giving the wok a gentle flare to the edge that makes it easier to push food up onto the sides of the wok. Woks sold in Western countries are sometimes found with flat bottoms—this makes them more similar to a deep frying pan. The flat bottom allows the wok to be used on an electric stove, where a rounded wok would not be able to fully contact the stove's heating element. A round-bottom wok enables the traditional round spatula or ladle to pick all the food up at the bottom of the wok and toss it around easily; this is difficult with a flat bottom. With a gas hob, or traditional pit stove, the bottom of a round wok can get hotter than a flat wok and so is better for stir frying. Most woks range from or more in diameter. Woks of (suitable for a family of 3 or 4) are the most common, but home woks can be found as small as and as large as . Smaller woks are typically used for quick cooking techniques at high heat such as stir frying (). Large woks over a meter wide are mainly used by restaurants or community kitchens for cooking rice or soup, or for boiling water. Materials The most common materials used in making woks today are carbon steel and cast iron. Although the latter was the most common type used in the past, cooks tend to be divided on whether carbon steel or cast iron woks are superior. Carbon steel Currently, carbon steel is the most widely used material, being relatively inexpensive compared with other materials, relatively light in weight, providing quick heat conduction as it has a low heat capacity, and having reasonable durability. Their light weight makes them easier to lift and quicker to heat. Carbon steel woks, however, tend to be more difficult to season than those made of cast-iron ('seasoning', or carbonizing the cooking surface of a wok, is required to prevent foods from sticking and to remove metallic tastes and odors). Carbon steel woks vary widely in price, style, and quality, which is based on ply and forming technique. The lowest quality steel woks tend to be stamped by machine from a single 'ply' or piece of stamped steel. Less expensive woks have a higher tendency to deform and misshape. Cooking with lower quality woks is also more difficult and precarious