Purchased a 14 Carbon Steel Wok. Why is it important to seasoning it before using it?!
repeat a few times...you end up with the pores of the metal full of oil-so as you cook the metal is not going to stick to food.
DO NOT wash it with any soap..this will take the oils out and you have to start all over.
If you get a chance, watch the cooks in a chinese restaurant use their big woks...almost a jet engine underneath for heat, and for cleaning they use water and a steel scrubber pushed around with their ladle. Some I've watched only use a wet rag!
The pans will be real dark, almost black on the inside and food just slips right around.
If you buy a new pan, it has been coated so it doesn't rust-so you have to 'clean' this coating off-first with soap and water, then rinse it and start the 'heat/oil/cool' cycle until water just rolls right off it.
Might take a few meals to get it properly seasoned but it's worth it!
Answers: It is very similar to seasoning cast iron pans...because you cook at high heat with very little oil, the metal has to be 'seasoned' so the food won't stick. By heating the pan up and coating it with oil (I use the 'solid' type of crisco, looks like lard) and letting it cool, wipe it off, heat up again, wipe in more 'lard',
repeat a few times...you end up with the pores of the metal full of oil-so as you cook the metal is not going to stick to food.
DO NOT wash it with any soap..this will take the oils out and you have to start all over.
If you get a chance, watch the cooks in a chinese restaurant use their big woks...almost a jet engine underneath for heat, and for cleaning they use water and a steel scrubber pushed around with their ladle. Some I've watched only use a wet rag!
The pans will be real dark, almost black on the inside and food just slips right around.
If you buy a new pan, it has been coated so it doesn't rust-so you have to 'clean' this coating off-first with soap and water, then rinse it and start the 'heat/oil/cool' cycle until water just rolls right off it.
Might take a few meals to get it properly seasoned but it's worth it!
It sets in a non-stick coating. And after you use it, you're not supposed to use any abrasive or soap on it. Just hot water and a wok brush
To stop food sticking and burning it
as well as non sticking it also will help it not rust.
Seasoning is to keep food from sticking.
1)To make sure that foods do not stick to it even when cooked over high heat
2)When you season your wok, it enhances the flavor of your food