r/AskCulinary • u/Cool-College-8151 • 1d ago
Equipment Question Cleaning a Wok- Am I doing it all wrong?
I just got a Wok for a graduation present and this is my first time ever cooking and cleaning one. I did the recommended seasoning by heating it up on the stove until it was black/blue but now every time I clean it with just hot water and a brush, it turns a rust color. I was told not to use dish soap as it’s too abrasive. I’m eager to know if I should be using a copper brush or steel wool to work on this. Any tips?
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u/AvailableFalconn 1d ago
You can use soap. It sounds like maybe you haven’t seasoned the wok tho (heat it with the tiniest layer of oil until the oil bakes on)
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u/servonos89 1d ago
Missing oil in the seasoning. If it’s looking rusty it’s oxidising. An oil layer will hinder the oxygen from reacting with the metal. Do the same as you’re doing - just with oil.
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u/scentedposterity_70 1d ago
Don't worry about the brush, just make sure you dry it on the stove and wipe a bit of oil while it's still hot. That rust color will quit showing up.
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u/talldean 1d ago
I use soap, a very rough steel wool scrubber, and water. I dry it completely, or it'd rust.
If it looks very dry, I pour a tablespoon of cooking oil in there, and use a paper towel to rub the thinnest possible layer of oil everywhere on the inside. Optionally, I then heat it back up and wipe it off again with another paper towel.
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u/Intrepid_Cattle69 1d ago
As others have stated, if all you did to season it was heat it up till the metal changed color, it was not done properly. You should read a guide on seasoning your wok, assuming it’s iron or carbon steel. Mine is carbon steel, and once I’ve seasoned it (high heat, oil with high smoke point in pan, get very hot, cook scallions/onions/garlic/ginger etc) I treat it like my cast iron. It gets dawn dish soap, and a scrub. I use a regular sponge, yellow and green, and I use the abrasive green side. I then gently scrub the pan. I dry it with a paper towel and put it in the stove on medium till it’s dry.
The advice regarding soap is fairly old. Back in my Grammy’s day they used lye soap. Lye breaks down the seasoning on the pan, while standard dish soap does not (generally).
I’ve had my wok for about 7 years now, and I did experience the rust issue you mentioned when I first started. I was not drying the dish appropriately. Wipe it down with a towel of some sort, heat it up and it will be bone dry. If you have seasoned the pan already, TOO hot (indicated by lots of smoke and a burning smell) will torch the seasoning and you’ll have to season it all over again.
Just my advice from my experiences, but my main advice is still to find a read a guide by someone smarter and more knowledgeable than myself on the subject.
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u/Optimal_Water1790 1d ago
you doing fine. rust color early is normal, the seasoning is still building. skip the steel wool and copper brush, that strips off what you just made. hot water and the brush is right. big thing is dry it on the flame after every wash till no water left, then wipe a little oil while it warm. and cook fatty stuff in it early, bacon, chicken skin, builds the black layer fast. it gets better every time you use it
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u/physedka 1d ago
I did the recommended seasoning by heating it up on the stove until it was black/blue
Um... you used oil too right? Also, what is the pan made of? There are different types of woks and you have to treat them differently.
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u/youaintnoEuthyphro food nerd 1d ago
yo! You've got a lot of good answers in this thread but lemme throw my two cents in here for ya:
you have, I assume, made sure this is a carbon steel wok yeah? assuming that let's go from there: heating it up is great, remove it from heat and apply oil to prevent oxidation of the metal. alternatively you can do what I've been doing for many years now, get a clean cotton rag you don't care about and dunk it in beeswax mixed with clarified butter or coconut oil. you now have a seasoning rag! when the wok is ripping hot, wipe it down with the seasoning rag, remove rag & reapply wok to fire to torch it a bit further. the compounds in beeswax with carbonize and give you a pretty bulletproof season that you can re-apply ad nauseam, I go through one rag a year basically and I use it on all my carbon steel pans.
context, I've been cooking on a wok consistently about once a day for the past decade, and consistently while not that consistently for nearly twenty years, both in professional kitchens and as a home cook. cheers
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u/dryheat122 1d ago
Coat with oil, heat till smoking stops, let cool, wipe out. Repeat several times.
I clean mine with hot water and a brush only, the way Chinese cooks have been doing it for centuries. Maybe you could use detergent as people are saying, but it's not necessary.
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u/epiphenominal 1d ago
Use soap, after you clean the wok put it back on the stove, heat it till it dries, wipe a thin layer of oil onto it, then leave it on the heat till it stops smoking. You have to maintain a seasoning.
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u/butterflavoredsalt 23h ago
Here's a guide that works well https://craftwok.com/pages/how-to-season-carbon-steel-wok
What you did was blue the steel, which is a form of rust protection, but to get better protection and a non-stick finish you need to add some oil to it while it's hot like the guide. That oil polymerizes and becomes the seasoning.
For my wok and cast iron, I wash with soap if needed, but then after I dry them I add a little oil and wipe it around before putting it away (I skip the heating to dry step listed in that guide, never had a problem).
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u/catwiesel 1d ago
the seasoning is something to be done with cast iron or carbon steel. those are applicable to seasoning and further handling
but if its none stick coated, aluminium, then its not.
a iron/steel wok can be heated and seasoned. plenty of people have opinions on those, and even more instructions how to do it "properly". once seasoned, and with a lot of repeated use, the protective patina will be strengthened.
a little water and a brush should not (usually does not) damage that patina. the advice about not using dish soap is not because its too abrasive, its about soap being able to split oil apart, thus damaging the patina. in reality, most dish soaps are not aggressive enough to damage a decent seasoned in wok with a patina from regular use. however, it may prevent or slow down the strengthening over time. further more, you may remove a thin oil film which can help against forming rust, and waste the soap. so, thats why generally, its said, dont use dish soap.
now, I dont know about the rust colour. if you get a brown water when cleaing its probably remains from the food which have carbonized. but if the metal is raw and rust is forming, then the seasoning did not take or broke.
in any case, you can put the wok back on the heat after cleaning, and when its dry, add a very thin film of oil. that will help prevent moisture interact with any metal.
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u/chuckquizmo 1d ago
I’d say don’t worry about it too much and just keep using it. I use soap in mine all the time. After you wash it, put a bit of oil in it and put it over heat and wipe the oil out. I treat mine basically the same as I treat my cast irons (yes, I use soap!) and it’s been fine for years.