heat tint

[Bjorn Brown]

I recently purchased some Paderno cookware. I have found that the stainless steel interior bottom is very susceptible to heat tint (blue and yellowish marks). This happens even at medium-low heat. It is easily cleaned with a stainless steel cleanser. My question is, does heat tint tend to diminish with use/time or should I be prepared with steel cleanser for the life of the pots?

[Nick]

A "heat tint" of yellow to blue indicates the steel has been heated to 400-600F. (Yellow at the lower temp, blue at the higher.) Did this happen while you were cooking, or might the pan have been left over the heat with nothing in it?

[Bjorn Brown]

I happens when cooking. I put the saucepan on low heat (3 out of 10 on the stove dial) and added some vegetable soup to be reheated. I turned the heat up to 5 or 6 (don't know what temperature that would be) and slowly heated until hot. The pot was heated only briefly (15 seconds max.) on low heat with nothing in it. When I washed it and dried it, I noticed a rainbow of blue/yellow colours. This has happened with two brand new saucepans.

[Nick]

Doing what you just described certainly didn't hit the "tempering colors" I mentioned above.

Now that you've got me thinking; I started buying All-Clad stainless a year or so ago and a few of the pots and pans did just what you're experiencing. I knew that I hadn't hit the temps necessary to cause a tempering color and thought something from my cooking or something about the pan had done it. Like you, I thought that this was disappointing if this were to continue - after laying out many hundreds of dollars on my stuff.

But, only after your last post have I remembered this. The problem went away and I'd forgotten it until now. Hopefully the same will happen with your pots.

Nick

[phatch]

While you can get temper color marks, many stainless steels will pick up color tints from other things. I have a Calphalon Stainless Steel fry pan. It gets those yellow and blue swirls in my dish washer. Certainly not the temperatures mentioned. I read something about it once in the paper. It is a heat effect (chemicals can cause it too as in my dishwasher) but not a temper effect. This kind tends to come and go with use. Has no effect on the pan's function, just aesthetics.

Phil

[Suzanne]

It happens on my All-Clads, too, sometimes. And it goes away on its own, too. No effect on cooking properties. Don't let it worry you.

[Bjorn Brown]

Thanks for all the input. Hopefully it will go away on its own.

[Robertito]

Forget the scrubbing...just use a few drops of lemon juice. Presto!