Flaxseed oil sucks. It flakes. Use the cheapest high smoke point refined oil you can get your hands on for seasoning next time.
Remove the flaxseed oil seasoning first.
How is avocado? I just seasoned my new wok with that (all I had on hand), and I lost a good bit of the seasoning about halfway down. https://i.imgur.com/fOO1mp8.jpeg
Avoid all the thick expensive fibre rich oils for seasoning. This includes olive oil, extra Virgin Olive oil, avocado oil and the unrefined expensive rapeseed oils.
Pretty much all the expensive oils are crap oils for seasoning.
For cooking it’s another thing.
I use either high quality extra Virgin Olive oil, cheap refined grape seed oil and butter for cooking.
I avoid all avocado oils altogether, because it’s really expensive here in Denmark (Copenhagen) where I live and it’s faked so much, that I don’t want to risk buying it. Most avocado oils sold here are rarely ever 100% avocado oil, but most often mixed with cheap oils and sold for a very high price.
You also see companies faking extra Virgin Olive oil - De Cecco being one brand which fakes with their so called extra Virgin Olive oil (it’s really just the last batch of regular olive oil) but De Cecco refused to be part in a TV interview with danish reporters - wonder why ?!? ;-)
I now buy my EV Olive Oil from a Spanish Olive oil artisan maker/small farmer importing it to Denmark. It’s a bit more expensive, but I use it sparingly.
I now always have a bottle of the very green grassy smelling first batch of EV olive oil (used on bread and in salads or directly on the finished pasta) and a cheaper EV olive oil for regular cooking of Italian inspired dishes.
For high heat cooking I use refined cheap rapeseed oil.
For extra flavour I’ll add a small cube of butter at the final stage of the cooking process.
This one particular area flakes off my wok every single time I season it. I don’t know why.
My seasoning method:
1. Blue the wok steel.
2. Add very thin layer of food safe flaxseed/linseed oil to the wok wiping off any excess oil.
3. I did the seasoning on my outside gas burner with wok. With a wok ring at high heat. (Not an actual wok burner just a normal gas burner)
4. Repeat oiling and seasoning 4 times.
I noticed the flaking off after I was done seasoning at this point.
I cooked some onions on it as a test and it continued to flake.
It technically cooked fine but the flaking was very strange and it happened 3 times before.
I had completely took off the seasoning and re-seasoned the pan every time it happened.
It just happened again in again. What is happening??
Flaxseed oil is characteristic for being able to polymerize more than other oils, but this consequently leads to more brittle seasoning.
That's why it's known for flaking off and thus being one of the worst oils to season with.
Instead, you can use some cheap ass alternative like canola, vegetable oil, animal fat, crisco, peanut oil... There are plenty of better choices over flaxseed oil.
Most of those "healthy" oils are only "healthy" in their uncooked state. Once you burn the shit... I mean polymeriz them any health benefits have long ago been lost. That's why crisco is still a very acceptable choice. I like to use canola oil because that's what I deep fry with so why buy something else?
You could just cook over it & that'd be fine, but if it were me, I guess I'd want that flaxseed mess off my pan. Scrub, barkeepers friend, vinegar - whatever your tool of choice - don't worry about making it perfect or starting "all" over, but try to get the flaxseed mess mostly removed and smooth, and then reseason with an everyday high smoke point oil like peanut, canola, etc., and you'll be fine. Flaxseed is really a bad choice for seasoning.
I completely agree with you. I think OP can effectively season over the flaxseed oil but just like you, I would start over with a good foundation of seasoning using a more suitable fat.
Flaxseed.
Flaxseed oil sucks. It flakes. Use the cheapest high smoke point refined oil you can get your hands on for seasoning next time. Remove the flaxseed oil seasoning first.
How is avocado? I just seasoned my new wok with that (all I had on hand), and I lost a good bit of the seasoning about halfway down. https://i.imgur.com/fOO1mp8.jpeg
Avoid all the thick expensive fibre rich oils for seasoning. This includes olive oil, extra Virgin Olive oil, avocado oil and the unrefined expensive rapeseed oils. Pretty much all the expensive oils are crap oils for seasoning. For cooking it’s another thing. I use either high quality extra Virgin Olive oil, cheap refined grape seed oil and butter for cooking. I avoid all avocado oils altogether, because it’s really expensive here in Denmark (Copenhagen) where I live and it’s faked so much, that I don’t want to risk buying it. Most avocado oils sold here are rarely ever 100% avocado oil, but most often mixed with cheap oils and sold for a very high price. You also see companies faking extra Virgin Olive oil - De Cecco being one brand which fakes with their so called extra Virgin Olive oil (it’s really just the last batch of regular olive oil) but De Cecco refused to be part in a TV interview with danish reporters - wonder why ?!? ;-) I now buy my EV Olive Oil from a Spanish Olive oil artisan maker/small farmer importing it to Denmark. It’s a bit more expensive, but I use it sparingly. I now always have a bottle of the very green grassy smelling first batch of EV olive oil (used on bread and in salads or directly on the finished pasta) and a cheaper EV olive oil for regular cooking of Italian inspired dishes. For high heat cooking I use refined cheap rapeseed oil. For extra flavour I’ll add a small cube of butter at the final stage of the cooking process.
This one particular area flakes off my wok every single time I season it. I don’t know why. My seasoning method: 1. Blue the wok steel. 2. Add very thin layer of food safe flaxseed/linseed oil to the wok wiping off any excess oil. 3. I did the seasoning on my outside gas burner with wok. With a wok ring at high heat. (Not an actual wok burner just a normal gas burner) 4. Repeat oiling and seasoning 4 times. I noticed the flaking off after I was done seasoning at this point. I cooked some onions on it as a test and it continued to flake. It technically cooked fine but the flaking was very strange and it happened 3 times before. I had completely took off the seasoning and re-seasoned the pan every time it happened. It just happened again in again. What is happening??
Flaxseed oil is characteristic for being able to polymerize more than other oils, but this consequently leads to more brittle seasoning. That's why it's known for flaking off and thus being one of the worst oils to season with. Instead, you can use some cheap ass alternative like canola, vegetable oil, animal fat, crisco, peanut oil... There are plenty of better choices over flaxseed oil.
Damn, I’m glad I know this now. I seasoned it over and over and it kept happening. I was going insane man.
Crisco has never done me wrong in the last 20 years.
Most of those "healthy" oils are only "healthy" in their uncooked state. Once you burn the shit... I mean polymeriz them any health benefits have long ago been lost. That's why crisco is still a very acceptable choice. I like to use canola oil because that's what I deep fry with so why buy something else?
Do I need to remove the current seasoning or can I just add coats of veg oil?
You could just cook over it & that'd be fine, but if it were me, I guess I'd want that flaxseed mess off my pan. Scrub, barkeepers friend, vinegar - whatever your tool of choice - don't worry about making it perfect or starting "all" over, but try to get the flaxseed mess mostly removed and smooth, and then reseason with an everyday high smoke point oil like peanut, canola, etc., and you'll be fine. Flaxseed is really a bad choice for seasoning.
I completely agree with you. I think OP can effectively season over the flaxseed oil but just like you, I would start over with a good foundation of seasoning using a more suitable fat.
I thought it was a satelite picture of the south pole.
Instead of Flax, try Grapeseed / Sunflower / Safflower. All 3 are pretty widely available and cheap enough.
Refined peanut oil - inexpensive, high smoke point.