Should patina be burned (wok seasoning)
I just seasoned my wok for the first (three) times with vegetable oil. I noticed that the wok smokes a lot (as expected). What I find troubling is that the patina looks like it's blackened and burned.
To say that a different way, it seems like patina is essentially highly-heated, burned oil. Is that really what it's supposed to be? Am I supposed to "cook" it until it burns, or should I be stopping at some point prior to blackening?
(The wok is carbon steel, although I don't think that matters)
Best Answer
As long as the surface isn't rough (i.e. with burned-on bits of food) then yes, the patina should be a dark brown or black.
That's more-or-less what a patina is; it's essentially tarnish, the result of cumulative oxidation, which normally happens to some metals anyway but is accelerated by the rapid oxidation of oils via high heat.
If you end up with a slick, evenly-distributed black layer, then you've seasoned it perfectly. If it's streaky or splotchy then you need to start over by scouring it down.
(P.S. Carbon steel is different from, for example, cast iron, because the latter is porous and you'll never see that perfect black, just a noticeable darkening.)
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Quick Answer about "Should patina be burned (wok seasoning)"
As long as the surface isn't rough (i.e. with burned-on bits of food) then yes, the patina should be a dark brown or black.Can you burn seasoning off wok?
The wok is seasoned and ready for cooking. Do not be alarmed if the wok looks mottled or has blackened areas. The patina will gradually darken the more you cook with the wok, giving you a natural nonstick surface. A newly seasoned wok (left, below) looks mottled and some think they've ruined the pan (but they haven't).How should a wok look after seasoning?
If your carbon-steel wok is newly seasoned, steaming (or boiling or poaching) may remove the wok's thin patina. Simply reseason your wok if this happens.How To Clean And Restore A Burnt Wok (Seasoning A Carbon Steel Wok) How To Make A Wok Non-Stick
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