0

I saw this today and it's very new. What's the problem? Is it caused by scratching or using dishwasher? What may have caused it? I always wash it with a very soft sponge, but other flatmates might have washed it in an inappropriate way. What could be the problem? How can I prevent this from happening to a new wok?

enter image description here

zaivion
  • 1
  • 1

1 Answers1

2

Your non-stick coating appears to be coming off the underlying metal.
The solution is to discard the wok (it cannot be saved) and replace it with a plain, uncoated carbon steel wok.
Stainless steel is a lousy conductor of heat - DO NOT (buy one).
Avoid non-stick coated woks, they cannot stand the high heat/high temperatures required for proper cooking in a wok.
Season the carbon steel like you would a cast iron skillet and avoid the dishwasher.

Nat Bowman
  • 207
  • 2
  • 9
Cynetta
  • 2,271
  • 1
  • 8
  • 14
  • 2
    Agree, but the "DO NOT" in the answer is confusing. – MaxW Jun 16 '18 at 16:52
  • 4
    I find this answer a bit too categorical in buying carbon steel. A carbon steel wok has to be seasoned, and if a flatmate sticks it into the dishwasher, that's many hours of work for reseasoning. If this is a household of multiple people who are not especially into cooking, they may not care for the advantages of the carbon steel, and prefer something lower maintenance. – rumtscho Jun 16 '18 at 18:20
  • 1
    Do not buy a stainless steel wok. I had one and was extremely dissatisfied with its performance. I replaced it with a plain carbon steel wok and donated to a charity shop – Cynetta Jun 16 '18 at 18:22
  • 2
    Smack your flatmate up the side of the head smartly with your wok then get a new flatmate! Tell her to buy her own cookware By preferring lower maintenance, you'll have to compromise on lesser performance and maintenaince. Yes, a carbon steel wok must be seasoned – Cynetta Jun 16 '18 at 18:27
  • @Cynetta If it was that bad why allow someone else to spend their money on it to be disappointed? My rule is that if I’m getting rid of something because it just doesn’t suit me in particular- charity shop; if it’s bad at what it’s designed for -recycling. – Spagirl Jun 17 '18 at 06:02
  • Of course you have to compromise on performance, and it is fine to present that tradeoff in an answer. Asserting that only the highest-performance, highest-maintenance solution is the right one for everbody - that's overly opinionated and makes the answer less valuable. – rumtscho Jun 20 '18 at 08:31
  • You mention thermal conductivity. How different is it between carbon and stainless steels? – Chris H Jun 20 '18 at 10:01
  • @ChrisH It depends on temperature. See http://www.mace.manchester.ac.uk/project/research/structures/strucfire/materialInFire/Steel/StainlessSteel/fig15a.gif – DavidPostill Jun 28 '18 at 20:27
  • @DavidPostill,that's a bit much like work for me, but at the temperatures I'm used to they're similar (and very different to copper/aluminium. Without relevant numbers we can't judge the answer on its merits – Chris H Jun 29 '18 at 15:30