The first thing to emphasize is that it is a normal phenomenon for the iron wok to turn white after use. It is non-toxic and will not affect your health. You can continue to use this iron wok with confidence.
Why do iron woks sometimes turn white after use? This depends on the material of the iron wok itself. When iron is in contact with oxygen in the air, an oxidation reaction occurs, which is rust. Therefore, in order to prevent rusting of iron woks, there are generally two methods to protect the iron wok from rusting: the first is to carry out nitriding treatment on the iron wok, which is the nitriding process; the second is to coat the iron wok with cooking oil Isolate oxygen from the air. The whitening of the iron wok after use is due to contact with a lot of acidic food or excessive cleaning with detergents, which destroys the protective layer of the iron wok and exposes the color of the iron itself. But don’t worry, there is a way to restore this protective layer, and it’s easy to do.
- Wash and soak with clean water, or add a spoonful of salt or baking soda to the water to speed up the dissolution of the vinegar, soak for about 3-5 minutes, then wash the wok with clean water.
- Dry the wok with kitchen paper, then turn the wok to dry.
- Continue to heat the wok, then pour cooking oil into the wok and coat the entire wok with cooking oil.
- Continue heating and oiling until the wok changes color.
- Wipe the excess oil in the wok with kitchen paper, then re-coat the wok with a thin layer of cooking oil, and place the wok in a cool, dry place.
- You can repeat steps 3-5 3 times to make the wok work better.（Every time you use the iron wok to clean it, you can apply a thin layer of soybean oil on the wok to protect it.）
Follow the steps above and your wok will return to its original shape.