Stripping polymerized buildup from metal cookware

[scott123]

1 hour ago, SLB said:

Carbon-Off claims to be specifically safe on aluminum:

 

The SDS for Carbon Off lists 9-10% sodium hydroxide (lye).  Sodium hydroxide breaks down aluminum.  

I'm not sure how much aluminum you've removed, but, I think there's a good chance that it remains functional, and that some fine grit sandpaper will make it somewhat presentable again.  With enough elbow grease, there might be enough aluminum left to take it to pristeen, but, I wouldn't take that chance.  I think you can probably get it to look a bit like cast aluminum, which possesses it's own rustic charm.

[SLB]

 

 

Sigh.  It literally did not occur to me to read the ingredients!!  I figured it was a lye-alternative:  "SAFE FOR ALUMINUM"

 

!?

 

Oh, well.  I guess I should've left the skillet . . . carbon-on.

 

We'll see how it cook up, rusticplus charm and all.  

Edited February 28, 2023 by SLB (log)

[scott123]

Yup, a bit of a head shaker on the whole "safe for aluminum" thing.

FWIW, I did come across another SDS for carbon off, and, while it didn't have lye, it had ammonia, which also degrades aluminum.  I looked over the instructions to see if there was any fine print, such as a recommended shorter contact time, but, it said up to 5 hours. Unless I'm completely overlooking something, I'm having a hard as seeing this clam as anything but fraudulent.

[weinoo]

12 hours ago, SLB said:

 

 

Sigh.  It literally did not occur to me to read the ingredients!!  I figured it was a lye-alternative:  "SAFE FOR ALUMINUM"

 

!?

 

Oh, well.  I guess I should've left the skillet . . . carbon-on.

 

We'll see how it cook up, rusticplus charm and all.  

 

I don't understand how so much carbon builds up on a  pan bottom?  I've been using my All-Clad MC (the original ones, meaning they're probably 30+ years old) pans for a long time, and there has never been a carbon build-up on them.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

 

I don't understand how so much carbon builds up on a  pan bottom?  I've been using my All-Clad MC (the original ones, meaning they're probably 30+ years old) pans for a long time, and there has never been a carbon build-up on them.

Thank you. I am equally puzzled.

[rotuts]

incomplete combustion of natural gas 

 

can leave a pan sooty .

 

as it wold the rest of the kitchen.

 

possibly the pan was used outside ?

Edited February 28, 2023 by rotuts (log)

[weinoo]

13 minutes ago, rotuts said:

incomplete combustion of natural gas 

 

can leave a pan sooty .

 

This is actually what I was thinking; and if that's the case, the stove and/or gas lines ought to be adjusted.

[weinoo]

Here are two of the MC pans I'm referring to...

 

 

They've never been exposed to lye, Drano, EZ Off - or anything of the sort.

[SLB]

They have never been used outside.  No idea.  It started to accumulate around 2012 or so, which I attributed to the laziness which has emerged with my middle age.  Until two days ago the whole exterior looked black like the remaining small patches in the photo.  

 

But, now that I think of it, that is when the Bluestar was put in.  Hunh.  

 

Edited February 28, 2023 by SLB (log)

[rotuts]

Ive seen pans in commercial kitchens 

 

w the blackness problem.

 

I wonder if commercial gas cooktops

 

leave a residue when cranked up ' high '

 

ie when more heat gets the dish done faster

 

but combustion , for some reason is incomplete 

 

at those max outputs.

 

it might be easy to test :

 

turn a burner to its max setting , hold a pan over the burner , maybe a bitt avoce

 

an see what happens.

[haresfur]

10 hours ago, rotuts said:

Ive seen pans in commercial kitchens 

 

w the blackness problem.

 

I wonder if commercial gas cooktops

 

leave a residue when cranked up ' high '

 

ie when more heat gets the dish done faster

 

but combustion , for some reason is incomplete 

 

at those max outputs.

