Knowledge Base > Dan Marek - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)
Dan Marek - Ask Me Anything (Office Hours)
This event was on
Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 11:00 am Pacific, 2:00 pm Eastern
Join Chef Dan Marek in his virtual office as he welcomes all of your questions. This event was created for you and we encourage you to Ask Anything – from cooking techniques to cours… Read More.
Question:
I have a carbon steel wok. I normally only clean it with kosher salt. Now that I'm cooking with no oil, I'm experiencing it drying out. I have been reheating it and rubbing it with oil. Any other suggestions?
— Mary Beth Matson
Answer:
You know, for no oil cooking, um, for, especially for a carbon steel walk or something like that, it still needs to have the season on it. Um, and it's kind of the same thing with, um, uh, cast iron as well too, because, um, if you're cooking in it a lot, you're going to lose some of the seasoning that comes on with that. And the seasoning is typically an oil like you can do other things, um, you know, as, uh, a seasoning on it. Traditionally, uh, it would be a lot of animal fats. I've even seen people use like Crisco or stuff like that as well too. But, um, a good high heat oil is probably the best way to be able to help keep your pan seasoned. Now, I'm not saying to cook with oil. What I'm saying is to put the oil into the pan and then rub it out very well with a paper towel or a cloth to be able to get all the excess off, but you're still keeping your non-stick surface on the inside. Um, now after I do that, I typically put it into the oven as well to be able to cook off and the extra residue that's with that as well too. But again, you're not cooking with, um, the oil, you're actually just using it to season the pan. So the same thing would work with your carbon steel wok as well.