How to Season & Clean a Carbon Steel Wok

Before you can use your wok, you need to ‘season’ it. This helps build up a black, non-stick surface that makes wok cooking so great. Wash the wok inside and out with hot soapy water. Do not use an abrasive cleanser on the inside of the wok - Rinse and dry the wok well - Place the wok on high heat turning it and tilting it up to the rim and back until it starts to turn an even yellow-brown color - Remove from the heat, turn down to medium-low - With a basting brush or tongs holding a paper towel, add a thin film of neutral oil (avocado oil is perfect for this), just enough to coat the inside surface of the wok. Too much oil will clump and burn. This part can get smoky, so turn the ventilation fan on and put the wok back on the heat for about 5 minutes - again moving it around to get even heat coverage - Then turn the heat off and let wok cool back down to room temperature before the next round of seasoning. When it’s cool, wipe out any excess oil with a paper towel - Repeat steps 5-7 three to four more times. You’ll notice that each time the wok will get darker and darker. Your wok is now ready to be used and at this point I like to throw in a big handful of chopped garlic, green onion and ginger to cook for a few minutes. And you wok will continue to darken each time you use it, and that’s good. Now go make something