Seasoning a carbon steel wok

[TylerK]

I recently bought a new carbon steel wok (wooden handle) and now I have to season it. I know the standard practice would be to heat it till smoking hot and then apply oil until the surface turns black. I live in a condo with less than ideal kitchen ventilation though. Is there any way I can do this without triggering the building fire alarm and pissing off my neighbours and local fire department?

[Hassouni]

Try in the oven, as if it was cast iron. Be careful of the wooden handle, thought, you may want to wrap it up

[TylerK]

Thanks. What would you recommend to protect the handle? A wet dish towel? Foil?

Is it safe to season any outside surface that will be in direct contact with the stovetop element?

[rotuts]

in 'Breath of a Wok' they also use and oven with the wooden handle(s) wrapped in a wet cloth with the possible addition of aluminum foil to keep the 'steam' in

http://www.graceyoung.com/cookbooks/cookbook-2/

you do not need to get it to 'burning' just pretty hot. you do this several times and rub with salt inbetween

that book is a stunning one, perhaps its in your library?

[hongda]

Do you have an outdoor area? Can you setup a wok burner

[rotuts]

from BofWok paraphrased:

I paraphrase from Breath of a Wok:

First Washing

Vigorously wash both sides w Stainless-steel scouring pad removes machine oil. You can also rub with coarse salt. Dry with something lint free: paper towels, then continue drying over low heat.

Heating

1/2 tsp. Oil spread over the entire inner wok using paper towels. 450 oven 20 minutes. Let cool until warm to the touch. Scrub with hot water only w SS scrubber.

Repeat 3 - 4 times. (ed.: use just enough oil and there will be less smoke.)

A different method uses pretty much the same but an oven at 300 for 40 min. This method uses hot water only and an abrasive side of a ‘For non-stick’ sponge.

Cover the wood with soaked cloth and some aluminum foil if using the 40 min method

These worked well for me. There are many methods similar.

Enjoy.

[Paul Bacino]

Be Prepared for alot of smoke if you do it inside.. ( i kid you not )

I used grape-seed oil for mine and

I was having a real hard time on my cook top!!

Paul

[rotuts]

yes I agree on the grape-seed oil.

still a lot of smoke at 300?

[rotuts]

if indoors does not work, do you have an area outside for 'grilling?'

if you do, do it on some charcoal embers until you get the smoke point. several times.

[TylerK]

Do you have an outdoor area? Can you setup a wok burner

Unfortunately no outdoor area where I can do this...that's why I'm trying to keep the smoke to a minimum

from BofWok paraphrased:

I paraphrase from Breath of a Wok:

First Washing

Vigorously wash both sides w Stainless-steel scouring pad removes machine oil. You can also rub with coarse salt. Dry with something lint free: paper towels, then continue drying over low heat.

Heating

1/2 tsp. Oil spread over the entire inner wok using paper towels. 450 oven 20 minutes. Let cool until warm to the touch. Scrub with hot water only w SS scrubber.

Repeat 3 - 4 times. (ed.: use just enough oil and there will be less smoke.)

A different method uses pretty much the same but an oven at 300 for 40 min. This method uses hot water only and an abrasive side of a ‘For non-stick’ sponge.

Cover the wood with soaked cloth and some aluminum foil if using the 40 min method

These worked well for me. There are many methods similar.

Enjoy.

It looks like a great book, and excellent reviews on Amazon. I'll either try to find it in the library or order it myself. Thanks for the suggestion.

Is the type of fat important? I've read elsewhere that using a saturated fat (ie: lard) will produce a better finish than an unsaturated vegetable oil. On the other hand, it looks like the process here is chemically altering the fat which would require a much higher temperature for a saturated fat over an unsaturated one. I have a fair bit of duck fat sitting in my fridge right now, so I was thinking of using that.

[rotuts]

Many 'traditional' approaches in that book use pork fat ( at hand ) and chives for the scrubber.

one uses that which is at hand. but ..... you have to have a place where you can do a charcoal grill?

get the book first from the library then you might get one for yourself. it a really interesting journey with a Wok!

[TylerK]

lol...I'm on the 30th floor without a balcony. There is a rooftop patio with gas BBQs for use, but no open flames allowed outside of that. No one I know owns a charcoal grill either unfortunately. I'll give the oven approach a try first with minimal fat...I don't mind having to do it a few extra times to get a good seasoning. If it creates too much smoke though I'll see what else I can find. Maybe a friend with a house won't mind me smoking up their kitchen

Thanks again for the suggestions.

