How To Season A Wok
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 พ.ค. 2010
- Grace Young is an award-winning authority on Chinese cooking, a teacher, author of "Stir-Frying to the Sky's Edge", "The Breath of a Wok", and "Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen", and is a contributor to multiple national magazines. In this video, she gives us an informal lesson on how to season a new, unused wok.
- แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
If you use the wok frequently, use a kitchen cleaner(paper) to wipe the wok. If you are a cook, you only need to clean it by boiling it with water and use bamboo brush to clean.
For long term storage. Apply some sesame oil on a wok at room temperature and wipe it until it cover the entire wok. Store it. Next time, you take out, only need to wipe it clean, boil the wok with water and you are ready to use it. This is taught by my Cantonese chef when I was 16 years old. I am 41 this year.
Thank you! I was trying to find out how to maintain a wok after seasoning, to keep it non stick, you're a good lad! 👌
I'm over 60...never used a Wok before. I am a Lodge Cast Iron person....My son told me to start Wok cooking and told me to watch all "your" videos. I see alot of similarities between Wok and my cast iron in cleaning & seasoning. But.....this will heat much faster and be able to cool to the sides. This Wok cooking will take alot of getting used to though. Should be fun !!!
Get a cast iron wok
Really works... after many failed attempts, followed your way with a new carbon steel wok and was patient, after about a fortnight of cooking cooling, avoiding acidic foods its simpky stunning now and just getting better. Thanks for a great tutorial.
I used a mixture of videos on you tube, (and cantonese blog instructions too) for seasoning my wok. I have an electric stove and a flat bottom wok. I heated the dry wok on full heat all over until blue black, then added pig fat ( in UK, it is simple lard, try the smart price aisle) and heated it again on all sides to burn it in. Then cooled it to room temp, before repeating the process three times. Then burned in a mixture of chives and spring onion greens until wark had a lovely shiney patina.
Thank you for the video, Grace!! I can't wait to buy your book.
I love you, I detroyed 2-3 woks because I couldnt seasoned properly. Now after few years I'll try again :)
I purchased Grace Young's Stir-Fry Cookbook and purchased her recommendations for a 14" wok. So happy to find this video on youtube. I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT YOU POSTED THIS VIDEO!!!!
Does she recommend a certain brand of wok??
Yes she does, a carbon steel one only. (must be seasoned well and maintained so it doesn't rust. Best seasoning oil is flax-seed oil, it ends up with the hardest seasoning). She has lots of videos on TH-cam. I also purchased her utensils and I was very impressed with the quality. I purchased them on Amazon. She has a great cookbook just for using woks as well. Check it out on Amazon, lots of reviews too. Do the wok.....
could you please let me know which was the wok she recommended? and where I can buy.
@@MariaRodriguez-mk7oj yes please help tell me where she get her wok.
Cool. Glad found this video. I was wondering how to season the wok with electric stove. Thanks! :D
Just bought my carbon steel wok. Been studying this video really hard. Cannot wait to start.
great video! helps me a lot with what to do when i get a new wok soon, i've been so frustrated trying a non-stick kind, and things stick to it like crazy.
AFter seasoning this way twice I got the black patina at last. An wok hei is in just about everything now. Thanks so much Grace Young!
You're thoroughly touching on every aspect of seasoning a wok. Very complete, instructive and helpful. It's a keeper. Thank you. I'll watch it again, several times, especially before buying and using the outdoor propane stove I plan to season the wok on.
thank you so much for the great video much appreciated.
Very good video! Thank you Lady❤️
Well done. Thank you.
This seasoning process is only half-done. Honestly you are unlikely to be able to do it properly on an electric stove. Carbon steel WILL and SHOULD turn blue. If it doesn't, it isn't the individual wok, it is that *the heat source you're using isn't strong enough*. When steel is heated to a very high temperature the surface will oxidize, but instead of red oxide (rust), at high temps it will make black oxide. The very thin layers of black oxide will cause the steel to turn a pale gold, then purple, then blue colors. These layers form a barrier over the steel underneath to protect against rust. This is called "blueing" steel, and it is an old blacksmithing process used back before stainless steel alloys were invented. This black oxide coating is also oleophilic (it attracts and holds onto oils), which is the other reason it makes an excellent rust-protecting and non-stick coating.
