Cleaning Stubbornly Stained Cookware

[pattimw]

I was frying some shrimp cakes over the weekend in a stainless steel saute pan (perhaps this wasn't the best idea, but they were oh so good), and now I have lovely oil stains that just won't come off so matter how hard I scrub. Does anyone have any tips to remove?

Thanks

[sparrowgrass]

Related question--I have a son, whose recipe for anything is "put it in the stainless steel pot, turn it on high, and go back to playing video games until the smoke alarms goes off."

Rice and noodles, when charred black, are really hard to get off. Any sugestions?

[AzRaeL]

scrub harder

[fifi]

I am not sure what you mean by oil stains but the new Dawn Power Dissolver is terrific for baked on grease and gunk. I use it on my smoker grills.

[Busboy]

A stain? Or actual crusties?

If it's a stain, why bother? It's like trying to get paint off your work clothes -- far more effort than it's worth. It doesn't effect the performance and stains, dinks, scratches etc. are a more or less inevitable biproduct of an active culiary life. Kind of a "red badge of courage."

As for crusties, soaking a pan in the sink, with a snow-drift of dishwashing detergent actually resting on the charred scum usually works. After a while, possibly days. Another trick is to fill the pan with water and put some dishwashing soap in it and boil for a while. Obviously, these are not solutions that work on cast iron or anything delicate, but they're pretty effective on stainless and heavy aluminum.

[josephreese]

I use Bar Keepers Friend on my stainless surfaces. Works like a charm.

http://www.barkeepersfriend.com/sample.html

[cjsadler]

Oven cleaner, as suggested by Alton Brown, works really well, especially the stuff on the underside of the pans that's really cooked on there. I don't let it sit overnight, though, usually only about 15 minutes works. Just wipe it off-- very easy. He's right about the old, cooked on grease. If you don't continually keep the pans clean, you'll never get them back to their original state.

"To remove the gunk on the backs of pans, Brown sprays on Easy-Off, lets them sit overnight and cleans them in the morning. (Using brute strength is a waste of time, he says, and steel wool can gouge metal.) This strategy won't work for old cooked-on grease, because the polymerized fat has bonded with the metal: It's one of the toughest things on earth, Brown says. "

Food & Wine article about AB and cleaning

[rancho_gordo]

I use Bar Keepers Friend on my stainless surfaces. Works like a charm.

It may dull the finish, if that matters. But this stuff is amazing. I have hard water and orange tile stains, purple sink stains and a general nightmare. Bleach made it worse and everything else did a lot of nothing. Except Barkeepers Friend. It really is amazing and I hope no one gets on to tell me it's an enviromental disaster, source of illness or employs slave labor. I love this product!

[Busboy]

I use Bar Keepers Friend on my stainless surfaces. Works like a charm.

It may dull the finish, if that matters. But this stuff is amazing. I have hard water and orange tile stains, purple sink stains and a general nightmare. Bleach made it worse and everything else did a lot of nothing. Except Barkeepers Friend. It really is amazing and I hope no one gets on to tell me it's an enviromental disaster, source of illness or employs slave labor. I love this product!

It's also the single greatest way to get the stains off your non-stainless chefs' knives and clean up the copper pots if, say, you're mom's visiting or you had too much coffee that morning.

[AzRaeL]

sounds like polymerized oil. that stuff is a bitch to remove.

[melkor]

If you caramelize some onions in the pan and then wash it while it's still warm it should be easy to clean.

[pattimw]

I guess stains was not the best word, it really is more cooked-on grease. I got some of it off, between soaking it for days, scrubbing, then soaking some more.

There are some great suggestions here. I'll give them a try.

melkor, I love the caramelizing onions idea!

[fifi]

sounds like polymerized oil. that stuff is a bitch to remove.

That is the stuff where the Dawn product is dynamite.

[gabe]

I have had success with Bon Ami cleaner, too, which is also gentle enough for nonstick (as long as you use a light duty "teflon-safe" scrubber)

[pattimw]

I am not sure what you mean by oil stains but the new Dawn Power Dissolver is terrific for baked on grease and gunk. I use it on my smoker grills.

fifi- I picked some up over the weekend and it worked like a charm! Thanks!

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I use Bar Keepers Friend on my stainless surfaces. Works like a charm.

http://www.barkeepersfriend.com/sample.html

YES! A friend who works at WilliamsSonoma says that this is what they use on the AllClad they use for demonstrations also. I use a minute amount on a sponge at the end of every wash, just to remove subtle stains and keep the like-new appearance.

