Seasoning a Wok

[ecowper]

Okay, I learned something new tonight. I’ve been using my Made In wok a lot and it is great. But it is a thicker than a traditional wok and a bit heavier. So, changing temp rapidly isn’t easy and tossing the stir fry is challenging. I broke out my traditional wok tonight, but had a bunch of trouble, starting with food sticking big time. That led me down the “what is wrong” road and I ultimately realized I had not properly heated and seasoned this wok. Going to post a before and after pics that show the difference I achieved in just 2 hours.

Where we started


and where we are 2 hours later



so what is the difference? I did 3 things and then tested

1. I dry cleaned the pan until all oil was gone using dry paper towels
2. I super heated every bit of the wok over the highest direct heat I could get. I got every inch of the wok over 450F, and mostly over 500F, measured with my IR therm.
3. I rubbed canola oil in well and then heated to 400F and kept it there for 10 minutes.
4. I tested non stick by frying 2 strips of bacon on nigh heat. They never stuck.

This feels like a game changer for the traditional wok. Try it out yourself.

[lemayp]

I used the instructions here for seasoning a really cheap traditional wok and have had good success with it. https://thewoksoflife.com/how-to-season-a-wok/. I have an electric stove so had to use an outside propane burner to do it.

[Uncle Bob]

Agreed Eric. When I first seasoned my latest wok it started out that light greyish bare steel color. Using my Camp Chef outdoor stove that has 30k btu burners I heated the steel till it turned a bluish color, applied the seasoning oil, and then reheated it for the black finish. Been a wonderful non-stick since, though needs occasional re-seasoning in the hot spot depending on cooking/cleaning outcomes. Probably the only difference between what you did and my operation was the availability of higher heat for shorter total process time.

[ecowper]

My stove can do 18K BTU’s ….. with the burner on high it didn’t take long to get that bluish color.

[barelfly]

Looks great with season! Every now and then I get a little left on stuff that I have to scrub a bit, so I’ll do a few coats of oil and seasoning after cleaning. Usually my wok stays non-stick, especially when I wipe oil prior to food and make sure I get high up the sides.

And that wok is like mine, round bottom (at least it looks in the photo) that sits nicely on the grates. Where did you get that one?

[ecowper]

It was a birthday present, so I don’t know where it came from

[fzxdoc]

I'm getting ready to season my new home-away-from-home wok. It's a hammered carbon steel one from the Milk Street Store (Chris Kimball's site) bought through Amazon.



My beautifully seasoned wok at home sits in my pantry 500 miles away while I break in this new guy. The seasoning process is complicated by the fact that we are living in an apartment and I don't want to set off any fire alarms. So I'm looking for a kinder, gentler way to break it in. I'm also 500 miles away from my copy of Grace Young's book that describes several processes for breaking in a wok. I trust Grace.

So I found this video which I think I'm going to follow. It's not the "cover the wok with a fine layer of peanut oil, wipe down, put upside down in a super hot gasser" method that I used to season my home wok several years ago. I didn't worry about smoke generation because it was outside.

I found this excellent Grace Young video and I think I'm going to give its gentler method a try.

As I said, I want to season it without creating any smoke, but I want a nicely seasoned wok at the end of the process.

Anybody used this method? Got any tips?

Thanks in advance,

Kathryn

[Carolyn]

We always seasoned our pots by baking them in the oven. There was no smoke created. My Dad put a micro-coating of oil, rubbed it down until it was practically dry (thick coating gets gummy), baked the pot upside down, cooled it and did that 2 more times on my cast iron. He did the same on the carbon steel camping skillet. I suppose the heat had to below the smoke point of the oil, so, 350 degrees or there abouts? Then use the pots. He didn't run out and buy any special oil.

[fzxdoc]

Thanks, Carolyn , for your thoughts. I occasionally re-season my old wok in the oven, using a similar method that your Dad used on your CI pans. Seasoning a brand spanking new wok from scratch: washing well, heating hot enough to drive out the factory oils and impurities with super high heat, washing again and then seasoning always intimidates me. I've only done it twice in my life before. Not knowing how sensitive the apt's smoke detectors are has me a bit wary too. I wish I had my gasser!
K.

[Carolyn]

I reseasoned one of my skillets on my gasser one time. I can see if you are wanting to use really high heat outside would definitely be a better choice. Good luck. I am sure you'll have a great wok when you are done.

[cruiseplanner1]

My friend who was of Chinese ancestry gave me a nice hammered Wok for a gift many years ago. He told me it had to be seasoned so I did. Must have done it fairly well because it looks like new yet. I do wash it after cooking but dry it right away and take a dab of canola oil on a paper towel and surface wipe it before returning to the cupboard. Even that quickly you will see the iron oxide on the paper towel but she is good to go.