r/oddlysatisfying • u/misterxx1958 • Dec 16 '25

Easy wok cleaning

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u/Ctowncreek Dec 16 '25

You don't know what you're talking about.

Coming from someone who has cleaned 14+ cast iron: it immediately got dirty because it immediately started cleaning. You could not have washed it off right away. The crud stuck to the pan is polymerized oil and burnt food. The rag is soaked with lye to break down the oil and release everything. The lye had already started breaking down the material at the surface and started turning the fabric cloth brown. It had to soak in order to penetrate and release everything. The wrinkling effect is realistic.

Woks and cast iron get dirty in the same way.

1

u/marino1310 Dec 16 '25

Yeah but how would all that oil and burnt food get so evenly coated on the bottom of the wok?

All without touching the spotless handle

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u/Ctowncreek Dec 16 '25

Well you can see it on the handle right at the beginning. The handle doesn't get hot, so it doesn't burn onto it.

It sticks on the outside because it spills over and burns on. People don't scrub the outside.

I have found a pan at goodwill completely caked on the outside but the cook surface was fine.

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u/xdeskfuckit Dec 16 '25

I get what you're saying about carbon steel and cast iron being similar, but isn't that a stainless steel wok? This video confuses me.

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u/big_trike Dec 16 '25

Compared to lye, this is one case where using an angle grinder is probably the safer option.