Also great on white porcelain fixtures, stainless back-splashes, enamel. If you are worried about scratching, dissolve it (maybe a teaspoon) in a bit of water to make a smooth paste before using.

And, thanks, fifi. I put Dawn Power Dissolver on my shopping list for burned on grease.

[NickV]

So, while I was out the other night, my roommate used my red Le Creuset dutch oven to make some fesenjoon. The dish actually came out pretty well, considering he'd never made it before. That's beside the point. The point is that he wasn't aware of how well LC pots conduct heat, so I guess he left it to simmer for a while and... Long story short, after a few days of scrubbing and soaking, there's still a big layer of coal-black stuff burnt onto the bottom of my dutch oven. He's tried making a paste of baking soda and dish soap and scrubbing with that, soaking in rubbing alcohol and of course plenty of regular old scrubbing with Dawn. I initially found him going at it with a steel wool pad, which I quickly put a stop to. Luckily the cake of black on the bottom was so thick that the steel pad didn't get anywhere near the enamel. At any rate, if anyone has any advice on other methods of getting this crud off my pan, please advise. Thanks.

[mtigges]

Bring water to just below simmer add some tartaric acid, let it go for a few days. Tartaric acid is found in the baking aisle as a powder, heating the water is just to get it dissolved.

[russ parsons]

related question, as long as we're confessing our hygienic deficiencies: my big all-clad sauteuse, which i've had for about 15 years and use at least 2-3 times a week, has a layer of black scum on the bottom (outside) of the pan. this comes from teh days when i didn't have a dishwasher and was less thanrigorous about getting all the grease off the outside of the pan before re-using it. any ideas for how to get rid of it?

[melkor]

related question, as long as we're confessing our hygienic deficiencies: my big all-clad sauteuse, which i've had for about 15 years and use at least 2-3 times a week, has a layer of black scum on the bottom (outside) of the pan. this comes from teh days when i didn't have a dishwasher and was less thanrigorous about getting all the grease off the outside of the pan before re-using it. any ideas for how to get rid of it?

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Wenol works unbelievably well. I've used it to clean pans that look completely unrecoverable. Use the rough side of a dry sponge. I used wenol to clean the stainless-steel exhaust on my previous car when I sold it after 85,000 miles - it went from being completely black to looking new.

[Marlene]

Russ try barkeepers friend for stainless steel or get a tube of swiss cleaner by Kuhn Rikon. I've used both on the bottom of my all clad pans and the black stuff came off wonderfully well. Now they look almost new again.

[jayt90]

So, while I was out the other night, my roommate used my red Le Creuset dutch oven to make some fesenjoon. The dish actually came out pretty well, considering he'd never made it before. That's beside the point. The point is that he wasn't aware of how well LC pots conduct heat, so I guess he left it to simmer for a while and... Long story short, after a few days of scrubbing and soaking, there's still a big layer of coal-black stuff burnt onto the bottom of my dutch oven. He's tried making a paste of baking soda and dish soap and scrubbing with that, soaking in rubbing alcohol and of course plenty of regular old scrubbing with Dawn. I initially found him going at it with a steel wool pad, which I quickly put a stop to. Luckily the cake of black on the bottom was so thick that the steel pad didn't get anywhere near the enamel. At any rate, if anyone has any advice on other methods of getting this crud off my pan, please advise. Thanks.

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We have had more than a few discussions about blackened LC on egullet. The consensus, after using the best removers, is to go to LC or the vendor with your receipt, which triggers a lifetime warranty. No receipt? Look for a Visa or Amex purchase info online or by phone.

LC may claim you abused the product, or they may simply replace it. In the case of abuse, many posters have found that an LC 'second' will be offered at a factory door price.

[Bill Finn]

I have cleaned up a few Le Creuset pots that were in a similar state. Bar Keepers Friend and a Dobie pad will do the trick. It will require some elbow grease but it will work. To get rid of the surface browning (staining) that occurs on the interior enamel, pour in some bleach and let it sit. It will disappear in short order; no scrubbing required.

[mrbigjas]

Russ try barkeepers friend for stainless steel or get a tube of swiss cleaner by Kuhn Rikon.  I've used both on the bottom of my all  clad pans and the black stuff came off wonderfully well.  Now they look almost new again.

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what marlene said. barkeepers friend and a scouring pad.

[viaChgo]

Is barkeeper's friend ok to use on the enameled surface? I use it for my stainless pans but I'm not sure about the LC.