Wok Size Calculator

Choosing the right wok size is more important than most cooks realise. A wok that is too small causes ingredients to steam rather than stir-fry.
The pan gets overcrowded, moisture builds up, and you lose the signature “wok hei” (breath of wok), that slightly smoky, charred flavour of authentic stir-fry.

The general rule for home cooking is to allow enough space for ingredients to move freely. A good stir-fry requires hot, dry surfaces making contact with every piece.

Recommended wok sizes by servings:

• 1–2 people: 28–30 cm (11–12 inches): compact and heats fast
• 2–3 people: 32–33 cm (12.5–13 inches): the most versatile size for home use
• 3–4 people: 35–36 cm (14 inches): the standard restaurant home size
• 4–6 people: 38–40 cm (15–16 inches): large family cooking
• 6+ people: 45 cm+ (18 inches+): only suitable for commercial or outdoor wok burners

Stove type matters significantly. A standard flat-top electric or induction hob has a maximum ring diameter of about 22–28 cm. Using a 40 cm wok on a small ring means only the base gets heat, so the sides stay cold and the wok hei effect is lost. For electric and induction: stick to 28–32 cm flat-bottomed woks. For gas: you can go larger since the flame wraps up the sides.

Carbon steel is the traditional and preferred material. It heats fast, develops a natural non-stick patina over time (seasoning), and gives you proper wok hei. Cast iron holds heat well but is very heavy. Non-stick coatings are a bad match for wok cooking, because the heat that makes a stir-fry work is the heat that destroys the coating.

Wok depth (height of the sides) matters too. A deeper wok contains splatters and lets you toss without losing half the dinner to the hob. Depth is about a quarter of the rim diameter, so a 32 cm wok is around 8 cm deep and a 40 cm one around 10 cm.

How much oil deep-frying in a wok actually takes

Here is the thing nobody tells you, and it is why “8 cm of oil” advice for woks is wrong. A 36 cm wok is only about 9 cm deep. Eight centimetres of oil in it is not deep frying, it is a pan filled to the brim, and the moment food goes in the level rises. Half the wok’s depth is the working limit, which on a 40 cm wok is 5 cm of oil.

The sloping sides do earn their reputation, though. Fill a wok to half its depth and it takes roughly 29% of the oil a straight-sided pan of the same rim diameter would need at the same depth. A 40 cm wok at 5 cm of oil is about 1.8 litres. A 40 cm straight-sided pan at 5 cm is 6.3 litres, which is the figure the cooking oil amount calculator gives from area times depth. Same diameter, same oil depth, three and a half times the oil. That is the real argument for frying in a wok, and it is also why you should not read a straight-pan oil figure and pour it into one.

Steaming wants the wok wider than the bamboo basket going into it, so the basket rests on the slope with room for steam to climb past, which is usually a couple of centimetres more than the same cook would pick for stir-frying. On an electric or induction hob none of that overrides the ring: past about 32 cm only the flat base gets heat, and a bigger pan just gives you more cold metal.