Learning to "proof" steel is something worth spending time on.

I was taught by a Chinese room-mate at college who showed me how to prepare a wok.

- 1. Heat the thing up as HIGH as it will go, till parts of the base glow red if you can. Gas is better than electric heat.

- 2. splash a little vegetable oil in and swill it around to cover all the surface. It may ignite, ignore the short lived flames, but brush it around with a paper towel so that the carbonised film covers the surface with a black layer.

- 3. Add some fine salt. Use the paper towel to rub it around until a shiny and slightly bluish and rainbow colour carbon later coats the surface.

This will be as good as any teflon for a few cookings.