What's the Best Way to Clean This Baking Sheet?

[Edward J]

Dddddd

Yes, Dawn Power Dissolver may work, if you can find it. If you do, try it using the same method I outlined.

 

Scrubbing with Steel wool will scratch the finish on aluminum.

 

dcarch

I dont get it... Its a fairly cheap baking pan, it has no "finish". Its straight guage aluminum off the roll, no treatments, no polishes, no finishes.

Plain, untreated aluminum oxidizes. It leaves a sticky grey/black residue on your hands, on your countetops and cupboard shelves, and if scrubbed down to bare metal, food residue like spills and baking juices will adhere to it much more easier. Larger bakeries usually get their aluminum baking pans coated with a fod safe non stick glaze to prevent all of the above. Pans like these are the norm in every commercial kitchen and bakery in N.A., and no one bothers with baked on oil. Food debris, yes. For eveything else theres parchment or sil pat.

So if you spend a lot of time and effort to "season" your cast iron cookware, why should you treat aluminum bakeware any differently?

[dcarch]

Dddddd

I dont get it... Its a fairly cheap baking pan, it has no "finish". Its straight guage aluminum off the roll, no treatments, no polishes, no finishes.

Plain, untreated aluminum oxidizes. It leaves a sticky grey/black residue on your hands, on your countetops and cupboard shelves, and if scrubbed down to bare metal, food residue like spills and baking juices will adhere to it much more easier. Larger bakeries usually get their aluminum baking pans coated with a fod safe non stick glaze to prevent all of the above. Pans like these are the norm in every commercial kitchen and bakery in N.A., and no one bothers with baked on oil. Food debris, yes. For eveything else theres parchment or sil pat.

So if you spend a lot of time and effort to "season" your cast iron cookware, why should you treat aluminum bakeware any differently?

 

Aluminum pans come with a very smooth surface, You are correct that steel wool creates many micro grooves which makes it even more difficult to clean. 

 

Aluminum forms aluminum oxide instantly, an extremely tough substance. I have no idea what you are talking about, "sticky residue."

 

I am not sure why you insist on going off topic. The OP did not ask you to advice him on his aesthetic desires. He is only asking how to clean that pan of his, without damaging the surface. He wants a shiny aluminum pan!!!! what's wrong with that?

 

dcarch

[rotuts]

""  shiny aluminum pan ""

 

not that it matters that much, I think this is the Blue/grey version

 

to be treated in the same way.

[Porthos]

For what it is worth, these pans are the standard baking pans in my kitchen. However, I always use them either covered with foil or with parchment paper. When used with foil,  if I remove it carefully then the pan can go right back into the cupboard.

 

I buy 200-packs of pre-cut parchment paper on-line from The Baking queen. That generally is about a year's supply but we also use up a lot for our Faire baking in the spring and fall. It is used enough that it has its own slot in our storage cubes:

 

 

 

[Edward J]

Aluminum pans come with a very smooth surface, You are correct that steel wool creates many micro grooves which makes it even more difficult to clean. 

 

Aluminum forms aluminum oxide instantly, an extremely tough substance. I have no idea what you are talking about, "sticky residue."

 

I am not sure why you insist on going off topic. The OP did not ask you to advice him on his aesthetic desires. He is only asking how to clean that pan of his, without damaging the surface. He wants a shiny aluminum pan!!!! what's wrong with that?

 

dcarch

 

Take a white piece of paper towel or even of cloth and rub an untreated aluminum utensil.  It (cloth or paper) is now black/grey. Cooks and bakers deal with this mess on  a daily basis, and it is not very pleasant

 

As others on this thread have said, the burnt on oil is very similar to seasoning a pan, and for the same reasons: 

 

-To prevent rust (or oxidization in the case of aluminum)

-To prevent foods from sticking to the surface

and

-To make cleanup easier.

 

 

And in my first post I didn't say that steel wool makes "micro grooves".  I said that steel fibres break off and lodge in crevices (particularily the rolled over edges) and rust.  I have several examples of this in my kitchen.

[Shel_B]

He wants a shiny aluminum pan!!!! what's wrong with that?

