I just seasoned a new carbon steel wok on the Culinarian yesterday and found the same thing; almost a rectangular pattern to the seasoning of the wok. I guess I am hoping it might even out over time, but I probably should make a point of turning the wok in the ring from time to time to help the seasoning along.

These are the instructions that came with my wok from wokshop.com:

The wok is carbon steel and has to be seasoned to prevent it from rusting. The seasoning process is relatively easy to do. Just wash and dry your wok thoroughly.
Coat lightly, interior and exterior , with cooking oil. Bake in hot oven, 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Place in oven upside down. (before baking, remove side handle and cover spool handle with damp dishcloth and cover dishcloth with alum foil.
This will protect your wooden handle. You will have to dampen cloth each time you bake because heat will dry out dampened cloth...2 times...) Remove from oven, let cool to touch and scour wok with an abrasive pad. Scour the "seasoning" or patina away...like you want the wok back to its original finish. Wash, dry, coat and bake again...same process. Do this 2 times. After the last baking, you will not be able to scour the seasoning away...and that is the result you want. The wok is seasoned.

Mine is all seasoned and ready to fire up.

Now all I need is my Culinarian.

Should be here any day now....

robj, I too seasoned my wok per the instructions supplied by the wok shop. That just gets it going, the seasoning builds with each use. The point is that it does not seem to build evenly when using the wok grate if you position the wok on the grate the same way each time you use it (e.g. with the wok handle lined up with the wok grate 'tabs').

Good luck and have fun.

Jon

I also just got a carbon steel wok from The Wok Shop. Is it better to initially season in the oven or top of the range? (Mine has two wood ear handles that would have to be protected by wet paper towels). Anyone use chives with the oil?

sayde - I seasoned mine in the oven. To protect my one wooden handle, I covered it with a wet rag wrapped tight, and aluminum foil covering the rag. It was easy and the handle was fine. I then took it to the range and stirred up some chopped green onions until they were charred. It worked pretty well.

When you season in the oven, you can coat the top and bottom sides of the wok which is something you can't do stove-top. Maybe that's why it is better to start in the oven - you get a slight amount of seasoning on the bottom side? I've read in a wok cook book that you can pop corn in your wok (using a lid obviously) as a good way to help season the wok! I'm sure there are lots of theories out there.

Jon