Scorched all-clad pot

[Ron]

My lady friend burnt something in my all clad pot, it’s bad.

I’ve soaked and scrubbed it to no avail.

Any chef/kitchen hacks to get a badly burned pot clean other than pure elbow grease?

[Fly320s]

Stainless steel All-clad?

Have you tried filling it with water and bringing it to a boil?  That loosens most stuff.  Sometimes I add a bit of liquid dish soap to help out.

You can also use Barkeeper's Friend.  It is like Ajax or Comet, but not as abrasive.

[Ben]

Have you tried a vinegar soak?

Also, to reduce elbow grease, for a lot of stuff, I like to use these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MRLZ43B/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B01MRLZ43B&pd_rd_w=E0ZLs&pf_rd_p=46cdcfa7-b302-4268-b799-8f7d8cb5008b&pd_rd_wg=PbVrj&pf_rd_r=RCS162F5ZJNGV5YKB2VF&pd_rd_r=3cb2551d-668e-11e9-8627-41445435c50e

[Ron]

Yea, stainless all clad.

I’ve done the boil thing and it didn’t loosen up.

Maybe I’ll do the vinegar soak this afternoon.

She said she would use bar keepers friend tonight, she is a big fan of it and has mentioned it to me before.

[Brad Johnson]

You can also use Barkeeper's Friend.  It is like Ajax or Comet, but not as abrasive.

This. BKF and a good scrub brush. It will take time.

If this doesn't work then the nuclear option is Comet (old-fashioned original powder, not liquid) and a green ScotchBrite pad. I haven't found any baked on crud yet that could withstand the combo, at least after judicious applications of elbow grease are added.

Brad

[K Frame]

Fill it with water.

Add about a cup of baking soda (more or less depending on the size of the pot).

Bring to a hard boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for about half an hour.

Let it sit until it's cool, then scrub. It should come out fairly easily.


You can also try the same thing with dishwasher detergent, but that is a LOT more aggressive and can pit stainless if done too long.

You can also give it a good spray and soak with Easy Off (the nasty stuff, not the friendly to everyone and everything version.)

[zxcvbob]

If you're sure it's steel and not aluminum, try oven cleaner.  (lye-based)  After that has had time to do its magic, rinse it well and *then* use BKF.

ETA: Mike's method (posted while I was typing this) will work better if you use washing soda instead of baking soda.

[T.O.M.]

I have had good luck using coarse salt and a Scotch bright sponge.  I've used this on anything non-stick (including cast iron) with good results.

[Ron]

The vinegar did in two hours what we couldn’t do by scrubbing.

Came back from a quick gravel ride on the bike, looked in the pot and saw the stuff separating from the pot from just soaking.

Hardly any elbow grease at all and it’s all clean.

[Fly320s]

Any staining or discoloration from the vinegar?

[K Frame]

I'm going to have to try the vinegar because it appears that I scorched the hell out of the pot of chili I made for dinner.

[Ron]

Any staining or discoloration from the vinegar?

No, looks good


Sent from my Moto E (4) Plus using Tapatalk

[Ron]

Mary’s mind = blown

She couldn’t believe how good the pot looked.

She felt horrible, scrubbing the pot trying to make a dent in the mess she made and never even saw metal after all her work.

I certainly didn’t expect it to work that well myself.

[K Frame]

Fortunately mine looked a lot worse than it was. An overnight soak resulted in most of the burned stuff coming right off.

[slugcatcher]

For really caked- on, burned on forever crud, put it in a sealed plastic bag, pour in some ammonia and let it sit over night or a couple of days if needed.  Most of it will wipe right off.  I've done this cast iron, stainless steel, and aluminum with no ill effects.

[K Frame]

Last Friday I mixed up a batch of rice and ground turkey and put it on the stove for Seren. She was under the weather with stomach distress, and that's a good option for a bland diet to help them through that.

Well, the roofer came, I forgot to set an alarm on my phone and...

My aluminum dutch oven now looks like an asphalt street.

I tried the vinegar soak and boil. No dice. Didn't even touch it.

I'm going to try my baking soda boil this evening.

If that doesn't work, I guess I'm going to break out the BKF and the elbow grease.

I don't want to give up on this pan. It's a great size, and it was my grandmother's.

[zxcvbob]

Last Friday I mixed up a batch of rice and ground turkey and put it on the stove for Seren. She was under the weather with stomach distress, and that's a good option for a bland diet to help them through that.

Well, the roofer came, I forgot to set an alarm on my phone and...

My aluminum dutch oven now looks like an asphalt street.

I tried the vinegar soak and boil. No dice. Didn't even touch it.

I'm going to try my baking soda boil this evening.

If that doesn't work, I guess I'm going to break out the BKF and the elbow grease.

I don't want to give up on this pan. It's a great size, and it was my grandmother's.

Don't use lye or washing soda on aluminum, but ammonia might work.  It's stronger than baking soda.

Pour enough in and slosh it around to thoroughly wet the burnt crud, and put a lid on it.  Give it 24 hours.  (I know this is basically what slugcatcher said, I'm agreeing)

[K Frame]

Ammonia is the next step.

The problem with strongly alkali cleaners like ammonia is that they can badly discolor aluminum. In this case not a big deal since this is a 70-year-old pot and it's pretty discolored to begin with from all of the use its seen.

[K Frame]

Well, I got it clean.

I tried the baking soda boil. That didn't touch it.

I tried ammonia. That didn't touch it.

I was at WalMart to see if they have Bar Keeper's friend and I saw... a pumice stick. A stick of actual pumice that is primarily designed for cleaning hard water stains off porcelain (toilets, tubs, and sinks).

Well, about 10 minutes of that and the pan is nice and clean.

But, as can be imagined, it's now sort of textured on the bottom compliments of the coarse nature of the pumice stick.

[Ben]

Well, I got it clean.

I tried the baking soda boil. That didn't touch it.

I tried ammonia. That didn't touch it.

I was at WalMart to see if they have Bar Keeper's friend and I saw... a pumice stick. A stick of actual pumice that is primarily designed for cleaning hard water stains off porcelain (toilets, tubs, and sinks).

Well, about 10 minutes of that and the pan is nice and clean.

But, as can be imagined, it's now sort of textured on the bottom compliments of the coarse nature of the pumice stick.

Good to know on the pumice stick. I am going through a few of them right now as all three toilets at the new place have stains. It takes some elbow grease and patience, but they sure take care of stains nothing else was able to touch. I'll make a note of their use on the pots and pans front.

[K Frame]

I wouldn't use them on anything you really care about, certainly not non stick, and I'd be very hesitant to use them on stainless steel. But on stainless you can break out the lye and go to town.

[K Frame]

Oh, and if you want to give yourself a boost in cleaning those hard water stains, one trick I've used in the past is Lysol bowl cleaning (highly acidic). You squirt some on the stain, lay in a double layer of toilet tissue over it, and lay on another bead. The TP helps keep the acid against the stain.

Just be sure to flush it to get rid of the acid before you start with the pumice stick.

[Scout26]

Baack in the days before Lake Michigan water, we used Muratic Acid to get rid of the iron stains in the tub and toilets.

[TommyGunn]

Baack in the days before Lake Michigan water, we used Muratic Acid to get rid of the iron stains in the tub and toilets.

So .... now you just use Lake Michigan water?? ?? 

[Firethorn]

Baack in the days before Lake Michigan water, we used Muratic Acid to get rid of the iron stains in the tub and toilets.

I found baking soda worked when nothing else did on the water stains in my tub.  Went through a box and a half, because every time the baking powder changed color it stopped working, each spoonful did only a very limited area.