New wok help

biig said:

I bought a cheap wok (never used) for 3.oo at a yard sale today. I
scoured and washed it as per instructions. Then for the seasoning...oil
and heating for 5 minutes, then wipe down with paper towel...The
question is that there is black coming off the wok onto the paper
towel.. Is this normal? The box says it has an aluminum lid, steel
ring, but doesn't say what the bowl of the wok is made from...I'm
presuming it's aluminum too. Anybody help???? thanks....Sharon

Generally woks are made from steel. A magnet will verify that. The black
is probably an oil coating that was applied to prevent rust.

"Bubbabob" <rnorton@_remove_this_thuntek.net> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

George said:

Generally woks are made from steel. A magnet will verify that. The black
is probably an oil coating that was applied to prevent rust.

Not all steels are attracted to magnets.

True but the mild steels used in cheap woks are.

David

David Hare-Scott said:

"Bubbabob" <rnorton@_remove_this_thuntek.net> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

George said:

Generally woks are made from steel. A magnet will verify that. The black
is probably an oil coating that was applied to prevent rust.

Not all steels are attracted to magnets.

True but the mild steels used in cheap woks are.

David

I used a magnet and it stuck. But I'm concerned about using it with
the black still coming off. I scrubbed it with a steel wool pad, then
in hot soapy water before oiling it and heating it. After the hot soapy
water, I dried it with a paper towel and nothing came off, but when
wiping out the excess oil after heating it, the paper towel was
black....Sharon

Bubbabob said:

George said:

Generally woks are made from steel. A magnet will verify that. The black
is probably an oil coating that was applied to prevent rust.

Not all steels are attracted to magnets.

Sure they are... the singular component that makes the alloy steel is
iron ... no significant iron and it's not steel. There are many
stainless alloys that contain no iron (or only small traces of iron)
but are commonly refered to as stainless steels (by the morons) but are
not, ie, Monel, Inconel, etc. I've heard many folks refer to nickel
silver (German silver: a silver-white alloy of copper, zinc, and nickel
) as stainless steel, and yet not only doesn't it contain iron it
contains no silver either. Some stainless cookware does not appear to
be magnetic because the iron content of the particular alloy is
relatively low but with a more powerful magnet it certainly will...
can't necessarily check for magnetism in alloys with some fercocktah
crackerjacks toy magnet.

Oxford

Monel (also Monel metal)

noun

trademark a nickel-copper alloy with high tensile strength and
resistance to corrosion.

-ORIGIN early 20th cent.: named after Ambrose Monell (died 1921),
American businessman.
---

http://www.specialmetals.com/products

Sheldon

biig said:

David Hare-Scott said:

"Bubbabob" <rnorton@_remove_this_thuntek.net> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

George <[email hidden]> wrote:

> Generally woks are made from steel. A magnet will verify that. The black
> is probably an oil coating that was applied to prevent rust.
>

Not all steels are attracted to magnets.

True but the mild steels used in cheap woks are.

David

I used a magnet and it stuck. But I'm concerned about using it with
the black still coming off. I scrubbed it with a steel wool pad, then
in hot soapy water before oiling it and heating it. After the hot soapy
water, I dried it with a paper towel and nothing came off, but when
wiping out the excess oil after heating it, the paper towel was
black....Sharon

Was the wok black when you bought it? This would be a teflon coating.
Probably not, though.

Otherwise, the black that comes off on the paper towel is just residue
from seasoning it. It's harmless and, given time and a few uses, will
probably stop.

And because I can't abide bad Metallurgy:

Most woks are Carbon steel, which is the vanilla flavored steel of the
steel world. It is iron that contains a small amount of carbon in a
microscopic arrangement. It is generally in sheet form (from which the
wok is stamped or hammered.) It can rust. It is ferromagnetic,
meaning (among other things) a magnet will stick to it.

