How to Season a Cast Iron Wok

Season cast iron woks prior to use

A cast iron wok is a necessity for cooking stir fries and other Asian specialties. Unlike other pieces of cookware, however, a wok needs to be properly seasoned before it can be used--a process that involves coating the wok with oil and repeatedly heating and cooling it until the entire cooking surface is covered with a slightly sticky, oily film that will keep food from sticking to the pan and enhance the flavors of the dish.

Things You'll Need

• Stove
• Lard or palm oil
• Barbecue cooking brush
• Paper towels

Instructions

1. Open the windows in your kitchen and turn on a fan to ventilate the room while seasoning the wok. The seasoning process releases a lot of oil fumes that you don't want to trap in your home.

2. Place the cast iron wok on the stove top and heat over high heat for a few minutes so that the surface becomes hot. Make sure there are no inflammable objects around the burner that could cause a fire while seasoning the wok.

3. Brush the entire surface of the wok with a thin layer of lard, palm oil, peanut oil or corn oil using a high temperature brush, such as those used for barbecuing. Lard and palm oil are recommended, as they will coat the wok more evenly than peanut or corn oil.

4. Tilt the wok from side to side so that the oil has a chance to burn evenly over the entire cooking surface of the wok. Cook the oil in the wok for a few minutes and turn off the heat.

5. Let the wok cool down completely until it reaches room temperature. Soak up any excess oil in the center of the wok with a paper towel.

6. Heat the wok again over high heat until the oil starts smoking. Tilt the wok from side to side as before to season the wok evenly. Once the oil is gone, brush on another thin coating of oil.

7. Heat the oil for a few minutes and turn off the heat to let the wok cool.

8. Repeat the above steps until the wok develops a dark, slightly sticky and oily cooking surface. Prior to reheating the wok each time, remember to absorb as much of the oil as possible in the center of the wok with a paper towel.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't use soap to wash your seasoned wok. Simply rinse the wok after each use and scrape off pieces of food bits with a sponge. Place the clean wok on a burner over high heat so that the grease from the previous cooking session absorbs into the wok's surface.

References

• Thai Food and Travel: How to Season and Care for a Wok