New Carbon Steel Wok

I have a sort of nonstick wok, I’ve had it for about 10 years. It’s wok shaped and has a nonstick coating in it, but it also has a flat bottom. I can’t get it hot enough to make the kind of wok fried dishes I want to make. Mostly that entails things my dad made when I was a kid. My dad cooked on an electric stove with a round bottom carbon steel wok for most of my childhood. He seasoned his wok and kept it in perfect shape for 30+ years. With it, he produced some pretty awesome food. When I was younger I had no patients for a carbon steel wok but now I find it is totally worth the upkeep and that the effort is actually very minimal.

The wok I purchased is a good solid traditional round bottom, hand-hammered carbon steel wok with a wooden handle and steel helper handle. It came coated in wax and unseasoned, meaning I had to remove the coating and season it myself. You can buy preseasoned woks but unseasoned is cheaper and it’s not difficult to season it yourself, it just takes time. However, most of that time you don’t’ have to do anything but wait.

If you season a carbon steel wok right and clean it right, it will be nonstick, and it won’t rust. I don’t have a gas stove, so I seasoned my wok in the oven. I’ve been using it for months and it hasn’t shown any signs of rust. I just heat it up and put a little oil in it and things don’t stick. Remember what Yan says? “Hot wok, cold oil, food won’t stick”. Yup, that’s true!

If you ever do anything to “unseason” your wok/food starts to stick a lot, you can always season it again by following pretty much the same steps. If it has rust you’ll need to scrub that off and dry the wok quickly with a towel and then on the stove. Otherwise, the reseasoning is the same.

This is how I seasoned my wok…

1. I removed the handle and used a large presoaped Brillo pad and very hot tap water to scrub off the coating, rinsed, and repeated the scrubbing with a new Brillo pad. Rinsed well and quickly dried it with paper towels. I put it in a preheated 450 f electric oven for 20 minutes. I removed it immediately after 20 minutes (it was very hot; I used a potholder and an oven mitt). It had turned a lovely dark blue color.
2. I let it cool until I could handle it comfortably, about 30 minutes. Then I used a paper towel to rub a coating of veg oil all over it (inside, backside, handles) and then used clean paper towels to rub as much oil off as I could (like literally as much as possible) before returning it to the 450 f oven for 20 minutes. My oven did not smoke, and I didn’t bother to line it with anything.
3. After 20 minutes, I turned the oven off and waited 1 hour before I took out the pan. I let the pan let it sit at room temperature until the oven was back at 450 f (about 20 mins) and repeated the process of oiling, rubbing off as much oil as possible, putting it back into the 450 f oven for 20 minutes.
4. Repeat step 3, 2 more times letting it cool completely in the oven the last time.

My wok turned a lovely even dark color (main picture above) and it is as smooth as glass inside. It heats evenly and is very easy to clean. It’s exactly what I wanted.

Some dishes I’ve made with my new wok…

The very first thing I made with my lovely new wok was my Dad’s Fried Rice. I tend to make my own version of fried rice most often but my Dad’s version is a good childhood memory/comfort food and it seemed appropriate. I also made teriyaki chicken (not in the wok). The wok was nonstick from my awesome seasoning job. The photo above was just after I took the fried rice out and put it in a bowl to serve it. Only a few grains of rice remained. I was able to wash it easily and it looked like new again.

My second adventure in woking was a veggie chow mein. Simple and fast. Just noodles, carrots, sprouts, and onion. I topped it with some Char Siu (Chinese BBQ pork that was not made in the wok). The STILL nonstick wok was practically clean after I served the chow mein but I forogot to take a picture.

My third adventure in woking was to make my Dad’s cashew chicken. Admittedly I was not a huge fan of this when I was a kid, but grew to love it as an adult. Now it is one of my favorite stir frys. I don’t really like most restaurant versions, so when I am hungry for it I make it myself. It’s never been quite the same until I got this wok. The food came out easily and the wok was still awesomely nonstick. There was a little sauce residue left but it washed away easily with some hot water.

I have made several things my wok now. I tend to use it about once a week. Most often I make “Mixed Vegetable and Bacon Fried Rice” as pictured above. The wok has developed its own unique patina, which I just love. It remains nonstick and super easy to clean. I wish I had bought one years ago!

Purchasing links…

These are links to the wok and the accessories I purchased to go with it. They are not associate links, I am not making money from you clicking the links or purchasing the items.

Craft Wok Traditional Hand Hammered Carbon Steel Pow Wok with Wooden and Steel Helper Handle (14 Inch, Round Bottom) / 731W88

Town Food Equipment (34710) – 10″” Plated Steel Wok Ring

TableCraft 32405 Wok Spatula with Bamboo Handle, 14.5-Inch, Stainless Steel