How to season a stainless steel wok in 3 minutes using the spot seasoning method

Stainless steel woks could be seasoned with cooking oil in a similar way as seasoning cast iron or carbon steel woks. However, the seasoning on the stainless steel woks is transient and could be removed by washing the wok with light detergent or even with water. Therefore, the common wisdom is stainless steel wok could not be seasoned in the same way as cast iron and carbon steel woks.

The seasoning developed on cast iron and carbon steel woks is often considered to be associated with the patina, a brown deposit found on the surface of these woks. Since the patina is not found on the stainless steel woks, this is another reason why most people assume that stainless steel woks could not be effectively seasoned. However, over the years, I have questioned the validity of equating the patina with the seasoning of the woks. In this video, I discuss the reasons that the patina is not responsible for the seasoning on the surface of the woks. In fact, the seasoning is invisible.

Stainless steel woks are seasoned in the same way as cast iron and carbon steel woks. The heating of the cooking oils to the temperature near their smoking points causes the oil to bind together (polymerization) to form a plastic-like layer on the surface of the woks. This oil layer penetrates into the microscopic pores on the surface of the bare metal. The size of the pores is in the order of cast iron, carbon steel, and stainless steel. The larger size of the cast iron and carbon steel allows deeper penetration of the oil into the surface of cast iron and carbon steel giving them greater permanency, making them more resistant to being washed away with water. However, washing them with soap/detergent readily removes the seasoning.

Видео How to season a stainless steel wok in 3 minutes using the spot seasoning method канала Wok with Tak