Wok preparation and caring

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What is a good technique for initially seasoning a wok, keeping it seasoned, and preventing rust?



Best Answer

Make sure to seriously wash the wok before initial use. Scrub it with hot soapy water and dry thoroughly.

After drying, place the wok over the stove on high heat until it starts to smoke. Rotate the pan so that all parts of the inside are exposed to high heat. Then rub the wok with oil on a paper towel.

After this, try not to scrub the wok. A rinse and rub down are usually all that is needed to clean it up. Always rub the wok with a little bit of vegetable oil after washing/drying. That will help to prevent rust.

And the most important factor of seasoning a wok is to use it. It's definiteily my most used kitchen item, and it's just getting better and better with each use!




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Quick Answer about "Wok preparation and caring"

  • Fill a sink with hot, soapy water.
  • Scrub the inside and outside of wok with a scouring pad.
  • Rinse the wok completely.
  • Dry wok with a clean, dry towel.
  • Place on a stovetop over medium-high heat to completely dry the wok and evaporate any leftover water.


  • How do you prepare a wok before use?

    Once the wok is seasoned, don't use soap to clean it. Instead, soak the wok in hot water for 5 minutes to loosen stuck-on food. Then wash the interior with hot water and a soft sponge (to protect the patina), and the exterior with hot water and a scrubber sponge. Dry over low heat before storing.

    How do you clean and care for a wok?

    Like cast iron, woks need to be seasoned as well. Properly seasoned woks have a caramel-colored patina on the inside. Seasoning a wok not only helps to impart flavor into your food, but also helps the inside of the wok build up over time to a smooth, non-stick surface.



    How to Season a Wok | School of Wok, Wok Care Series




    More answers regarding wok preparation and caring

    Answer 2

    if you find you have things stuck to the inside of the wok that you might be tempted to try and scrub off, you can instead flip the wok upside down over the flame and allow the deposits to be burnt off. Once they have been burnt for a while the ash should come off easily with a wipe (don't forget to let the wok cool first!) and this helps avoid the scratching and keeps the wok seasoned

    Answer 3

    Good guide to seasoning a wok.

    The wok may be seasoned like any cast-iron pan, by brushing the surface with cooking oil and baking in a moderate oven for an hour. However, because of its shape and center of gravity, oil tends to flow down and gather in the center, resulting in an unevenly seasoned surface. For this reason, I prefer to do the seasoning over a burner on top of the stove.

    Probably the best fat to use is lard – traditionally when you bought a wok you were given a piece of pig fat to season it. I have also used peanut oil. Polyunsaturated oils are not recommended as they can make the wok very "gunky." When using lard you can carefully brush the lard directly on the wok, all over the surface. Palm oil also works well.

    Answer 4

    To season my stainless steal wok I used pork fat. First wash the wok thoroughly and place on burner to dry. Cool the wok. Cover interior of wok with pork fat. Remove battery from your smoke detector if you don't have a range hood.
    Heat wok directly on flame, rotating to get all areas of the pan smoking hot. Add chives and push them around the pan. Cool wok, wipe with paper towel, and oil the interior of pan (I used sesame oil).

    If you have to wash bits of food off the wok, a teaspoon (or half tsp of each to clarify) of oil and coarse salt work well. Each time I wet the wok I heat it over the burner to completely dry it out.

    It took a few days of consistant use for my wok to become nonstick, I varied my seasoning approach... cooking bacon in the wok, then smoking up the pan after I finished using it, smoking up the pan with sesame oil and garlic, as well as repeating the pork and chives method.

    Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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