I purchased a pure iron wok on Amazon –
https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07YX683Y5/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
When I try to season it (coat with oil and burn it), I cannot get that black shade to persist.
I observe that when I try to wipe a fresh thin coat of oil the second time, a dark residue comes out and fresh metal is exposed.
What am I doing wrong? Should I ditch the pure iron wok and get a cast iron / carbon steel wok instead?
Edit 1 : Details on seasoning process as follows :-
- Wash fresh wok with hot soap water to remove factory oil
- Let it dry completely
- Coat the wok with thin layer of oil and heat it on medium flame till colour changes to bluish-brownish
- Heat the entire wok
- Dab a fresh thin layer of oil and repeat the above process
When i apply a fresh layer with a cloth/paper , i see the brownish coating get deposited on the cloth/paper and if i apply little more force , the fresh metal is exposed.
Edit 2: I cranked up the heat to high flame and now i can see the black coating. But i do observe that the coating flakes off in tiny bits in the process.
Best Answer
You cannot season it because you are not yet adept at seasoning. This is pretty normal, I also needed many, many attempts of seasoning pans and also many times of cooking with a badly seasoned pan and observing how it changes while cooking different foods to learn how seasoning should work. It is not impossible that it works from the first time following a description, but that is just luck.
Here are pointers to how you "read" the symptoms of wrong seasoning.
If you want to improve the seasoning, in cases 2, 4 and 5 you have to strip the pan and redo the seasoning (in case 5, you also have to remove the rust). The first case, underpolymerization, might be worth a salvage attempt by applying more heat (as you tried), but there is no guarantee it will work, so if that fails, you again have to strip. For point 3, just restrict the types of food you use the pan for until it improves. With experience, you will start getting better results. The more attentively you observe the pan during seasoning and use, the more experience you get per time unit doing these things.
The process applies pretty much the same to different kinds of pans, woks and dutch ovens, no matter if they are cast iron, forged iron, or blue steel. The smooth ones are somewhat less forgiving of improper seasoning than are the thick rough cast iron ones, you see flaking earlier. But all work best with a well-done seasoning. So it is unlikely you will see improvement if you change the pan or wok. You just have to continue learning the skill of seasoning.