Hi.

Thru board suggestions got myself a Weber Wok and have used and enjoyed many times. However, it has built up some 'wok residue' and even black areas in center...

Don't want to scratch it with over enthusiastic elbow grease, or is that the right way to go; how have wok vets cleaned their unit...?

Thanks!

Ken
Is your Wok the genuine Weber SS Wok for a Kettle or an after market teflon or cast iron one?

Mine is a Weber SS wok, I do many different dishes on it, from the subtle decadent flavours of scallops poached in champagne to the spicy flavours of Honey and Soy Mushrooms So I always give mine a good scrub after every cook. As soon as I have finished I rinse it then put it back on the kettle with some water and salt and let it boil for 5 minutes then I scrub it with a soft brass brush. Occasionally I will spray it with oven cleaner and then scrub it out. This way I am not mixing the flavours. A friend of mine has 2, one for delicate flavours and one for robust flavours, the robust flavour one only gets the minimum cleaning, he lets the flavours blend.

Regards

Authentic Weber Wok...

Those are good ideas; maybe two is a good idea.

Better hurry Ken. I don't think they are still making them. Let us know?

I'm fortunate to have gotten on of Weber's SS Wok's before they were discontinued. I'd pick up another if I found one. I love it. I have an extensive amount of All-Clad stainless steel pots and pans. Years ago, before I bought my house, we lived in an apartment that did not have a gas range. We had an electric with the coil burners. THey really put a hurtin' on the bottoms of the pans, because that type of cookware is designed to operate at medium to low heat. I bought some Barkeepers Friend. It took a TON of elbow grease (sometimes as much as 30-45 mintues for one pan), but two weeks later I've made me way through all of my cookware, and it looks like it's new out of the box.

The point of this being, I decided to use it on my Weber SS Wok, and it worked great. There are a couple spots I can't seem to get cleaned, but it's 98%.

I didn't bother taking the time to clean the ring with all the holes on the outside, I just focused on the cooking surface.

I have multiple suggestions for keeping it clean going forward.

Charcoal alignment. Align your charcoal in a ring around charcoal grate in your kettle. That will line up the coals with the portion of the wok that has holes, and will allow the charcoal to breathe and stay nice and hot. It will also prevent your wok from taking on severe direct heat, since the depression in the wok is only a couple inches above where your coal would be.

Oil it liberally, but not to the point where the oil collects at the bottom of the wok. You don't want to fry your food.

This, I think, is the big one. Since the SS Wok is not a nonstick surface, and since the surface will come to such a high heat...be careful if the liquids you're cooking your food with have a high sugar content. That's largely what burns, sticks like glue, and mars the surface of your wok. Since a lot of asian inspired sauces have high sugar content, I think it's imperative that the wok is well oiled, and the coals are aligned in a ring around the outside of the kettle. Also play around with using fewer coals. The surface only needs to be hot enough to cook food with, you know?

Sorry if this was long winded, but I use my wok quite a bit, and the subject doesn't get much discussion so, I figured I'd air it out a bit.