Since I got my new gas range with the 22K BTU burner and an included wok ring, I thought it was time to buy a proper wok. I bought a 14" hand hammered carbon steel wok off of Amazon. It is this one:
Before seasoning it, I read a bunch of articles and watched a ton of YouTube videos. It seems there are a lot of different ways that people season their carbon steel woks. After a lot of research, I settled on this one:
Which uses the "double burn" technique. First (after a very through cleaning) you place the wok over high heat and keep it there, slowly moving it around, until the whole surface of the wok has turned a blue-ish color. You then let it cool down some, add a small amount of high smoke point cooking oil, rub it around the whole inside surface then turn the heat back on and "burn" it again. This time, the goal is for all of the oil you applied to the wok to stop smoking. When one area stops smoking, move another area over the flame. When you are done, the whole inside surface has a nice patina and very smooth and slick plastic-like coating and you are ready to cook in it. I was pretty nervous doing this with a brand new piece of equipment, but it seems to have turned out really great. Some sites also say to then cook some aromatics, such as ginger, scallions and onions until they are dark brown or even black, moving them all over the surface of the wok with wok utensils, then throw them out. This is supposed to remove any metallic taste from the wok for future cooking. I didn't do that part yet, but probably will after I can get to the store to buy ginger and scallions. Here is what my wok looks like after seasoning:
Before seasoning it, I read a bunch of articles and watched a ton of YouTube videos. It seems there are a lot of different ways that people season their carbon steel woks. After a lot of research, I settled on this one:
Which uses the "double burn" technique. First (after a very through cleaning) you place the wok over high heat and keep it there, slowly moving it around, until the whole surface of the wok has turned a blue-ish color. You then let it cool down some, add a small amount of high smoke point cooking oil, rub it around the whole inside surface then turn the heat back on and "burn" it again. This time, the goal is for all of the oil you applied to the wok to stop smoking. When one area stops smoking, move another area over the flame. When you are done, the whole inside surface has a nice patina and very smooth and slick plastic-like coating and you are ready to cook in it. I was pretty nervous doing this with a brand new piece of equipment, but it seems to have turned out really great. Some sites also say to then cook some aromatics, such as ginger, scallions and onions until they are dark brown or even black, moving them all over the surface of the wok with wok utensils, then throw them out. This is supposed to remove any metallic taste from the wok for future cooking. I didn't do that part yet, but probably will after I can get to the store to buy ginger and scallions. Here is what my wok looks like after seasoning:
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