How to Season a Wok

Do you know how to season a wok to make it nonstick, prevent it from rusting, and extend its lifetime?

When you buy a new carbon steel wok, it is important to burn off the residual factory oil and season it with cooking oil. The seasoning process can form a nonstick oil protective coating on the wok, make the wok nonstick, and prevent the wok from rusting after use.

Why season a wok?

There are 3 main reasons why we need to season a wok before using it:

1. Removing residual factory oil

A carbon steel wok rusts easily when exposed in a humid environment. To prevent a carbon steel from rusting, factories often coat it with a layer of factory oil or wax before package it.

Therefore, the first thing you need to when you buy a new carbon steel wok is to wash it thoroughly with a scrub sponge and dish soap. You will probably see your scrub sponge turning black immediately because of the factory oil.

Why do we need to burn the wok over high heat until it smokes? One of the purpose is to burning off the residual factory oil.

This type of smoke could be harmful to your healthy. Therefore, you’d better wear a mask and season your new wok outdoor if it’s possible. If you don’t have a portable burner and have to season your wok in your kitchen, make sure you open windows and turn on your range hood!

2. Prevent corrosion

Once the wok stops smoking, it means that all the factory oil has been brunt off. We need to keep burning the wok until it turns from black to blue, grey, or rainbow color (depending on different materials of the wok).

During the bluing process, the iron on the surface of the wok will react with oxygen at high temperatures to form a dense Fe₃O₄ layer, which can protect the wok against corrosion.

If we skip the bluing process, the iron will slowly react with oxygen at room temperature and eventually form the red oxide of iron (Fe₂O₃), which is what we call the reddish rust.

3. Prevent sticking

A carbon steel wok doesn’t have a nonstick coating, therefore we need to manually create an oil protective finish for it to make it nonstick.

After the bluing process, we reduce the heat to medium low, then brush surface of the wok with a thin layer of oil. Traditionally, older Chinese people would use a large piece of pork fat to scrub the wok for 5 to 10 minutes, until the wok gets a nice and even patina. People believe that in this way the pork lard can adhere tightly to the surface of the wok and make the wok nonstick.

You can also use store-bought lard or high smoking-point oil, such as canola oil, vegetable oil, sunflower oil, and peanut oil instead.

Which type of wok needs to be seasoned?

Technically, any wok or pan that doesn’t have a non-stick coating needs to be seasoned. For example, carbon steel woks, ceramic pans, cast iron skillets, and stone pots all need to be seasoned.

The seasoning method introduced in this current post is only for carbon steel woks. Different types of cookware have different seasoning methods. Therefore, make sure you find the correct method for each specific cookware.

If a wok comes with a nonstick coating, do not season it no matter it is a carbon steel or a cast iron. The high temperature will ruin the nonstick coating and make it release toxic chemicals.

Can I season a wok on electric stove?

Ideally you should season a wok on an open fire. Due the bowl shape of the wok, you won’t be able to heat up the sides of the wok evenly on a flat electric cooktop.

Last year, I tried to season a wok on electric stove. However, no matter how long I burn the wok or how much I tilt the wok, I was only able to burn the bottom part of the wok into blue, the sides of the wok didn’t change any color.

You can definitely season a carbon steel skillet, which as a flat shape, on electric stove.

If you don’t have access to a gas stove, you can also use an open fire grill, or season your wok in the oven by following this post.

How to wash a seasoned wok?

Traditionally, older Chinese people never use dish soap to wash their carbon steel wok.

My dad said that was because dish soap was kinda expensive in the old days. And because dish soap would wash off the oil protective finish on the wok, then they would have to season the wok again with extra oil, which is also expensive in the old days. Therefore, people chose to wash their woks with water only to protect the oil layer.

Nowadays, it’s totally up to you. I personally don’t want to see a greasy wok in my kitchen. So I’d aways wash my wok with a small amount of mild dish soap every time after I use it. Just make sure to dry the wok completely after washing it. Specifically, I always burn the wok over medium low heat for about 3 minutes to ensure it’s completely dry.

And you can always re-season an old carbon steel wok whenever it starts to stick. If you have the patience, you can even season your wok every month to maintain its perfect condition.

How to Season a Wok?

Equipment & Materials

• carbon steel wok
• gas stove
• 1 bump dish soap
• 1 piece scrub sponge
• 4 tbsps vegetable oil
• 6 pieces kitchen towel
• 1 pair tongs

Step-by-step Instructions

1. Thoroughly wash your new wok with dish soap and warm water. Use a scrub sponge to scrub off the residual factory oil or wax from the wok. Rinse with warm water, wipe the wok with a paper towel until completely dry.

2. Place the wok on a gas stove, burn the wok over high heat, tilt and turn the wok to ensure every side is burnt thoroughly. It’s normal to see the wok smoking. Burn the wok until it stops smoking, it means that all the factory oil has been burnt off.

3. Reduce heat to medium low, add 2 tbsps of vegetable oil to the wok. Fold 3 pieces of paper towel together, use a pair of tongs to hold the paper towel to coat the inside of the wok with a thin layer of oil. Burn the wok over medium low heat, tilt and turn the wok to ensure every side is burnt for about 1 minute.

4. Turn off the heat, flip over the wok, use the residual oil on the paper towel to coat the back side of the wok with a thin layer of oil.

5. Hold the wok in the air for about 3 minutes until it cools down a bit. (Do not place extremely hot wok in your sink. The water in the sink will leave dark water stains on your wok.) Once the wok is not too hot, place it in the sink, allow it to cool down completely.

6. Thoroughly rinse the wok with warm water, scrub off the residual vegetable oil with a scrub sponge, but do not use dish soap this time. Wipe the wok with a paper towel until completely dry.

7. Place the wok on a gas stove, burn the wok over high heat. Depending on different materials of the wok, it might turn from black to blue, grey, or rainbow after it’s burnt. Tilt and turn the wok to ensure every side is burnt and colored evenly.

8. Reduce heat to medium low, add 2 tbsps of vegetable oil (or 1 tbsp of vegetable oil plus 1 tbsp of lard) to the wok. Fold 3 pieces of paper towel together, use a pair of tongs to hold the paper towel to coat the inside of the wok with a thin layer of oil. Burn the wok over medium low heat, tilt and turn the wok to ensure every side is burnt for about 1 minute.

9. Turn off the heat, flip over the wok, use the residual oil on the paper towel to coat the back side of the wok with a thin layer of oil.

10. Optionally, leave the oil on your wok overnight to consolidate the oil protective layer. Thoroughly rinse the wok with warm water, scrub off the residual vegetable oil with a scrub sponge, but do not use dish soap this time. Wipe the wok with a paper towel until completely dry.

11. Place the wok on a gas/electronic stove, burn the wok over medium low heat for about 3 minutes to ensure it’s completely dry. Now you can use your perfectly seasoned wok to cook.

My Chinese Recipes you can cook with a wok: