Wok Star Eleanor Hoh

Be a Wok Star!

Cast Iron Seasoning Woes

How to Prepare New Wok Star Cast Iron Wok!

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Just to be CLEAR, if you purchased my WOK STAR KIT, your new cast iron wok is ALREADY SEASONED!

Wok Star Kit to help you succeed
Wok Star Kit with everything for your success!

However, first you need to remove the top layer put on to prevent rust on its month trip from China. This will REVEAL your already SEASONED wok under that layer! Ta da…

Fun fact: at the time of taping the process, I didn’t realize the woks were SEASONED under the layer of shipping coating, so after frying the onions, I immediately saw the beautiful sheen of the SEASONED WOK, yay! The sales rep didn’t know there was a shipping coating added and insisted she had sent the seasoned woks like my sample.

There’s two short videos I posted on Instagram showing how I did the 3 Step Process AND there’s written instructions below as well.

It’s ESSENTIAL YOU DO THE FOLLOWING PRIOR TO USING…

A 3 STEP PROCESS…

  1. WASH 
  2. DRY
  3. FRY 

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

Stainless steel scrubber (only time you use it)
Dish soap
Rubber gloves
Avocado oil (handles high heat 520F)
Paper towels
1 onion chopped. (Onions, scallions, chives, ginger all help to eliminate taste of metal and any discoloration. Use a combination or an onion will do.)

HERE’S 3 STEP PROCESS

Step 1: WASH

Use full strength dish soap and squeeze onto stainless steel scrubber.  Put your back into scrubbing your wok till there’s no discoloration coming off when you swipe the wok surface with your finger. Rinse off soap with hot water. 

Step 2: DRY

Use several paper towels and wipe dry completely. Next, put wok on stove and use medium heat to dry completely. When you see the first whisp of smoke, switch off heat and let wok cool. 

Step 3: FRY

Squirt Avocado oil onto a paper towel NOT directly into wok and wipe the entire inside of wok in quick strokes. Zing heat on medium HIGH. 

Add 3 rounds of avocado oil from squeeze bottle, add in chopped onion. Use your lovely spatula and push onions up the sides and all round the wok. 

Fry till wok is nice and black and onions are thoroughly browned. If wok looks dry, squirt more oil in and keep frying. Throw out onions. Use paper towel to wipe off any residual onion and oil.

You’re ready to start your WOK STAR JOURNEY!  

If you’ve stumbled on this post and
READY TO BE A WOK STAR…

READY TO BE A WOK STAR?


Seasoning Cast Iron Wok, Salt Pork Experiment (Updated)

By 2 Comments

After spending over 20 years teaching wok cooking, researching and understanding cast iron woks, it still surprises me how many misconceptions, mistakes, misunderstandings there are about this ingenius material!  I was introduced to using a cast iron wok through my mother who bought her first one in Malaysia as a young bride. She taught herself how to cook and I learned to cook from her and so glad I did.  My Wok Star project was born because of her.  I wanted so much to help others be successful in wok cooking and even went so far as to ‘preseason’ cast iron woks prior to shipping to customers because I didn’t want them to do it incorrectly and mess up their woks! Another reason is that I wanted folks to not have any obstacles to starting their journey into wok cooking and just have FUN!
Seasoning a cast iron wok from China if not done correctly, can make you very sick because they put a ‘finish’ to prevent the wok from rusting during shipping. I’ve read many horror stories on Chow.  It’s also not that hard to do, just time consuming and a little smoky. It’s the most important procedure to set up your wok for a lifetime use.

My good friend and top Asian food blogger, Bee Yinn Low of rasa malaysia asked me to write, Seasoning a Cast Iron Wok p. 19 in her new cookbook: Easy Chinese Recipes: Family Favorites From Dim Sum to Kung Pao.  Many readers have found me through her book, so thanks Bee.
I was also a lucky tester for her Fish Fragant Eggplant. Of course cooked in my wok, perfect for deep frying.
 
 

I DON’T use pork fat so my Jewish clients won’t have to worry.
SaltporkI was experimenting seasoning a new cast iron wok with cured salt pork. Wow, tons of fat.  I wanted to see the difference in seasoning if any between animal fat and canola oil. I’ll use this wok for my own use at home. I also needed to reseason a wok that an unnamed venue had put in a dishwasher!  I nearly had a heart attack, it ripped off all my patina, it’s not the same. It went down to bare metal, ouch.
I’ve changed my ‘seasoning’ technique a little with the help from many youtube commenters!  They sure don’t scrimp at telling you their thoughts. Here’s my husband’s amusing video on Care and Feeding of your Wok with over 62,000 views!

