. I'm overwhelmed, frankly, and I don't know what to do. Can anyone give me a quick, crash-course on how to cook up a meal for tonight using this wok? I'll be on my computer for the rest of the afternoon, so if you need me to answer any questions (or take pictures, give model numbers, whatever) I'll gladly do it.

EDIT: Taco-phone imgur album of the progress!. The lighting is bad (4:30 sunset in Vermont!) but the enameled exterior is a beautiful deep-forest green. I'm still unsure how big the thing is. 7 quarts, maybe? 5? I'm bad with measurements, and the instruction manual didn't say.

However! It worked like a charm, and your instructions were PERFECT. No fires. No angry landlords. Smoke detector went off a couple times, but I yanked those batteries out reallllll quick. One concern is a lack of "pop" with the veggies and meat. The flavors were all bland. I'll need to experiment with different amounts of oil, seasoning, etc. This time round, it was just peanut oil, orange and yellow peppers, zucchini, spinach, carrots, and chicken...with ginger and garlic tossed in at the end. No other veggies on sale at the market, and I was too busy dancing and sizzlin' to think of adding spices or anything.

Bottom line: Thank you all sooooooo much. I can already tell, I'm gonna have lots of fun with this baby in the future. And I'll definitely refer back to this thread and try out some of the more advanced ideas, like making my own oil and sauce, seasoning rice, using it to saute meats, etc etc etc.

Inspired by another post about the Staub Baby Wok, and since I couldn’t find many reviews about this little gem, I thought I’d share my journey with Belinda, my graphite grey Baby Wok!

I initially bought it because I wanted a single-serving pan/pot that I could eat from, with features similar to a claypot but suitable for my electric stove. It’s also more affordable than a 1.25 qt cocotte.

Here’s what I’ve cooked so far: 1. Laksa noodles 2. Chinese sausage and chicken rice 3. Hainanese chicken rice 4. Leftover kimchi stew with rice cake

plus more frozen leftovers and ramen!

I’ve noticed that sometimes broth spills out during cooking because of its size, so it’s not the most efficient tool for making a full meal. I’m also still working on perfecting the trick to cook rice with a burnt bottom to mimic the claypot effect. It does require more effort and babysitting than just dumping everything into a rice cooker.

But overall I love that I can cook just one portion of food without committing to leftovers for the next three days or overloading my already-full freezer with more food.

Any suggestions what I should cook next?