Anon here that smoked an overnight brisket couple weeks ago. Warm as fuck outside and decided to buy a carbon steel wok for some noodles.
Wok in the background purchased for 15.99 at Asian market. Using a Weber kettle with the grill grate with the removable center where you can pop a 14-22" wok in.
Seasoned the wok by first washing off the gunk from the market. Heated the wok on top of the charcoal grill to get it to turn blue and purplish all over. Added a scoop of lard to coat. Spread evenly with a paper towel and let it burn/develop darker patina as shown in OP pic.
>>7398079
I seasoned my wok with flax seed oil like in http://www.thekitchn.com/i-seasoned-my-cast-iron-pan-with-flaxseed-oil-and-heres-what-happened-224612 and it worked pretty well. How's the lard working for you?
Pork belly, onions, carrots, cabbage and mushrooms in. Making yakisoba.
>>7398093
I always used flax on my small French/Belgian style carbon steel pans but I heard from some random old (wise?) Asian woman saying lard is used to 'blessed' these things. Anyways, it turned out great. Everything moved with ease on my first stir fry.
>>7398387
looks pretty dank where the noodles at
>>7398397
Thanks, breh.
What purpose does a wok serve in domestic cooking? I always thought it was just a big fucking metal bowl to cook a fuckton of food in. What's the advantage compared to a more normal sized metal food cooker thing?
>>7398387
10/10 done to perfection, would eat
>>7398441
>a more normal sized metal food cooker thing
like what? You want to make stir fry in a sauce pan?
>>7398447
That's a uh... slippery slope fallacy? Since you're arguing that it's either the biggest pan or the smallest.
Also you didn't answer anything. Is it just to make heating more even with the shit spread out more? I legitimately can't think of any reason for someone to ever use a wok unless they're preparing like 20+ portions at a time.
I'm ignorant and curious though so please tell me.
>>7398441
OP here. Usually cooking with a wok entails using a ridiculously high heat either through gas or charcoal. The carbon steel and shape can transfer heat quickly but also heat unevenly giving you different "zones" of heat on your wok. This is the opposite of Western cooking where you're looking for even heating. A wok can regain lost heat better than a standard skillet given your heat input is high enough.
Yakisoba/chowmein isn't probably the best recipe to apply this to (although you can get a nice char and some smokey flavor).
Also ,meme pic.
>>7398465
If you're not cooking Chinese style stir fry or noodles you really don't need one. Even most Asian households don't have a legit wok because they don't have a commercial ring burner.
Also, pretty easy cleaning so you can make use of the long burning charcoal. Garden hose, dump water, dry and ready for deep frying.
>>7398470
Thanks for the response. In all the pics ITT there are like six inches of empty pan all around the food so it seemed kind of silly. I always just make stuff like this in a normal 12-14 inch pan and it's fine. I guess woks are just a meme then. Thanks again.
>>7398470
Too much of whatever that green herb is in the middle.
>>7398485
>>7398493
>there are like six inches of empty pan all around the food
Yea, but you are constantly moving the food so only an inch or so around the rim won't be involved in the cooking.
>>7398493
The market I went to had all different sizes but only the 22" (the one ITT) was all metal, round bottom and hammered steel. Most street food places use these huge ones anyways (you actually need the room to move to different heat zones), you can scale up recipes and weight isn't an issue. Also, for 16 bucks it wasn't a huge investment. Woks are meme if you plan to use them on anything other than a commercial ring or directly over coals.
>>7398512
Yeah, should have put that shit in a shaker desu.
>>7398524
Thanks, senpai.
>>7398534
Also, nice plate. The marble effect is pretty sexy.
>>7398441
Heat distribution is the number one thing about woks, not the volume of food.