 

dcarch

 

I didn't say anything about wanting "a shiny aluminum pan."  I was just looking for suggestions on how to get the burnt on oil off of the surface.  Shiny might be nice, but I have no expectations in that regard.

[andiesenji]

I don't know about the availability of Dawn Power Dissolver in supermarkets because I haven't bought it there for a few years.

I recently bought a quart bottle at Smart & Final - identified as an "instutional" product in a white spray bottle with blue lettering.

And I seem to recall seeing it at Staples a while back.

 

If you can't find it, you could try the very old method of heating the pan in the oven, pouring in a cup or so of vinegar into which you have mixed two or three tablespoons of sugar.

Turn the heat off, close the door and leave it till the oven and the pan cools.  Pour off the liquid, scrub with a plastic scrubbie.  Much of the baked on gunk should peel off - any bits that are left should lift off with scrubbing with dry baking soda on a barely damp cloth.

I should note that I was using this method to remove grease baked on at high temps when I worked in my mom's bakery back in the mid-1950s.

We had piles of sheet pans that looked like this and I would mix a bucket of vinegar and sugar, put the pans in the still hot but no longer fired up oven, pour the mix in a row of pans, rotate to the next shelf and repeat till all the pans were being "processed" - I would then go on to other tasks until the oven temp was down, then dump the liquid into a tub and take a stack of the sheets to the sink and work them over with a stiff brush.

 

This is a photo of me and my mom in front of the oven (Peterson revolving tray oven) which took a few hours to cool down...  I worked nights as that is when 90% of the baking was done.

Edited February 7, 2015 by andiesenji (log)

[dcarch]

Take a white piece of paper towel or even of cloth and rub an untreated aluminum utensil.  It (cloth or paper) is now black/grey. Cooks and bakers deal with this mess on  a daily basis, and it is not very pleasant

 

It is not true, in my experience. I just tried it on three different aluminum surfaces, rubbed and rubbed and rubbed, no black/gray aluminum got rubbed off. Aluminum oxide is so tough that it is commonly used as an abrasive.

 

As others on this thread have said, the burnt on oil is very similar to seasoning a pan, and for the same reasons: 

 

What is on that pan is no where near seasoning. 

 

-To prevent rust (or oxidization in the case of aluminum)

 

You can't prevent aluminum oxidation. That's why you need argon or helium to weld aluminum.

 

-To prevent foods from sticking to the surface

and

-To make cleanup easier.

 

Again, seasoning on cookware is very different than thick cooked on oil stain.

 

dcarch

Edited February 7, 2015 by dcarch (log)

[Edward J]

 

 

 

You can't prevent aluminum oxidation. That's why you need argon or helium to weld aluminum.

 

 

 

Exactly my point. 

 

Every time you scrub down aluminum with a detergent or mild abrasive, fresh aluminum  (shiny aluminum) is exposed and, as you describe, you can't prevent the aluminum from oxidizing.  You can however, treat the aluminum with sealers, laquers, paint,  or chemically (anodizing) to stop this from happening. 

 

Burnt on oil is particularily stubborn to remove, yet is an edible treatment, and is an effective barrier to slow down the oxidization process.

 

The technique of treating carbon steel pans, aluminum pans and cast iron pans with oil and heat is a very old and common process.  Even blacksmiths used this technique as a rust preventative surface treatment for steel and cast iron, albeit with linseed (a.k.a. flax seed) oil.  

[Shel_B]

[...]  Dawn Power Dissolver ...I recently bought a quart bottle at Smart & Final - identified as an "instutional" product in a white spray bottle with blue lettering.

And I seem to recall seeing it at Staples a while back.

 

If you can't find it, you could try the very old method of heating the pan in the oven, pouring in a cup or so of vinegar into which you have mixed two or three tablespoons of sugar.

Turn the heat off, close the door and leave it till the oven and the pan cools.  Pour off the liquid, scrub with a plastic scrubbie.  Much of the baked on gunk should peel off - any bits that are left should lift off with scrubbing with dry baking soda on a barely damp cloth.