 

it might be easy to test :

 

turn a burner to its max setting , hold a pan over the burner , maybe a bitt avoce

 

an see what happens.

 

Actually you will get incomplete combustion at lower levels when the flame turns yellow. High heat will generally keep the flame blue and oxidizing unless you boil over and get water into the burner

[SLB]

@rotuts  I tried your proposed test, and did not notice any residue.  Maybe it accumulates so slowly that it will take a few days for me to be able to actually observe anything.  The bottom of the pan felt a little moist, for what that's worth.  

 

Here are pics of the flame on the heavy-use eyes.

 

 

 

 

And, I see here that the bottom of my moka pot is all carbonized, too.  Hmm.  I've had this thing for 2.5 years.  Unlike the skillets, though -- this thing is never washed or anything like that.  It gets, you know, wiped down occasionally.  But no soap touches the mokapot, ever.  Maybe there is just too much grease in my house, everywhere.  It is possible!

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by SLB (log)

[gfweb]

On 2/28/2023 at 10:46 AM, weinoo said:

Here are two of the MC pans I'm referring to...

 

 

They've never been exposed to lye, Drano, EZ Off - or anything of the sort.

 

On 2/28/2023 at 10:46 AM, weinoo said:

Here are two of the MC pans I'm referring to...

 

 

They've never been exposed to lye, Drano, EZ Off - or anything of the sort.

 

 

My MC pans are the same.

But an MC2 has blackened.

I think the original MC aluminum has some voodoo magic in it.

[SLB]

13 minutes ago, gfweb said:

I think the original MC aluminum has some voodoo magic in it.

Sure does seem like it from here.

[scott123]

2 hours ago, SLB said:

And, I see here that the bottom of my moka pot is all carbonized, too.  Hmm.  I've had this thing for 2.5 years.  Unlike the skillets, though -- this thing is never washed or anything like that.  It gets, you know, wiped down occasionally.  But no soap touches the mokapot, ever.  Maybe there is just too much grease in my house, everywhere.  It is possible!

 

If you use a kitchen to cook, grease will go airborne- both visibly and microscopically.  Also, the closer something is stored to your stove, the more grease is going to collect. The bottom of your moka pot is definitely polymerized oil. I also think that the deposits on most pans are polymerized oil as well.  I don't really understand the chemistry, but, grease tends to grab on to the bottom of pans much more aggressively than the top.  When I hand wash pans, I typically have to wash the bottom three times to get the grease off vs only once for the inside of the pan.

[gfweb]

Here's an All Clad MC2 on the left and an MC on the right.

 

I've scrubbed the hell out of the MC2 and this is the best I can do.

 

The MC hasn't ever needed more than a sponge.  I have 4 other MCs that are cleaner, if anything.

[Paul Bacino]

On 2/24/2017 at 5:58 PM, Porthos said:

Do  you have a BBQ that you can crank up to about 550 F? That works also.

 

This is how I,  I do it

[weinoo]

19 hours ago, gfweb said:

Here's an All Clad MC2 on the left and an MC on the right.

 

 

Wow...gotta be a different metal formula on those MC2s, no?

 

On 3/2/2023 at 5:44 PM, scott123 said:

If you use a kitchen to cook, grease will go airborne- both visibly and microscopically.  Also, the closer something is stored to your stove, the more grease is going to collect.

 

I cook A LOT.  I keep my most used pans right above the stove on a shelf.  I've never seen what I'm seeing above.

[SLB]

On 3/4/2023 at 11:30 AM, weinoo said:

Wow...gotta be a different metal formula on those MC2s, no?

 

 

Or, as @gfweb suggested:  voodoo.  

 

Seriously -- here's hoping the metal experts weigh in.  It seems so odd!

 

For what it's worth, my mother's Wagner Ware Magnalite also greases up good on the bottom.  However, it comes right off with Comet.  

[TdeV]

We have one All Clad pan which is stainless steel but all the rest have aluminum outsides and are black, black, black. The clean insides of the pans are nice and shiny.