Use a Carbon Steel Wok Like a Pro

hi everyone welcome to souped up recipes i have been selling my carbon steel walk for two years now besides tons of good reviews and feedback i got many questions from my customers and i have been doing customer service and answering these questions personally now it has gotten to a point where i don't have as much time with more of my effort being dedicated to my cookbook so i decided to make a series about carbon steel walk which includes multiple videos and hopefully i can cover all the questions that i got from the last couple years the first goal of this walk series is to review the secrets of cooking with a carbon steel wok correctly so your food will never stick to it allow me to explain the science of why the food is sticking to the wok the sticking is caused by the chemical bonds that are formed between the food and the wok surface i know that sounds obvious but that's basically what it is in general proteins and starch are particularly prone to sticking because they are long chain like molecules which can form complex bonds with metal to prevent the food from sticking there are many factors that need to be considered such as the wok quality the recipe and the ingredients that you are cooking the oil the heat the stove the timing and how you take care of your wok i know it sounds confusing already don't worry i'll break down everything into three easy steps i'll talk about the science and purpose behind it if you follow it exactly your food will never stick to the walker i'm going to be using a brand new wok today i could use my old wok as it does perform better than a new one but i got lots of customer feedback that said the seasoning process is too complicated and they ask me if they can use the wok as it is the answer is yes and i will show you how it performs when you receive a brand new wok just take it out of the box and attach the handle give it a thorough wash with soap to clean out the factory coating this will be the first time and the last time that you are using soap to clean the wok because the soap will strip away the seasoning that you have been building dry it completely the first step for wok cooking is to heat your wok until it's smoking hot before adding any ingredients it's super important and i will explain why the wok may look smooth to the naked eye but at the microscopic level the surface is rough full of bumps and pits heating it will open up all those micro pits burn off any impurities and evaporate the moisture that is trapped in air the smoke is a simple sign that shows you the wok is ready to go some people use the water test which i will talk about it another day when the wok is properly heated you can add the oil when the oil hits a hot walk immediately it becomes less viscous then you can toss it around and quickly fill up all those micro holes which prevents the food from contacting the rough metal surface directly this also inhibits the chemical bonds from forming between the wok and the food i'm going to cook eggs today as example because this is like the most basic ingredients that you can get practice on once we mastered it we can move on to more expensive or more complicated ingredients turn the heat to high and heat the wok until it's smoking hot this is a new wok so there is no oil film from the previous cooking it won't smoke the first time now i just go with my experience for a small gas stove like this one it will take about 30 seconds if you are using an electric stove it will take about a minute and a half if you have a super powerful gas burner it will take like 10 seconds okay i think that is hot enough i'm going to add the oil and toss it around also hot oil will react with the metal atom and form a nonstick coating called patina this happens near oil smoke point so you do want to wait a little bit for the oil to be heated before adding any ingredients to cook i'm making a tender fried egg today so i don't need the heat to be on high turn it off give it 20 seconds for the wok to cool a little bit before i add the egg but if you are cooking other ingredients let's say meat you don't need to turn off the heat you will have the heat on high okay the wok is cooled a little bit i'm going to turn the heat back on low and go in with my egg i like to add a little splash of water to create some steam and cover it with a lid to help to cook the top part of the egg it takes a minute or two for the egg white to set then you will see the non-stick effect you can slide the egg around the pan with no issues that is a beautiful sunny side of egg if you want the over easy style you just flip it and steal the wok is nonstick it works just like a teflon coated pen besides the fried egg you can also make omelette let me show you how to do that same as before heat the wok until it's smoking the second time you cook with your wok you can actually see the smoke coming out add oil toss the oil around turn off the heat pour out all the oil the reason for that is because i want to use butter to add some creaminess to my omelette and it is best not to add the butter to a smoking hot wok otherwise it will just burn immediately that's why i used the regular oil to react with the wok then pour it out and add the butter quickly toss it around to melt it a little bit turn the heat to medium and adding the beaten egg to make an omelette we will use a spatula to move the cooked egg toward the center when you do that the cooked egg actually takes some of the oil out of those micro pits on the work surface and it will also diminish a little bit of the patina coating then the uncooked egg will immediately cover that spot so the more you move your egg your wok is getting less and less nonstick which is fine for american style omelettes or scrambled eggs the nonstick ability will definitely last by the time you are finished cooking but what about the french almond you have to stir the egg as fast as you can to get the smallest curd possible do you think i can take on the challenge of the french style okay 5 eggs a dash of salt whisk them really well until you don't see any visible egg whites toss in some diced chives wipe the wok with paper towels we are going to start with the same steps turn the heat to high and heat the wok to smoking hot then drizzle in some cooking oil toss it around turn off the heat and pour out the excess oil wait for the wok to cool a little bit then adding one to two tablespoons of butter when part of the butter is melted turn the heat back on medium tossing the egg another benefit of using a carbon steel wok is that you can whisk the egg with a metal utensil without damaging the wok after 40 seconds of whisking the egg is not as runny as before turn off the heat spread out the egg a little bit okay let's start folding it it looks good so far didn't stick let me switch to a silicone spatula so i don't break it cover it with a plate and hopefully i can flip it out in one piece unfortunately there is a sticky spot at the center which ruins the shape of this omelet the texture is fine though outside is not burned and the inside is custardy i know you are wondering why is there a sticky spot in the center of the wok and everywhere else is nonstick it's the heat this stove has one circle of flame when i put the wok on the temperature at the center is lower than the rain where it contacts the flame directly you can tell this sticky spot matches the flameless center exactly let me show you what happens if i use a different stove this is an outdoor burner it has two circles of flame so the heat should be more even we are using the same ingredient same recipe same cooking method toss in the egg when the butter is melted turn the heat on medium stir it with a fork and shake the wok as fast as you can when the egg is just set turn off the heat spread it out a little bit start folding it look at that i'm so excited this time it didn't stick at all it may not be the most beautiful french omelet but that's not the point normal chef would not cook french omelet in a carbon steel wok anyway i did because it's a good way to demonstrate how a carbon steel walk works let me quickly explain the science metal expands or contracts when subjected to heat changes if you have a spot in your wok that couldn't get enough heat that spot will start contracting and close up all those micro pits which will act like teeth and bite down onto the food that is being cooked that causes the food sticking to the wok i cooked three styles of eggs as examples today the levels are from easy to challenging the fried egg and the american omelet should be doable for most people as long as you follow the steps exactly the egg will not stick as for the french omelet it requires an even stove but also you have to be skillful enough to understand how to control the heat when to flip the egg there's no shortcuts to get there besides practicing okay i think that is all we will talk about other ingredients and cooking method with this wok another day i hope this video is helpful if you don't have a walk yet and you want to buy one you can check the link in the description if you already bought my walk and you have questions please email me at products at soupeduprecipes.com i would love to help you out thank you for watching and i will see you next time bye [Music]

Channel: Souped Up Recipes

Views: 263,379

Keywords: wok, wok cooker, wok cookware, wok skillet, good wok, best wok for cooking, woks for cooking, best wok to buy, carbon steel wok, carbon steel wok sets, best steel wok, how to cook with a carbon steel wok, wok cooking pan, wok skills, non-stick carbon steel wok, carbon steel wok cooking doesn't stick, wok hei, wok heat, how to cook with a wok, wok cooking skills, wok cooking 101, wok hay, wok cooking

Id: jwwbILZjVHU

Length: 12min 25sec (745 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 20 2021