 

This is a photo of me and my mom in front of the oven (Peterson revolving tray oven) which took a few hours to cool down...  I worked nights as that is when 90% of the baking was done.

me and mom bakery ::.jpg

 

There's a Smart and Final not to far from me, as well as a Staples.  Perhaps I'll stop by on Mon and see what they have. 

 

I'll probably try your cleaning method if DPD is unavailable.

 

Nice pic ...

[JoNorvelleWalker]

It seems to me that the OP's pan's condition is cleanable. You just can't throw a pan away every time a pan gets dirty like that.

 

The only time I would not try to clean it is if the stuff on it got carbonized, because almost nothing reacts with carbon.

 

I wonder if paint striper can also work. 

 

You cannot use "Easy Off" because it is alkali.

 

Read your oven manual if it is self -cleaning and see if they recommend aluminum items.

 

dcarch

 

My teenaged son managed to carbonize one of my stainless steel pots.  (Think high heat and broken sugar thermometer.)  Finally I have gotten it clean.  He is now in his forties,

 

If the pan is aluminum I would throw it out or find a non-culinary home for it.  Every aluminum cooking surface I have ever used has come to a bad end, except for one anodized aluminum pot I use only as the bottom of a double boiler.

[dcarch]

 

 

 

 

You can't prevent aluminum oxidation. That's why you need argon or helium to weld aluminum.

 

 

 

Exactly my point. 

 

Every time you scrub down aluminum with a detergent or mild abrasive, fresh aluminum  (shiny aluminum) is exposed and, as you describe, you can't prevent the aluminum from oxidizing.  You can however, treat the aluminum with sealers, laquers, paint,  or chemically (anodizing) to stop this from happening. 

 

Burnt on oil is particularily stubborn to remove, yet is an edible treatment, and is an effective barrier to slow down the oxidization process.

 

The technique of treating carbon steel pans, aluminum pans and cast iron pans with oil and heat is a very old and common process.  Even blacksmiths used this technique as a rust preventative surface treatment for steel and cast iron, albeit with linseed (a.k.a. flax seed) oil.  

 

 

With due respect, that is not the chemistry of aluminum. 

 

But may I again suggest to you that off topic comments are not what the OP expects. The topic is,

 

" What's the Best Way to Clean This Baking Sheet?"

 

So I took out a pan with similar condition to the one OP has and used the method I suggested, here is the out come, no scrubbing. A can of degreaser goes a long way. All you need is a few tablespoons:

 

 

 

dcarch

[weinoo]

What do you use that pan for - changing your car's oil?

 

Do you really want to eat food that you're gonna cook on that pan, after using Gunk on it?  I wouldn't, but that's just me...I ride the subway - that's where I take my chances.

[scubadoo97]

The pan is not going to absorb the Gunk. A thorough washing with soap and water will remove the degreaser

[rotuts]

dcarch

 

thanks for the Exp.  very impressive   if it ever stops snowing, Ill get a can and keep it in the garage.

 

nice.

[dcarch]

What do you use that pan for - changing your car's oil?

 

Do you really want to eat food that you're gonna cook on that pan, after using Gunk on it?  I wouldn't, but that's just me...I ride the subway - that's where I take my chances.

 

I use that pan to catch drippings in the oven, like most people, you don't normally cook directly on that pan.

 

The Gunk is just some form of petroleum distill, evaporates fast and can't penetrate the very hard aluminum oxide layer. But if you worry, you can always put it in the dishwasher, which uses much more toxic chemicals to clean off the Gunk, if any Gunk is left.

 

What's in your dishwashing detergent:

 

1. Phosphates:  2. Triclosan: 3. 1,4 Dioxane:  4. SLS (sodium lauryl sulfate)/SLES (sodium laureth sulfate):  5. Fragrance:  6. DEA (diethanolamine), MEA (monoethanolamine), TEA (triethanolamine): .7. Coal Tar Dyes:  8. APE's (alkyl phenoxy ethanols): 9. Chlorine:  10. Formaldehyde:11. Ammonia

 

dcarch

[minas6907]

We use a cleaner from eco lab, I belive it a called grease strip. Clean in 10 minutes.

