I have purchased a Yosukata carbon steel wok and tried to season it according to manufacturer's instructions but have run into a problem. The instructions imply a gas burner, but I have a ceramic stovetop. What happens is that the bottom of the wok rapidly achieves 240°C or more, whereas the wall remains somewhere between 60-70°C, due to the poor thermal conductivity of carbon steel. As a result, only the bottom gets seasoned, not the wall. I'm considering buying a convection hob, but am not sure this will solve the problem.
How to season a wok on a ceramic stovetop
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HeyItsSara
Sous Chef
Do you have a friend with a gas oven?
Do you have a charcoal grill? They generate the kind of heat you need to season, and use a wok. I use my wok on my Weber Kettle grill.
CD
I now wonder if it is a must to season the sides of the wok. First off, it came pre-seasoned from the manufacturer. Second, the goal of seasoning is to make the surface non-stick. Since the process of stir frying in the wok starts with searing the ingredients on the very hot bottom, where the risk of sticking is great, it is important to have it properly seasoned. Then, as the food is moved up the walls, which are much cooler (as I mentioned before, well below 100°C), there is no risk of sticking at all. Am I right?
What I do:
Heat in your wok with approx. 3 Tablespoons chosen Oil (45 mL) (or the amount recommended in your recipe). When good and hot swirl the oil around the sides of the wok.
You fry your ingredients and as they cook you push them up onto the sides.
When you do this there is the original oil on the sides plus the oil that is coating that ingredient - this will be enough to not let them stick to the sides - BUT you don't want so much oil up there to have them constantly sliding back down too fast.
Of course they will slip down but you now have your other ingredients in the center of the wok, helping them to stay away from the main heat.
Remember the trick is in the flash cooking, just enough for them to be cooked but still firm.
If you are doing your protein first - chicken/shrimp/beef - I generally take them out of the wok and add them back when all the vegies are done and I've added the sauce. The constant stirring you are doing now mixes everything well and reheats your proteins.
Hope this helps - I am saying only how I do it from the recipes I follow. Others may have a different technique but I shouldn't think it would be that much different.
Heat in your wok with approx. 3 Tablespoons chosen Oil (45 mL) (or the amount recommended in your recipe). When good and hot swirl the oil around the sides of the wok.
You fry your ingredients and as they cook you push them up onto the sides.
When you do this there is the original oil on the sides plus the oil that is coating that ingredient - this will be enough to not let them stick to the sides - BUT you don't want so much oil up there to have them constantly sliding back down too fast.
Of course they will slip down but you now have your other ingredients in the center of the wok, helping them to stay away from the main heat.
Remember the trick is in the flash cooking, just enough for them to be cooked but still firm.
If you are doing your protein first - chicken/shrimp/beef - I generally take them out of the wok and add them back when all the vegies are done and I've added the sauce. The constant stirring you are doing now mixes everything well and reheats your proteins.
Hope this helps - I am saying only how I do it from the recipes I follow. Others may have a different technique but I shouldn't think it would be that much different.
By the way - I have never pre-seasoned any of my woks. I just add the oil and go for it.
After I'm finished and have washed them I place a drop of oil and rub/spread it around with a paper towel.
After I'm finished and have washed them I place a drop of oil and rub/spread it around with a paper towel.
