Carbon Steel Wok

[escia]

Hi, I just bought my first wok and have a lot of (kind of silly) questions about it. It's carbon steel, and I've never worked with it before. It's the 12-inch carbon steel wok from World Market. Anyways, here are my questions for now:

How do you know when all is of the lacquer is removed? Instructions that came with the wok said to use a grade 2 steel wool to scrub the interior but I don't know how to tell when it's all removed.

After (attempting to) remove the lacquer, I washed the wok and after drying it because rusted in spots. Should I worry about this? How would I prevent this is the future?

Also, can someone explain to me the point of "seasoning" and also how often I should do it? The wok came with instructions on how to season but is it just done everyone once in a while or before each meal?

Thanks in advance for all of your help!!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I257 using Discuss Cooking mobile app

 

[Andy M.]

The lacquer protects the steel from rusting. If you have rusted areas, the lacquer has been removed from those spots. The steel wool should give you a shiny surface that will rust.

Once all the lacquer has been removed, you should season it. Once seasoned, itwill be rust proofed. Cooking foods with oil will add to the seasoning.

You shouldn't have to re-season unless the seasoning is damaged by a metal utensil.

 

[escia]

Thanks Andy!