[Shel_B]

So I took out a pan with similar condition to the one OP has and used the method I suggested, here is the out come, no scrubbing. A can of degreaser goes a long way. All you need is a few tablespoons:

 

 

 

 

dcarch

 

OSHA Regulatory Status

This material is considered hazardous by the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200).

 

http://www.rscbrands.com/products/msds/EBT32.PDF

 

IMO, one would be foolish to use this in and around their home.  What's your suggestion for disposing of the waste generated by using this.  I checked with our recycling center, and, around here at least, it must be disposed of at a hazardous waste site.

Edited February 9, 2015 by Shel_B (log)

[dcarch]

OSHA Regulatory Status

This material is considered hazardous by the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200).

 

http://www.rscbrands.com/products/msds/EBT32.PDF

 

IMO, one would be foolish to use this in and around their home.  What's your suggestion for disposing of the waste generated by using this.  I checked with our recycling center, and, around here at least, it must be disposed of at a hazardous waste site.

 

It depends.  Hazardous if you don't follow instructions in it's use and disposal.

 

The list of hazardous material in a home is very long. How do you dispose of fluorescent light bulbs or used batteries? Old transformers? refrigerants? old computers? Every single item in your medicine cabinet is toxic -------

 

I am not sure what's left of three tablespoons of "Gunk" to dispose of on paper towel. By the time you get in your car, it would all be dried up.

 

dcarch

Edited February 9, 2015 by dcarch (log)

[Bowlsareus]

I can feel your desire to resurrect this pan, good for you.  I'm afraid that the most accurate answer is elbow grease so only you can judge what that is worth to you.  I liked the idea of keeping it for those nasty times when you need to put something under a dripping item in the oven.  

 

Best wishes

[Edward J]

It depends.  Hazardous if you don't follow instructions in it's use and disposal.

 

The list of hazardous material in a home is very long. How do you dispose of fluorescent light bulbs or used batteries? Old transformers? refrigerants? old computers? Every single item in your medicine cabinet is toxic -------

 

I am not sure what's left of three tablespoons of "Gunk" to dispose of on paper towel. By the time you get in your car, it would all be dried up.

 

dcarch

It is prudent to keep hazardous materials out of the kitchen, away from food, and from surfaces that come into contact with food ( like the sink, faucett, etc.) Disposing of batteries, electronics, or lightbulbs usually means no contact with food or even being in the kitchen.

[dcarch]

It is prudent to keep hazardous materials out of the kitchen, away from food, and from surfaces that come into contact with food ( like the sink, faucett, etc.) Disposing of batteries, electronics, or lightbulbs usually means no contact with food or even being in the kitchen.

 

I admire your kitchen. 

 

The kitchens I know keep all kinds and lots of poison, toxic, non-food grade stuff around. Liquid Plumber, Fantastic, Dishwashing detergent, bleach, roach poison, rat poison, copper polish, Easy-Off, Lysol, Greased Lightning, Hand sanitizer --------------------.

 

Thanks for your advice anyway.

 

dcarch

[GlorifiedRice]

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/clean-bakedon-gunk-from-pans-w-152109

 

^^Clean Baked-On Gunk from Pans with Dryer Sheets

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I admire your kitchen. 

 

The kitchens I know keep all kinds and lots of poison, toxic, non-food grade stuff around. Liquid Plumber, Fantastic, Dishwashing detergent, bleach, roach poison, rat poison, copper polish, Easy-Off, Lysol, Greased Lightning, Hand sanitizer --------------------.

 

Thanks for your advice anyway.

 

dcarch

 

I keep drain cleaner in the kitchen.  I keep it several feet from food and food surfaces.  Bleach and insect poisons are at the other end of my apartment.  Hand sanitizer is something I regard as an abomination.

 

I think it was Consumer Reports who said a dirty oven never injured anyone.  "The same cannot be said of oven cleaners."

Edited February 10, 2015 by JoNorvelleWalker (log)

[Porthos]

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/clean-bakedon-gunk-from-pans-w-152109

 

^^Clean Baked-On Gunk from Pans with Dryer Sheets

 

Interesting idea. Baked on gunk may be other than polymerized oil, may include polymerized oil. I am a bit skeptical about it removing polymerized oil but have not ever tried such a techniquie.