Woks can also be made of stainless steel. The two most common broad
classes of Stainless steel are Austenitic and Ferritic. These terms
refer to the crystal structure of the iron (and yes, junior chemists,
iron has a crystal structure. Yes, I know it's a metal and has metal
bonding yada yada yada and you don't know what you're talking about.)
Austenite is not ferromagnetic. Ferritic is. Magnets won't stick to
austenitic stainless. They will stick to ferritic. Neither, in
general, will rust. Austenitic has more chrome, other good stuff like
nickel, is more expensive, and is just better at doing it's job.

So, to review;

The black stuff is just burnt oil. Won't hurt you or even taste bad.
Your Wok is most likely plain-ole steel.
Metallurgy ain't purty.

Greg Zywicki

Bubbabob said:

George said:

Generally woks are made from steel. A magnet will verify that. The black
is probably an oil coating that was applied to prevent rust.

Not all steels are attracted to magnets.

If they are not attracted to magnet they are not steel.

snip

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I used a magnet and it stuck. But I'm concerned about using it with
the black still coming off. I scrubbed it with a steel wool pad, then
in hot soapy water before oiling it and heating it. After the hot soapy
water, I dried it with a paper towel and nothing came off, but when
wiping out the excess oil after heating it, the paper towel was
black....Sharon

Was the wok black when you bought it? This would be a teflon coating.
Probably not, though.

Otherwise, the black that comes off on the paper towel is just residue
from seasoning it. It's harmless and, given time and a few uses, will
probably stop.

And because I can't abide bad Metallurgy:

Most woks are Carbon steel, which is the vanilla flavored steel of the
steel world. It is iron that contains a small amount of carbon in a
microscopic arrangement. It is generally in sheet form (from which the
wok is stamped or hammered.) It can rust. It is ferromagnetic,
meaning (among other things) a magnet will stick to it.

Woks can also be made of stainless steel. The two most common broad
classes of Stainless steel are Austenitic and Ferritic. These terms
refer to the crystal structure of the iron (and yes, junior chemists,
iron has a crystal structure. Yes, I know it's a metal and has metal
bonding yada yada yada and you don't know what you're talking about.)
Austenite is not ferromagnetic. Ferritic is. Magnets won't stick to
austenitic stainless. They will stick to ferritic. Neither, in
general, will rust. Austenitic has more chrome, other good stuff like
nickel, is more expensive, and is just better at doing it's job.

So, to review;

The black stuff is just burnt oil. Won't hurt you or even taste bad.
Your Wok is most likely plain-ole steel.
Metallurgy ain't purty.

Greg Zywicki

It definitely isn't non-stick. I just didn't want to go through the
-scrubbing-seasoning- over again. And I didn't want to be eating
anything that was put on for rust prevention and the
factory....Thanks....Sharon

Dave Smith said:

Bubbabob said:

George said:

Generally woks are made from steel. A magnet will verify that. The black
is probably an oil coating that was applied to prevent rust.

Not all steels are attracted to magnets.

If they are not attracted to magnet they are not steel.

Um, next time before you choose to paraphrase my posts AGAIN you might
want to do a bit of research, sometimes I purposely lie to trap dirt
bags like you.... there definitely are non-magnetic steels, even
non-magnetic cast irons... the US Navy has used them for ship hulls,
etc. for years, just not going to find such alloys in cookware. Dave
Smith, etal., stop plagerizing my posts... no way do you have me
killfiled, you lying douche bags.

Sheldon

"Dave Smith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bubbabob said:

George said:

Generally woks are made from steel. A magnet will verify that. The

black

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

is probably an oil coating that was applied to prevent rust.

Not all steels are attracted to magnets.

If they are not attracted to magnet they are not steel.

See:

http://www.smf-international.com/nmproducts.php

...for just a few counter-examples. There are actually quite a few
steels which qualify as non-magnetic.

However, I definitely agree with the earlier poster who noted that such
materials are very unlikely to be found in a cheap wok.

Bob M.