Seasoning a Wok

Published on Tuesday, September 16, 2008, by CHOW Video Team / Edit Post

Seasoning a Wok

Chowhound Jed Kolko, a Chinese-food autodidact, lays out the process: Wash out your wok, put it over high heat till it smokes, oil it, and heat it again. You’re looking for the shine that suggests a nonstick surface.

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POST A COMMENT |4 Comments

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  • I like Jed's simple video. We season and wash out several times to get it going as Ron says. However, you can start using your wok once it's seasoned and it starts building patina very quickly. Of course I am referring to cast iron which I am passionate about.

    I teach wok cooking, love cast iron woks and ended up selling a lightweight wok because there were so many misconceptions about the...+READ

    I like Jed's simple video. We season and wash out several times to get it going as Ron says. However, you can start using your wok once it's seasoned and it starts building patina very quickly. Of course I am referring to cast iron which I am passionate about.

    I teach wok cooking, love cast iron woks and ended up selling a lightweight wok because there were so many misconceptions about the right wok and heat source. I believe there's only ONE wok (cast iron imparts flavor and texture) and ONE heat (gas gives instantaneous control) to be truly successful with stir frying. I get into this topic in great depth on my website if anyone is interested.

    I think you'll get a laugh out of my husband's video when he first started using a wok, he got over 15,000 views on youtube. You can see how to easily get rid of rust spots.
    http://www.eleanorhoh.com/video-Wok_Care_and_Feeding.html-COLLAPSE

  • My wok has some rust spots. Any recommendation for how to deal with this?

  • Great video, my non vegetarian version (that was taught by my grandma) is to use pig fat and chinese chives to season my woks. the fat holds pretty well and i usually only need to do it once on a iron wok

  • One must be reminded that several seasonings are usually required and that it is not a process thet can be completed wtihin a few weeks. I recomend reading The Breath of a Wok by Grace Wong.

    The video is however is great! f I had seen something like this in the early 60's, I would not have had to wait until the mid-seventies.