Hi everyone,welcome to this episode of Amanda Tastes.
Today I want to continue my cooking utensils tutorial.
And I am going to walk you through some tips about iron cookware.
Including seasoning, usage and care instructions.
Here is a brand new iron stir fry pan.
I haven't cook anything with it yet.
The primary material is wrought iron for this kind of skillet.
It's different from cast iron.
Cast iron skillet is produced with a low level of technique, that is first melting iron, and then allow the iron to form in a mode to set.
The wrought iron cookware is made by a more complicated technology. The iron is first forged into a thin steel sheet, and then pounded and hammered into a wok shape.
That's the difference. Today I am going to talk about a carbon steel (wrought iron) wok.
Stay tuned and I will do another cast iron episode in the future.
After you bought it home, touch the interior and outside of the pan.
If it's very smooth to touch, that's probably because of a manufacturer’s wax protection.
That's to keep the wok from getting rusty.
So before you use your wok, clean the wax first.
Drizzle a tiny bit of dish washing detergent in the pan.
Wipe the pan with the coarse side of a kitchen scrub sponge.
Make sure you clean both inside and outside.
Now wash it under running water.
Now the pan is washed and scoured clean. Place it over your stove, and get ready to season your wok.
Turn the heat to high.
For a carbon steel wok, the material is not coated with any protection, such as nonstick surface, nor any enamel glaze.
That makes a carbon steel cookware very easy to stick and rust.
So seasoning is a must before you start cooking in it,
To prevent your pan from sticking and rusting.
As the temperature goes higher, you can see the wok starting to smoke.
And it's getting browned as well.
This is normal, don’t worry about it.
Now tilt the pan over the heat.
Evenly distribute the heat at the bottom and along the side.
Right now the pan is shiny and beautiful, but after a few uses, it will become bleak and ugly.
But no need to worry, a black wok is what you are looking for.
Tilting and turning the pan constantly over the heat, and allow it to brown evenly.
Now the bottom is almost browned completely.
Turn the heat to low.
Pick up a piece of kitchen towel with a pair of kitchen tong.
Drizzle some oil in the pan.
Wipe and grease the wok interior with kitchen towel immediately.
You don’t need to put too much oil, just enough to coat a thin layer inside the wok.
Now you can see that the paper towel is dirty with some dark mark on it, it's normal.
Again, drizzle in some more oil.
Wipe it again with another piece of clean paper towel.
Make sure the heat is on low, since burning the pan over high heat for a long time will misshape your pan.
Still, you may find some grey and blackish residue on the towel.
Repeat this oiling and wiping process. If you find the pan smoking heavily, you can turn off the heat for a while.
Wait until the temperature goes down a bit, and then resume.
Just repeat the oiling and wiping process.
Do not add in too much oil in one go.
Repeat for about 3-5 times in total.
Keep heating on low.
Don’t forget to tilt and turn your wok like this to grease and season the side.
The whole heating and seasoning process is done because the carbon steel has some pores inside its structure. Heating over high temperature helps the pores to open up.
So when you grease the pan with oil, it will penetrate and fill inside the structure, thus create a smoother surface.
Eventually this process will make your wok nonstick.
Besides, the original surface will be coated with a layer of oxidization film after its interaction with air, heat and oil.
In general, seasoning gives the carbon steel a smoother surface, and a protection.
It's like adding a nonstick coating onto the wok.
So now the seasoning protects the cookware from sticking and rusting.
Last step, flip the wok over.
Oil the bottom.
Give the exterior a protection layer as well.
Now we are done seasoning the wok. Let's give it a try.
A very common cooking technique with a carbon steel wok, is to apply cold oil in a very hot pan.
A hot pan over high heat makes the ingredients inside to cook very quickly.
So that they won't stick at the bottom.
As for the cold oil, that's because of the need for a healthier diet. If temperature is too high even beyond the smoking point, the oil may release some harmful substance.
Feel the heat with your hand(NOT by touching it!).
Drizzle in some oil.
Add in a beaten egg.
You can see that it's still a little sticky, but fair enough.
It's acceptable.
Remove from the wok immediately once done.
There is still some leftovers stick to the bottom, but not many. So the pan is almost non-stick by now.
Since it's the very first dish, the testing result is quite impressive.
Before any cleaning, pour in hot water while the wok is still warm.
Remember, do not pour in cold water. You never pour cold water in a very hot pan, ever.
A huge contraction and expansion will damage the protection coating that you just made.
Let them cook for a while over the heat.
If your wok sticks very much, you can do this for a longer period of time.
30 minutes will be enough. As for my wok, it just needs a very short while.
Now the cleaning is done.
At the beginning, before you start using your wok regularly, I suggest not use any detergent.
Every time you finish cooking, pour in hot water immediately to wash off.
Just hot water and hot water only.
In this way you can keep the seasoning on the surface as a protection.
After you scour your wok, put it back to the heat to remove any excess water.
Make sure the interior and exterior is completely dry.
Next, drizzle in a small amount of oil.
Just like what we did with its first seasoning, rub with a piece of clean paper towel.
Again, rub the inside thoroughly.
Later, turn off the heat and leave the wok to cool.
Following these care instructions step by step, you gradually enhance the oxidation film protection on the surface, thus make the wok even smoother by cooking, cleaning and re-applying oil to it.
In time, your wok will get better and become more and more non-stick as you use it.
Plus, it's getting less likely to be rusty as well.
After a long time of use, eventually, a bright and shiny and beautiful carbon steel wok ends up looking like this..
It's all black inside out.
Touch the bottom, you can feel a very smooth layer attached to it.
When it comes to this stage, the wok is very easy to use.
Basically, it's immune from all kinds of sticky ingredients, and even if you don’t wipe it clean immediately after use, it won't get rusty.
The appearance is the last thing you need for a perfect carbon steel wok. Those black and shiny ones are the best.
One last tip. For those of you who have a dishwasher, do not put your wok in it.
A bare wok like this will be damaged inside the machine. And all your care and seasoning ends up in vain.
That's pretty much for today.
I have covered seasoning, washing and caring, and almost every aspects to a wok.
A handy cookware, an easy to use pan, they are all very critical to deliver a good dish.
I hope I shed some new lights in this video.
As for my other recipes, I have posted them with clear instructions with pics on both wechat and weibo.
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