my old wok

[srikal]

Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone knows how to renew
an old wok. Our 12-year old wok has been unused for 5 years because we had an electric stove. Now that we cook on gas again, I've wanted to use it. However, it smells
very metallic and food cooked in it is discolored and tastes metallic.
I've scrubbed it repeatedly with steel wool and re-seasoned it (heat it well and wipe with clean oil). It is a lovely, chinese wok and I don't want to throw it away or replace it if I can help it. Any suggestions on how I can revive it?

Kalyani

[Beth]

My husband suggests putting vinegar and water in the wok and bringing that to a boil for a minute or two, then cleaning and reseasoning. He says he thinks this happened to him once (esp. noticable with mushrooms and onions) and that is how he resolved it. He says it may take more than one attempt. Have you every noticed how vinegar or tomato products will make copper shine?

I was thinking pretty much the same thing except with baking soda (about 1 tsp per cup of water), since that is what I use if I have something burn on the bottome of my pans (I confess, every couple of years, I have to burn popcorn so I can swear never to do it again). You could also try one then the other once or twice, then reseason (since baking soda is alkaline and vinegar acidic, you would cover two chemical opposites).

My only other thought was something like goo-gone, to get any residual oil that might be in the metal and/or rancid. It may take a few tries. Hope you find something that works.