Question: I have a small outdoor propane burner and I can get my cast iron wok up to about 950 degrees and the oil ignites (I use a very little) so my question is, with your burner should I just not use any oil? I think I might try that because after my oil burned off my vegetables cooked very nicely and didn’t stick. Is the traditional method to not use oil? Maybe people use oil because they have to because they can’t get their wok hot enough?
Answer:
Your wok does not stick is because there are still oil particles on the wok surface. If you fully burn them off, the wok surface should become rough with carbon. At that time the wok should stick again.
Remember that any stove should be able to bring a wok hot enough to burn oil. This is why any stove at home can be a fire hazard. The difference between our stove and regular one at home is the speed to heat the wok up such that ingredient freshness can be maintained while other spice tastes are added.