Carbon Steel Wok - does it look right?

[hagalaz]

Hello! Recently bought a carbon steel wok, new to seasoning and care. I’ve used it a few times after seasoning it myself and wanted to ask if it looked as it should? Any tips on how to keep it good?

 

[hagalaz]

Note it was very cheap, wanted to see if I could take care of it before getting something more expensive

 

[Andy M.]

Carbon steel woks are inexpensive. Your seasoning is on the right track. The dark area of the flat bottom is good. You need to get the rest of the wok to look like that. Is the rest of the wok (handles) ovenproof?

 

[hagalaz]

No, the handle is rubberwood. I’ve tried removing it but the handle is riveted to the wok. I will be more dilligent about moving the wok around the heating element

 

[Andy M.]

OK, but it may be oven safe to 350ºF or 400ºF. Can you look that up?

Otherwise, consider this:
My wok has a wood handle with a ring on the end to hang the wok from. The ring is just the end of a long screw that fastens the handle to the wok. Maybe you can unscrew it . . .

 

[pepperhead212]

Welcome to the forum!

Like Andy, I was also going to ask you if the handle unscrews? And how hot that handle is rated for? Usually those are rated fairly high, since woks are used on high heat, and often have gas flames coming up the sides, so maybe it will be high enough to oven cure it. Just because it's cheap doesn't mean the handle won't be heat resistant.

If oven seasoning doesn't seem like a good option, do you have a gas grill maybe, with a side burner you could cook on? Or even on the grill itself, to season it? Anything to heat much of the wok up, would be better than sitting on an electric burner. Or maybe you have a friend with a gas range, you could offer to cook some Chinese for them, if they let you season the wok there! Once it is seasoned well, you won't have to worry about it - just use it frequently, to keep it seasoned, like cast iron.

 

[hagalaz]

I unscrewed the hook at the handle, but the handle itself isn’t coming off. Going to try to get it off as packaging recommended mot putting it in the oven with the handle on.