When seasoning a new wok, you do still have to scrub all the factory coating off it beforehand or else the oxygen in the air won't be able to react with the steel. Then you need to get it VERY hot over your highest-powered burner. Just heat the wok dry, on highest heat, and wait for it to turn colors. Unless you have a commercial-grade stove, this might take upwards of 10 minutes or more. Wait till the steel heats enough to turn an aqua blue, then slowly turn the wok over the flame until the whole wok turns that color. It shouldn't smoke much; if it does, you didn't remove all the coating.
Once the wok is all blued, wait for it to cool -- if you put oil in it now, the oil may burst into flame. Once cooled down, THEN you can put it back over medium heat and rub some oil on it with a paper or cotton towel, and maybe fry some ginger and scallions if you like. Coat the whole surface with the oil (outside too!) and wipe off any excess. Notice how the blue colors turn darker and more shimmery from the oil coating. They will stay that way because the oxide is oleophilic -- you basically cannot remove all the oil unless you use soap. The oxide, however, will NOT come off with soap, so if you do use soapy water on it to clean it (although this is generally unnecessary), just re-coat it with oil. The blueing should stay forever if treated well. By that I mean: DO NOT use abrasives like scrubbers on it -- that WILL remove the oxide and you'll need to re-do the process.
Lastly... for the love of god, don't try this with a non-stick wok, carbon steel or otherwise. Not only does a non-stick wok NOT NEED seasoning, non-stick coatings will be damaged, or even vaporize into harmful gasses at these sorts of temperatures.
Jason Corona What's the purpose of seasoning a Wok?
@@amandabr9562 to remove manufacturer's oil, to make it become nonstick by forming the patina and to prevent the wok from rusting.
@@amandabr9562 of course these instructions do not apply if using a pre-seasoned, non-stick wok.
@Keith B444 Jeep Rubicoon!! Well, technically, you should be able to cook on any heat in a wok: high, medium, low, etc. Woks are designed for high heat cooking. Some woks need to be seasoned when first purchased and some can be bought already pre-seasoned, just like cast iron. But regardless of the type, if seasoned, you can cook at whatever temp you choose. Most stir fry's use high heat, however, some recipes, like egg foo young, require a medium to low heat so the egg pancake doesn't burn while the rest of the ingredients have time to cook. Hope this helps. ☺
Drop some knowledge right here!
I'm glad a watched this before I bought my wok, thank you:-)
Thanksss 4 all the tips and explaine thinks
That is a Joyce Chen Wok, it should first be boiled, as according to instructions, to remove the wax that is inside the pan as part of the production (not curing) process. Then you are to wash it as she does initially, then cure according to preference. NEVER USE OLIVE OIL TO CURE A WOK- ONLY USE HIGH SMOKING POINT OILS.
Thank you for simplifying this process. I just want the pan to be completely clean and seasoned. the patina will come with use. Thanks
Wash it with soap and water first. Dry it over heat and thoroughly add oil to the surface to season. Wipe out excess oil with a towel when done. No need to wash after seasoning. Just wipe the oil out. Also, no need to waste green onions and ginger.
I scrubbed what I thought was most of the factory coating but only had a regular green scrub pad to use. after seasoning it with some oil it burned and got sticky. Not sure if it was the factory coating or not. Now after cooking and cleaning I still have the sticky pieces coming off. I think i may have cooked and ate some of the factory coating. Is that bad:(
Very Good!
This process, Is for the first time that I use the wok? Greetings from Mexico and have a great day.
The smoking point of lard is only 190°C, about the same as some olive oils, but semirefined sesame oil's smoking point is 232°C, same as refined peanut oil. Mustard oil or avocado oil works best with smoking point of 250°C or 270°C.
