Carbon Steel Wok vs Essentials Nonstick Jumbo Wok: which is safer?

Our Place Carbon Steel Wok is the clear pick. T-Fal Essentials Nonstick Jumbo Wok carries a failing PFAS grade, and we never recommend buying a failing product.

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

T-Fal Essentials Nonstick Jumbo Wok

T-fal

Essentials Nonstick Jumbo Wok

PFAS grade

Bad 5/100

Overall grade

Bad 0/100

Verdict

Skip

Hazard flags

⚑ 4

Material

Teflon-type coating nonstick Teflon-family coating

Confidence

85%

PossibleTeflon-type coating thermal decomposition (fume inhalation)

PossibleCoating degradation and ingestion

PossibleAluminum substrate leaching

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 T-fal.
  • We flag PTFE thermal decomposition (fume inhalation), Coating degradation and ingestion, Aluminum substrate leaching and Off-gassing or odor (new product) on the T-fal and not on the Our Place.
  • The Our Place is carbon steel (bare metal, no coating) where the T-fal is PTFE nonstick fluoropolymer coating, which is most of the difference in these two grades.
  • The gap is 95 points, wide enough that this is not a close call, and the Our Place is the one to buy.

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