Well, the result of seasoning with pork fat was not very satisfactory for me personally.
MY REASONS AND TIPS:
1. You have to wait for the hunk of fat to dissolve, it took a lot longer. I found it quite dangerous with splattering.
2. The pool of fat prevented the heat from “burning”(seasoning) the cast iron wok. You have to pour out the fat first.
3. Make sure you have a glass or plastic container BEFORE you start seasoning.
4. Wait for fat to cool PRIOR to pouring into a glass or plastic container to prevent cracking or melting the container!
5. Do NOT throw lard down the drain which can clog and make everything back up.
 

I still prefer just using vegetable oil to season. It’s quick, cleaner and not so smoky. Here’s an interesting article on the Chemistry of Cast Iron Seasoning with flax seed oil and one post that makes sense!  I can’t wait to try using flax seed oil to see how slick it makes the seasoning process! Thanks Renee, a twitter and #LetsLunch friend for reminding me of this article.

 

Seasoning Cast Iron Wok, Salt Pork Experiment (Updated)

By 2 Comments

After spending over 20 years teaching wok cooking, researching and understanding cast iron woks, it still surprises me how many misconceptions, mistakes, misunderstandings there are about this ingenius material!  I was introduced to using a cast iron wok through my mother who bought her first one in Malaysia as a young bride. She taught herself how to cook and I learned to cook from her and so glad I did.  My Wok Star project was born because of her.  I wanted so much to help others be successful in wok cooking and even went so far as to ‘preseason’ cast iron woks prior to shipping to customers because I didn’t want them to do it incorrectly and mess up their woks! Another reason is that I wanted folks to not have any obstacles to starting their journey into wok cooking and just have FUN!
Seasoning a cast iron wok from China if not done correctly, can make you very sick because they put a ‘finish’ to prevent the wok from rusting during shipping. I’ve read many horror stories on Chow.  It’s also not that hard to do, just time consuming and a little smoky. It’s the most important procedure to set up your wok for a lifetime use.

My good friend and top Asian food blogger, Bee Yinn Low of rasa malaysia asked me to write, Seasoning a Cast Iron Wok p. 19 in her new cookbook: Easy Chinese Recipes: Family Favorites From Dim Sum to Kung Pao.  Many readers have found me through her book, so thanks Bee.
I was also a lucky tester for her Fish Fragant Eggplant. Of course cooked in my wok, perfect for deep frying.
 
 

I DON’T use pork fat so my Jewish clients won’t have to worry.
SaltporkI was experimenting seasoning a new cast iron wok with cured salt pork. Wow, tons of fat.  I wanted to see the difference in seasoning if any between animal fat and canola oil. I’ll use this wok for my own use at home. I also needed to reseason a wok that an unnamed venue had put in a dishwasher!  I nearly had a heart attack, it ripped off all my patina, it’s not the same. It went down to bare metal, ouch.
I’ve changed my ‘seasoning’ technique a little with the help from many youtube commenters!  They sure don’t scrimp at telling you their thoughts. Here’s my husband’s amusing video on Care and Feeding of your Wok with over 62,000 views!

Well, the result of seasoning with pork fat was not very satisfactory for me personally.
MY REASONS AND TIPS:
1. You have to wait for the hunk of fat to dissolve, it took a lot longer. I found it quite dangerous with splattering.
2. The pool of fat prevented the heat from “burning”(seasoning) the cast iron wok. You have to pour out the fat first.
3. Make sure you have a glass or plastic container BEFORE you start seasoning.
4. Wait for fat to cool PRIOR to pouring into a glass or plastic container to prevent cracking or melting the container!
5. Do NOT throw lard down the drain which can clog and make everything back up.
 

I still prefer just using vegetable oil to season. It’s quick, cleaner and not so smoky. Here’s an interesting article on the Chemistry of Cast Iron Seasoning with flax seed oil and one post that makes sense!  I can’t wait to try using flax seed oil to see how slick it makes the seasoning process! Thanks Renee, a twitter and #LetsLunch friend for reminding me of this article.