Yeah, I was thinking that when I use pork grease, etc., that it starts smoking well before canola oil. Maybe there's a chemical difference that matters between plant oils and meat oils?
I have a Jenn Air electric range (Not the ring burners, Induction) and before I knew what I was doing, I purchased and scrubbed a round bottom carbon steel wok. Now I want to season it but not sure what I am doing. Do I just want the lower section seasoned?
Any suggestion for brands which are manufacturing wok with a solid flat bottom? For electric stoves it is mandatory that the wok is of good quality and it will not curve...
Just got a wok as a present, first cooking item ever, wish me luck lol
This is correct! Cantonese Style. In Cantonese style cooking, Seasoning means preparing the Wok prior cooking. This process is repeated many times.
Cantonese Style. Use Chives and Tofu, sometime, bean sprout and ginger are also used. Used as often as you need or when you feel your wok is not giving the taste you want. This seasoning is just like computer reset.
Northern Chinese prefer to use pork fat to do the seasoning. It's actually easier as the natural fat from pork burns much easier.
WHICH is actually the "right" way to season a wok - heating the wok FIRST and then scrubing the factory coating afterwards with soapy water or scrubing the factory coating FIRST and then heating the wok afterwards? Does one way or the other really affect the seasoning process?
There are so many wok seasoning videos out there, each with its own variation. I don't know what to believe anymore. The common idea among them is that you smoke the oil and have it stick to the wok.
wow good thing i watched this, i was about to throw some tomatoes in my wok after the initial seasoning >_
Do we need to season on the outside? Cuz we wash on the outside too.
Hello, I've purchased wok in China, on Taobao. It's made of uncoated steel, but the color of metal is a kind of blue, is it normal?
Yes, different woks can have different colors
anis4music product from taobao are in bad quality
Awesome
I'm confused about one thing. She aggressively scoured the inside AND the outside of the Wok with the stainless steel scouring pad and dish soap and hot water to remove the protective factory coating, and then she seasoned only the inside of the wok to protect it from rusting. The outside of the Wok now has no protective coating. How is the outside of the Wok prevented from rusting? Was this cut in the editing of this video? Help me, please! I want to season my new Wok & start cooking!
I’m sure that was just not included in the video.
if you are going to use wok to cook soup. I used Corn oil, Tofo and ginger slice to 'reset' my wok with small fire.
Personally, I felt too much has been focus on "Seasoning". Seasoning is nothing but just quantity of cooking. The more the wok is used, the more season the wok became. The emphasis should be on "Cleaning". Do not use soap or detergent. You will need a bamboo brush as well.
After cooking, you should add water, boil it. use the bamboo brush to scrap off all the carbons and dry it.
Grace Young is definitely the Stir Fry Guru and the Wok Star.
Can you use a brillo pad or does it have to be that steal sponge thingy?
@oldskool228 To re-season, juts wash the wok with soap to remove any oil coating from previous seasoning.
Do we need to Season the wok every time b4 cooking !! or just once when it is newly brought
+mukund9000 ONE TIME ONLY
Amazing
you used an electric stove to season the wok?
Love your vids! please add captions or use a microphone. I'm sure you know, your camera mic pics up mostly the fan when you're cooking.
@71goodfood Instead of bamboo brush, can a plastic brush be used?
Thank you and god bless 💖 💖 💖
Finally found a wok on electric stove, seems more difficult & take longer time to season it comparing to use it on gas stove....
The easy way is take your wok to a Chinese restaurant pay them $20 they season the wok for you, but remember after every use only wash it with warm water and no soap then dry it with paper towel then put it back on stove for a minute just to make sure it dry completely then add a few drops oil before put it away.
That's a very good idea
Appreciate the great advice/tips, but wish the sound quality was better. Unable to hear some bits.
I had this same question.
I just bought a Twilling Dragon Carbon Steel Wok. The wok is dark color with some coating. Should I still use SS to script it the first time? Am I supposed to script away all the dark color. I tried to contact Twilling CS but they are unable to give me any instruction. Very upset.
Grace's books are great but you should season a wok in the oven in addition to what she descibes here. You want to protect the outside as well. if you have non removable wood handles just wrap them with a damp dish cloth and then wrap tin foil over the cloth. VERY lightly cover the entire pan with oil put it upside down in a 450 degree oven for 20 min.You don't want flash rust on the outside of your bad ass new wok.
Where can i buy this kind of wok
So what is the purpose of the seasoning if the pan in the video did not make the vegetables to stick to it? Is the carbon steel toxic?
Seasoning the pan causes it to get a naturual non stick surface and also for flavor, never wash a seasoned wok with soap.
does it need to be very dark like with a gas burner or this is fine? i just bought one but i also have electric
the darker the better the non stick property will be.
If you have those customized fabricates stoves that is good because they can blow strong fire, on conventional gas stove it will take awhile
@oldskool228 yes you can do it over and over again.
Oh my,i just wanted to be able to make a quick healthy meal.this wok seasoning buisness is deep.can I redo the process over again? I believe I might have failed.Lol.thx
looks like only the bottom part is seasoned properly.
Also another thing vinegar and other acids do is they react with the metal (this is assuming you have a rustable wok) and this leeches off into your food giving it a very unpleasant metallic taste.
@Siman727 I think she showed this way because some people buy a lighltly thinner wok.
hii hw to use or season a non-stick carbon steel wok?? plz help...thanks & regards
Chandrani Modak you dont need to season a non stick wok or pan.
Is it a bad thing that after a season my wok I heat it up and it starts smoking?
Nope! Just the high smoking point oil in the metal pores as she explained
What kind of wok do you have?
I tried to do mine and wondering if I messed it up. There was no colour except what looks like burned oil on The bottom.
Now I am confused. This video look's like she is cooking on an Induction hob...I've just purchased a new Ken Carbon Steel Wok as I have a miniature wok (carbon steel) but the information card says "Cannot be used with an induction cooker but all others" can someone explain why this lady appears to be using a Wok like my new one on an Induction? Thanks
I thought you can use an induction stove with all magnetic steel/iron pans? Why not just try it?
She is actually using just a standard glass top electric stove, not an induction.
How many times must you do this before you can start cooking for real?
Aiya! I just learned that I threw out a perfectly good wok. Bad, laowai. Lol. I kept using it to boil noodles since it was my only pan, and then was stuck with the rust and didn't know how to care for it. I thought it was like any other pan rather than a distant cousin to the cast iron skillet.
Using a metal turner scratched my wok, does that mean it is not good quality?
I don't like using metal in mine either. I just got one and it's perfect; carbon steel, great size and I found it for 10 bux! Remember you can use silicone tools since they can handle that type of heat.
That's my wok! :D
@786swe make sure it doesn't melt
And the part they don’t show you is when it lights up on fire the moment the oil hits the hot wok.
where is the portion the seasoning with the oil is demonstrated? That's the the most important part of the process......
Wow sounds like wok is ruined if you don't correctly season it at the beginning..glad I viewed this clip before using my wok
can I season it with coconut oil?
+meaningfullifemommy
I'm no expert, but I think coconut oil doesn't have a high enough smoking point.
I do it on the oven then I do the stir fry.
Of course I remove the wax first!!!
Can you do that with wooden handles like the wok shown?
Would this still work for an aluminum wok?
No it needs to be a carbon steel wok
Thanks! Do you have a recommendation for a good wok? I like the hammered woks but I have an electric stove!
The lady in this video, Grace Young recommends woks from the wokshop which she is using in this video. Just google wokshop and it should be the first result. Since you have an electric stove, buy a wok with a flat surface instead of the round traditional one.
I'm glad I watt
In all my cooking days I have never ever done this
That is why the chicken sticks to the wok when you are trying to stir fry!
