topic Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please! in Kitchen

Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

bonnielu — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 21:26:02 GMT

I guess I should have been more careful. I was warming up tomato soup and walked away. Well long story short, the inside is burned. The pot is old and was from my original set...many years ago. I am not going to dump it for sentimental reasons.

Questions: How to clean a stainless steel pot and remove baked in and burned food. Hard to scrape the inside because it is not a really big pot. Knife does not fit well. I tried Brillo like pads. Not working all that well. Might take me a better part of a day if that is my only method

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

forest4thetrees — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 21:33:03 GMT

Well, first, I know I've seen a specialty "stainless steel" cleaner in the store.

But if you want to do it without extra expense, measure out sufficient vinegar to cover the baked in crud. Heat that up in another pan, put your stained pan into the empty sink and pour the hot vinegar into that pan. Let sit. After about 10 min. pour in a half cup of baking soda. It will foam up (which is why the cruddy pan needs to be in the sink). Let sit. After another 10 min or so lightly use a scrubby and the crud should start to come off. Repeat process as necessary until clean. The vinegar/soda mixture will not scratch the pan and if you're careful with your exertions with the scrubby you should come out fine without damage to your sentimental pan.

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

KYToby — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 21:34:32 GMT

I like to soak in water for a day or so, then I tackle the stain with Barkeepers Friend. I hasve also found the Scrub Daddy to be very effective at scrubbing.

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

Group 5 minus 1 — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 21:37:57 GMT

hot water,baking soda, lid on and let soak for 24 hrs

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

rrpell — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 21:41:11 GMT

Try filling the pot with water and putting it back on the burner. Let the simmering water breakdown the burned stuff. This usually works for me.

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

traveler — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 21:49:05 GMT

I put a baking soda paste on pots then wait a bit. Don't let it dry out.

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

65and fabulous — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 21:50:50 GMT

Oh, we have all done it! But I agree, tomato soup is the worst!

here's what I do....and you may have to repeat a couple times, but I promise this will work.

1. Fill the pot with water up past the burn area, and add a good dose of Dawn dishwashing liquid (maybe 1/4 cup.) Bring the pot to a boil......let it boil and boil. Add more water as needed.

2. Remove from heat. Try scrubbing the burn gunk off then. If some still clings, repeat the boiling process, and add a cup or more of baking soda this time. Boil, even for an hour....until the hard gunk softens and the Dawn and the baking soda can do its work!

Watch that the water does not boil over because of the baking soda! Scrub again, and work some more gunk off. I have done this with great success...just keep chipping away!

Good Luck!

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

RedTop — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 21:58:00 GMT

I have used a combination of Dawn and vinegar in water, bring to rolling boil, turn off heat and let sit for several hours. My last food scorch was pie filling, and with the Dawn and vinegar I didn't have to do any scrubbing at all to clean my pot.

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

OkeyDokey — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 22:07:19 GMT

Heat the pan to very hot. Pour water in it immediately and then scrub with a scotchbrite pad. If that doesn't cut it, COMET cleanser with scotchbrite pad. Lots of elbow grease. But remember, if you have to use COMET, it has a chlorine base, so it will bleach your clothes just like liquid bleach. You can do it! I have faith in you!

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

LuLuBelle — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 22:09:06 GMT

Dawn Platinum - it takes off anything in no time at all. I've bought small bottles and given them to friends and family who are in awe of how well it cleans with zero elbow grease. Good luck.

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

Nonametoday — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 22:11:32 GMT

On 1/9/2015 KYToby said:
I like to soak in water for a day or so, then I tackle the stain with Barkeepers Friend. I hasve also found the Scrub Daddy to be very effective at scrubbing.

Same exact thing I do except initially I run a very, very slow stream of how water into the pot for about 30 minutes and then do the above, soaking the pot for a day or so, even putting it in the warm oven, about 100 degrees which is the norm for my even if it is off. Then Barkeeper's friend which has saved my solid surface range when I burned a pot to it is my best friend for a mere pot. If it saved my stove, it can certainly save your pot.

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

Zhills — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 22:12:31 GMT

Interesting! I just read on the internet to boil 1 cup of coke for 10 minutes. Scrub with dish soap. Worth a try.

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

Nonametoday — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 22:13:13 GMT

On 1/9/2015 KYToby said:
I like to soak in water for a day or so, then I tackle the stain with Barkeepers Friend. I hasve also found the Scrub Daddy to be very effective at scrubbing.

same here with a minor exception of running a very slow stream of hot water in the pot for about 30 minutes before soaking or tackling, whichever.

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

Mominohio — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 22:23:05 GMT

QVC also sells a product called Bio Cleaner. That on a Scrub Daddy with a little elbow grease will take years of built up gunk off.

Boiling water and Dawn in the pan is the first place to start, then some oven cleaner might help the tough stuff left.

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

shoekitty — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 22:26:55 GMT

I only use stainless. I have found with burned pan, if I place a 1/4 inch of water in pan, bring to boil for a minute. Then get spatula, and scrape like you are deglazing a pan. I am sure the coke would work with a boil too. Water has worked for me so far, and I have had bad,y burned nd stained pans

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

adelle38 — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 22:29:23 GMT

Use a dryer fabric softener sheet. Just put it in the pan and fill with hot water. Let it soak overnight and it should come off easily.

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

Tigriss — Fri, 09 Jan 2015 23:47:00 GMT

Fill the pot with a few inches of water, put a few tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice in it, and heat to boiling, then remove placing the lid on top. Let it cool for 20-30 minutes, and it should come right off. Too much vinegar will etch your steel, so cut it. Remember it is an acid!!

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

house_cat — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 00:02:33 GMT

On 1/9/2015 adelle38 said:
Use a dryer fabric softener sheet. Just put it in the pan and fill with hot water. Let it soak overnight and it should come off easily.

My son worked in a FF restaurant when he was a teenager and they used to do this.

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

bonnielu — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 00:25:47 GMT

Thanks everyone. I will try them one by one.

My set (for those of you who are ""young"" enough to remember is Revereware stainless with a copper bottom. It was my first set almost 50 years ago and it is still going strong except when I burn tomato soup in it.

I don't think anything is made like that was. That is why I am holding on. I do have other sets still stored away someplace that I don't use.

Re: Need to remove baked on food --- stainless steel pot. Help Please!

kittymomNC — Sat, 10 Jan 2015 03:55:45 GMT

On 1/9/2015 bonnielu said:
Thanks everyone. I will try them one by one.

My set (for those of you who are "young" enough to remember is Revereware stainless with a copper bottom. It was my first set almost 50 years ago and it is still going strong except when I burn tomato soup in it.

I don't think anything is made like that was. That is why I am holding on. I do have other sets still stored away someplace that I don't use.

I have a couple of saucepans and a dutch oven from a set of Revere Ware I got in 1966 and still use both. The only reason I don't still have the frying pan is that the handle finally broke off and couldn't be repaired. I have burned things in that dutch oven until they were total charcoal and the bottom was black with "stuff". At least three times. It's been a long time, and I'm sure there are easier ways to do it now, but I soaked with dish detergent then scrubbed with steel wool pads, and repeated until it was clean. I used a lot of elbow grease though. I still use the dutch oven, and you're right, some things you just don't want to get rid of! good luck with it - I know it will come clean!