4 ms·

I recently bought my first carbon steel wok and just today I put in the time to properly season it. Naturally, this evening I did my first stir fry with it and

by _0ffh 6y ago

I recently bought my first carbon steel wok and just today I put in the time to properly season it. Naturally, this evening I did my first stir fry with it and it was a blast! Cleaning was pretty simple. After I had finished eating I put some water into it, got it boiling, and used the spatula to scrape of the crusty bits. Then I cleaned and rinsed it under running hot water with some support of a brush. After a bit of drying off back onto the stove set to high to dry - and to polymerise the remaining traces of cooking oil to reinforce the seasoning. Cool off a bit and then apply a very thin layer of oil for protection. That might sound a lot, but it really only takes a few minutes! I'll do this every time after using the wok. I expect it to be good for a very long time. There might be easier ways to achieve this, but that's what extensive research has taught me to do.

hnick 6y ago
We had a non-stick wok that showed up one day somehow (now there's a dichotomy and abomination rolled into one) and it's starting to flake. I'm really strongly considering carbon steel as a replacement, I've hardly used cast iron either and think it's time to take the plunge and convert. One tip to add that the cast iron griddle maker gave me in the manual was to avoid putting lots of cold water on it while it's hot. You can wash soon after cooking, but use hot water. Otherwise it can warp.
- _0ffh 6y ago
  Right, I've read the same thing about avoiding that! Talking about additional gotchas: Acidic foods will apparently eat into the seasoning, so one should be careful with those.
  - hnick 6y ago
    Yes I read about the acidic foods, I did see a test saying it's not a huge problem but you will need to re-season more often. It can also leech iron which is actually a good thing for most of us. Anyway I took the plunge, carbon steel wok and cast iron pan are on their way. At least if I ruin them I can get a do-over unlike non-stick!

by _0ffh 6y ago

hnick 6y ago

We had a non-stick wok that showed up one day somehow (now there's a dichotomy and abomination rolled into one) and it's starting to flake. I'm really strongly considering carbon steel as a replacement, I've hardly used cast iron either and think it's time to take the plunge and convert. One tip to add that the cast iron griddle maker gave me in the manual was to avoid putting lots of cold water on it while it's hot. You can wash soon after cooking, but use hot water. Otherwise it can warp.

_0ffh 6y ago
Right, I've read the same thing about avoiding that! Talking about additional gotchas: Acidic foods will apparently eat into the seasoning, so one should be careful with those.
- hnick 6y ago
  Yes I read about the acidic foods, I did see a test saying it's not a huge problem but you will need to re-season more often. It can also leech iron which is actually a good thing for most of us. Anyway I took the plunge, carbon steel wok and cast iron pan are on their way. At least if I ruin them I can get a do-over unlike non-stick!