The Boomerang Wok: Magically Easier Stir-Frying?

Reader Heather sent us a link to this very interesting wok, and asked if anyone here has tried it. It's supposed to make stir-frying easier! We haven't tried it though — have you?

The Boomerang Wok was designed to help novice stir-fry cooks keep all their ingredients in the pan. The edge is cupped and curled back on itself, so that when you shove and toss the ingredients, they stay inside and don't flip out. It also supposedly lets you use a spatula to more easily stir and toss the vegetables. They also claim that it makes it easier to turn large pieces of meat or fish.

The claims are pretty stiff, though: "The Boomerang Wok means it is no longer necessary to lift up the pan; the skills of a Chinese chef are incorporated in this pan."

Really? Will this pan give you all the skill of a Chinese chef? What do you think? Has anyone tried this magical Boomerang Wok?

• Find it: Boomerang Wok at RoyalVKB

More on stir-frying:
• Quick Meal Technique: How to Stir Fry
• Lobster to Sweet & Sour: How To Make 6 Stir-Fry Sauces

(Images: RoyalVKB)

Comments (13)

Looks like it might tend to throw hot stuff at your hand/wrist. One may well be better served by developing the skill to use a standard wok. I'll be passing this gadget up.

Eh, I hate that grating sound when you shimmy a pan across the metal burner...but really, I don't think it takes much skill to lift the pan and jerk it forward and back with your wrist. Plus, it's fun. Also...this pan won't stack nicely with the rest of your cookware, it's asymmetrical.

Is stir-frying so difficult to do that someone would need this? This looks like something that someone would spot in Williams-Sonoma, think "Oooh, I'm going to learn to stir-fry," use twice and never touch again.

I'd also hesitate about it being Teflon. I realize it's the new type of Teflon that's supposedly safe and all, but stir-frying is high heat cooking, and that was a terrible, terrible idea with the old stuff. My seasoned steel wok has better nonstick properties anyway.

regarding mimee25's comment, it's not hard to do that but for someone like me with a bad wrist it's something to avoid doing if possible.

having said that, I haven't used the pan and I agree that it looks like you're flipping the ingredients toward you which makes little sense.

shipwrecks - Good point, I did not think of that! Hmmm that means this product definitely has a great place for some people. Still, the stacking aspect bugs me.

Considering that it's nonstick---I doubt its much of a wok at all and more of a saute pan (due to heat issues as mentioned by louiedog). I'm not sure what makes the new generation of Teflon safe but they said that about the last one and a number of well-loved pet parrots died when those pans got overheated.

This is absurd. Just use a slotted, wooden spatula if you can't lift the pan. "Designer" form over function with a hefty price tag? No, thanks.

picking up the entire wok to flip the contents is flashy but unnecessary anyway.. my mom and grandma never did.. just stir continuously and vigorously with a flipping motion. O.o flip towards the center, not towards the sides, and you should get the hang of keeping the ingredients in the pan pretty easily!

I love my Wok for it's multi-tool aspect. That really does make this a saute pan and nothing else. A gimmicky one at that.

A gimmick to be sure, but meh- looks kinda fun to me. No harm, no foul.

Good heavens people, it's just one idea and obviously most of us here don't fit the demographic. I think it's a brilliant idea and it probably really works. Anyway, it wouldn't hurt to pick it up just a little to avoid that screeching noise come on now, how many times have you flipped veggies right out of the wok? I know I have plenty...

Haven't tried it- but I would.

I have to second the wariness of teflon, I'd rather scrub a pan