Wok patina; when to redo seasoning?

Question

This is a new carbon steel wok, seasoned on a gas stove with oil and had one stir fry made in it:

I've seen other posts where advice was given to let the scratches repair themselves over the many dishes to be made. While others said to scrub the whole patina off and redo the seasoning.

In the case here and referring to the condition in the pic; would you scrub/scrape off and redo seasoning? Or just let the fat from all the cooking do the work?

(Also, is it normal to get so dark from just the seasoning alone and one stir-fry? I thought it would take at least a few months to get to this)

Answer 1

A new patina is vulnerable to scratches and even washing off into liquid boiling on it. I've found that even a well-established patina is vulnerable to washing off this way.

If I were you, I'd would NOT bother to remove the remaining patina and start over.

Rather, I would re-season the wok on top of the existing patina at least once. Actually, I'd probably re-season it about three times.

But that's just me.

Perhaps others will have more authoritative suggestions.

Good luck

• nello

Answer 2

The dark layer on your wok, which can be rubbed off with fingers, seems to be the burned oil. If you keep cooking, the burned oil will gradually disappear, and you'll get the patina. The very new patina is only slightly darker than the surface of the wok. Do not worry, the wok is very sturdy, keep cooking, and your less oil for seasoning. I usually put 1 teaspoon of oil on the inside and outside surface of my wok, and I do not let the wok smoke too much. Too much smoke while seasoning means the temperature is too high.