In the video she only seasoned the bottom of the wok, which is actually incomplete. You do need to season the whole inside of the wok so that the interior gets an even dark surface which is important, and NO you don't have to cook spring onion and ginger when seasoning the wok, oil alone will do.
She's supposed to be an expert in wok cooking, but I've never heard of using onion and ginger... it sounds like people do it to lessen any metallic taste from a new wok. Yes, when I seasoned my round-bottomed carbon steel wok, I heated and seasoned the entire cooking surface, not just part of it. I stir-fried something in it afterwards, and was well on the way to blackness (and wok hei!). I did it on a gas stove, which works much better for this than electric, but I think if I were going to do another, I remember hearing later about an oven method that seemed like it made a lot of sense.
Seasoning with onion and ginger is actually a traditional way to season a wok.
y u no use fire?
What about the outer surface?
I think a dealer should have a seasoning service at an extra fee . that would be gr8 👍
Good point.
I agree with other commenters. This demonstration did not remove the factory sealant. First must heat the wok until the metal tuns black and continue to heat until the black factory sealant burns away. When it does the metal underneath is silver. On a flat electric surface, one must painstakingly hold the wok until every surface and side has burnt black and continue until the black burns away leaving the silver. After all of this hard work, using a pair of long handled tongs holding a clean dish rag which has been soaked in peanut oil is then rubbed all over the metal. The metal will turned a gun-barrel blue. It is only at this point that the hard work is justified. Here's a real pro (use oven mitts): th-cam.com/video/UGXGJD2xTzQ/w-d-xo.html
Good lord who knew it would take that long.
I finally got a real wok, not the stupid idiotic,, non-stick coated, deep sided woks that are everywhere. I was all ready to make my fry rice and taught the seasoning would take about 15 minutes. I didn't know I had to spend a half day seasoning it.
I absolutely never clean my Wok's with soap I have a commercial kitchen I spray them out with hot water only it takes months to get a new walk to where it will do what you want to to but once it gets to that point you will never cook in anything else I have them from 10 in to 4 foot. I cook and nothing else even American food. And if you really want to season your Wok because all my walks I can fry an egg in my walk with no oil all my walks are steel after they get done cooking with them I sprayed them out with hot water then I wipe them down on the inside with Lord or bacon grease then put it back on the fire for just a couple minutes just to get warm and then wipe it back out with a clean rag I don't know if that's the right way to do it but it works for me. I love my Woks but I do use traditional still Wok's
She didn't even season the wok, she just ran a bunch of aromatics around it on medium heat. I woulda loved to see her throw some chicken in there on high heat afterwards. woulda stuck like glue.
I put the oil in and it caught fire!
why they do that?
this is my favorite comment ever XD
When I seasoned my wok it change color to red....
A MI WOK LO VOLVÍ NEGRO AL FUERZA.. XD
Could you not just use a light coating of oil and skip the vegetables?
Spikestrip55 yes
Grace What about Seasoning it into the oven on 350 for an Hour or so.?
MyREDTAIL it looks like it has a wooden handle.
After following this process, I seasoned mine in the oven three times. Came out golden and sexy, life my last girlfriend. Check out the Wok Shop's video, it's better than this one in my opinion, though i think Grace is a great cook.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT LARD???????????????????????????
she missunderstood the meaning of seasoning the wok xD it dosent mean u want to add spice and flavour to the wok, but u want to creat a thin coating of oil that hardens when heating it to high heat
Just season my wok for the first time but i got this little brow spots. What does that mean?
Oh god, ten years ago. Never mind!!!!
@@floorluna Haha, this is one year ago but I hope you figured out that this is a terrible example of how to season a wok. That brown spot you saw was only the start of proper seasoning and that brown spot needed to continue changing color to blue and then spread across the entire surface. Hope it worked out for you and you found a better video!
that coker ring would not heat it up enough
还是王刚的开锅较靠谱
That's a weak seasoning. You gotta get that wok outdoors and blast it till it turns brown black