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Directions for Seasoning Your Wok
Appears in
By Bee Yinn Low
Published 2011
- Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). Have all your tools ready. Wash the inside and outside of the wok, with hot soapy water and a stainless steel scourer (this includes the handles). This is a very important step: Scrub till you stop seeing a gray color in the water but not so hard that it’s bare metal. Dry the wok first by wiping the wok surface with paper towels (the paper towels may look gray after this). Then dry the wok thoroughly over the stovetop using low heat.
- Open the pores of the wok by heating up all sides as well as the handles. Switch off the heat. Next, put vegetable oil (I use canola in a clear, plastic squeeze bottle) onto a couple of folded paper towels and apply a THIN, even coat to the inside and outside of the wok including the handles. Swish the oil around the wok in a quick motion. Turn the wok upside down on top of a sheet of foil and bake in the oven for 40 minutes. After the 40 minutes are up, leave the wok in the oven to cool for about an hour. The wok should be cool to the touch prior to next step. If there’s too much gray when you touch the wok, repeat steps 2 and 3 to ensure your seasoning is correct.
- Wash the wok out with hot water and a green scrubber and no soap. Dry completely by using the stovetop over low heat. We are now ready to season the inside of the wok. First, chop an onion or a bunch of green onions (scallions) or chives, garlic, or ginger or some combination of these. This last step will help to finish the seasoning with an aromatic fragrance.
- Do the following steps in quick sequence. Using oven pads:
- Heat the wok on high heat till you see first wisps of smoke.
- Immediately squeeze vegetable oil around the sides of the wok, go around 3–4 times so oil drips down sides.
- Add the aromatics. Use a spatula to push the aromatics up the sides of the wok. You will see the seasoning (bronze color) start immediately.
- Tip the wok back and forth so all the sides will get some heat.
- Keep stir-frying until the seasoning (bronze) happens all around the wok, then toss the contents out. Your wok is now ready for your inaugural stir-fry!
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