Seasoning a Wok

[hansonb4]

Hello everyone,

I just purchased a carbon steel wok, non-flat bottom, that I plan to use on my 22" kettle. The manufacturer recommends that you season the wok on low heat, first washing the original oil off and then putting on three light coats of oil on the interior, with putting the wok on low heat after each time applying oil. I have an induction cook top, which won't work with the wok, so I need to season it over the grill. Does anyone have experience doing that on the grill and if so, any tips are appreciated.

Thanks,

Bob / hansonb4

[ReanimatedRobot]

Personally I have an induction stove top myself and I use cast iron skillets almost exclusively.  The thing you have to remember when using them is that you can't slide them around or bang them on the top or your are going to scratch/crack the top.  I think seasoning your wok might depend on how it is made.  Is it 100% carbon steel or does it have a wood/plastic handle?  If it has a wood/plastic handle it may be more difficult to season on the grill or in a stove.  Most people will set up their coals hoping to hit X temp and just leave their cast iron in to season.  If it has something that can burn/melt on it then you might not be able to just throw it in with the lid on and leave it.  I personally seasoned and reaseasoned my cast iron in the stove per Cowboy Kent Rollins recommendations on youtube and it has mostly worked out fine other than I may have let my skillets be too hot or cold when reasoning after cooking from time to time.

I don't have experience with carbon steel at the moment, but from what I remember hearing it follows a lot of the rules of seasoning cast iron.  You can watch several videos on youtube about this if you like, but the one thing you will need to remember about carbon steel is that it will get hot and cool much quicker than traditional cast iron. 

Either way, if you screw it up you can always strip the seasoning and start over so no big deal.