Carbon Steel Wok vs Large Always Pan: which is safer?

Our Place Carbon Steel Wok is our pick: better on PFAS and on the overall hazard picture.

Our pick

Our Place Carbon Steel Wok

Our Place

Carbon Steel Wok

PFAS grade

Excellent 100/100

Overall grade

Excellent 78/100

Verdict

Buy with care

Hazard flags

⚑ 2

Material

carbon steel (bare metal, no coating)

Confidence

85%

PossibleIron leaching from bare metal surface

LikelyRust formation from improper storage or care

Our Place Large Always Pan

Our Place

Large Always Pan

PFAS grade

Good 70/100

Overall grade

Good 58/100

Verdict

Buy

Hazard flags

⚑ 3

Material

Ceramic nonstick coating (composition unspecified)

Confidence

45%

PossibleCeramic coating degradation and aluminum leaching

PossibleCoating adhesion and thermal stress

PossibleProprietary coating composition opacity

Where these two actually differ

  • We flag Iron leaching from bare metal surface and Rust formation from improper storage or care on the Our Place and not on the Our Place.
  • We flag Ceramic coating degradation and aluminum leaching, Coating adhesion and thermal stress and Proprietary coating composition opacity on the Our Place and not on the Our Place.
  • The Our Place is carbon steel (bare metal, no coating) where the Our Place is Ceramic nonstick coating (composition unspecified), which is most of the difference in these two grades.
  • The gap is 30 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Our Place is the one to buy.
  • We are less certain about the Our Place grade, at 45% confidence against 85%, because it discloses less.

Both products run through the same public rubric: materials, coatings, brand disclosure, lab findings, and recalls, plus a beyond-PFAS hazard analysis. Grades are model-based estimates, not lab tests. How grades work →

More woks: see the full ranking