Matthew's Journal

A while ago I acquired a proper round-bottomed carbon-steel wok. It needs seasoning before use, and has thus sat unused for a while now while I fail to commit to doing so (in my usual "I don't know what I'm doing, so I'll screw it up" manner of failure).

There seem to be a number of opinions on how to do this.

Ken Hom says[0] to scrub the protective coating off (water and cream cleaner), dry, put on a low heat and rub 2tbsp of oil onto the inside; heat for 10-15m, wipe thoroughly (paper will blacken). Repeat wipe, heat, rub off until the paper comes clean.

The bag the wok came in says fill with water and boil for 10-15m then scrub off the coating (water and detergent or cream cleaner), wash and dry. Put a couple of tbsp of oil in the wok and heat - when warm, rub the oil round the inside of the wok with a paper towel, then heat gently for 15m. Or look up videos online.

The internet has many theories, including:

• repeated baking with low smoke-point oil in a very hot oven (I think the wooden handle could be removed on my wok)
  
• School of wok do a dry 'burn', then add a high heat oil for the second burn
  
• Serious Eats apply oil to the hot pan with a sacrificial dish-cloth (about 3 times)
  

...all of which is has left me confused as to the Right Way (and hence stuck not doing anything, which is daft); even WP is unclear. One blogger swears by flaxseed oil(!) and also repeated hot-oven baking.

Cleaning-wise, Ken Hom says to wash with water and no detergent, dry on the hob before putting away.

The wok bag says clean water, don't scrub. If you have to scrub, re-season

School of wok boil water in the work and scrape with a ladle, then dry on a hot hob.

Please provide advice, opinions, ...? [Please don't say "oh, just use a non-stick pan" :-) ]

[0] Ken Hom's Chinese Cookery, BBC books, 1984