[Chris Hennes]

I've read elsewhere that using a saturated fat (ie: lard) will produce a better finish than an unsaturated vegetable oil.

That's exactly backwards, I believe: the polymerization works best with unsaturated fats, something like grapeseed oil being the best.

[TylerK]

I've read elsewhere that using a saturated fat (ie: lard) will produce a better finish than an unsaturated vegetable oil.

That's exactly backwards, I believe: the polymerization works best with unsaturated fats, something like grapeseed oil being the best.

Because of the chemical structure of unsaturated fat it is more reactive and will form the non-stick coating at a lower temperature. In that respect it would certainly work best, but I was more wondering about the "sticky film" the author below mentioned. I didn't read much into where he got his info, and it seems like a minor difference at most, but it just got me curious.

This is where I was reading about saturated vs. unsaturated: http://ironchefman.b...el-skillet.html

The applicable paragraph:

"For the oil, I used canola, because it's what I had. In retrospect, some of the comments said that unsaturated oils can leave a sticky film that needs to be brushed off, and I had a little of this, but it was manageable. Cooks Illustrated recommends linseed oil, but I couldn't find that. I used lard on my cast iron many years ago, but I haven't found a good source for unhydrogenated lard around here, so canola oil it was."

[Chris Hennes]

Have a look at this topic: Cast Iron, seasoning and restoring—lots of info in there, most of it applicable here.

ETA: This is the post I was thinking of in there.

Edited July 13, 2012 by Chris Hennes (log)

[Paul Bacino]

Another Option-- Take it to your favorite Asian eating place.. let them hit it with their Wok Burners!!

[C. sapidus]

. . . I live in a condo with less than ideal kitchen ventilation though. Is there any way I can do this without triggering the building fire alarm and pissing off my neighbours and local fire department?

Voice of experience here - using a wok as intended generates smoke. Even with a good hood, the family has learned to avoid chile fumes in the kitchen when I am cooking Sichuan or Hunan recipes.

You may find that seasoning the wok is the least of your worries.

[TylerK]

So I tried both duck fat and vegetable oil, and they both seemed to work equally well, though the veg oil took a lot less time. I'm not sure if I've done it completely right though. The bottom parts of the wok that were closer to the heat are a nice smooth satin black, but the upper parts are brown and mottled, kind of like the cooked on grease that is so difficult to scrub off stainless pans. Do I need to get these parts hotter to turn them black like the base?

[Will]

Cooking some garlic chives in it (as mentioned above), rubbing them all around the wok's surface is also a good idea, and I also like heating kosher salt in the pan until it turns grey.

Garlic chives (jiu cai / gow choy / nira) are not the same thing as regular chives - you'll generally only find them at Asian markets.

[RobertCollins]

I actually found a site that recommended flax seed oil for iron seasoning. Unfortunately I don't remember the site. My wok was seasoned in the 70's with sesame oil. Still works well

[Kerry Beal]

I actually found a site that recommended flax seed oil for iron seasoning. Unfortunately I don't remember the site. My wok was seasoned in the 70's with sesame oil. Still works well

This the one?

[RobertCollins]

Yes it was/is.

I had a Lodge Dutch oven and I didn't have any flax seed oil so I seasoned it with grape seed oil. The pan was on of those made in China that hadn't been ground smooth and I never could build the season to fill the sand casting so I ended up donating it to Goodwill.

[ojisan]

. . . I live in a condo with less than ideal kitchen ventilation though. Is there any way I can do this without triggering the building fire alarm and pissing off my neighbours and local fire department?

Voice of experience here - using a wok as intended generates smoke. Even with a good hood, the family has learned to avoid chile fumes in the kitchen when I am cooking Sichuan or Hunan recipes.

You may find that seasoning the wok is the least of your worries.

Bruce's comment is spot on. With that in mind, if you can't use the wok over high heat as intended, you may as well be using a non-stick Joyce Chen Peking pan instead.

[TylerK]

For what it's worth, I'm managing to get it fairly black with minimal smoke. It is producing some, but not the billowing clouds that I was afraid would set off the building fire alarm.

And in terms of heating the oil when actually cooking, should the oil smoke not subside when I start adding food to the wok? My concern isn't the short amount of time between when the oil starts smoking and I add food. It was the much longer period of time that I'd be producing oil smoke during the seasoning process.

[patrickamory]

Yes, it should. You will be fine. (Speaking as a fellow apartment wok user.)