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EMERGENCY! I F#%Ked up...

post #1 of 34
2/2/10 at 4:05pm
Thread Starter 
i accidently burned olive oil on my all clad stainless pan...for about 10 minutes, now there is a big black spot and i can't get it off! what do i do? anyone had this happen to them before?

Please help!!
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post #2 of 34
2/2/10 at 4:14pm
Pick up a can of Barkeeper"s Friend. It is wonderful.
"J'aime cuisiner avec du vin, j'ai parfois même mettre dans les aliments je suis cuisson. ""Mi piace cucinare con il vino, talvolta ho persino messa nel cibo sto cottura. ""I enjoy cooking with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food I'm cooking." - Julia Child 
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post #3 of 34
2/2/10 at 4:20pm
Use a SS scrubie available at any GFS or similar store (wally world?) with a tiny bit of water and some Bar keepers friend. Scrub a dub dub.
If that fails you can get some spray on grill cleaner at GFS (warning don't use on aluminum!) spray it down and let it soak.
Back to step one.
I've saved more pans this way than I'd care to admidt. ;)
I think the most wonderful thing in the world is another chef. I'm always excited about learning new things about food.
Paul Prudhomme
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post #4 of 34
2/2/10 at 4:22pm
Get a scouring pad and some comet, scrub away.
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post #5 of 34
2/2/10 at 4:22pm
haha some how a stainless steel pan getting a stain makes me giggle.
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post #6 of 34
2/2/10 at 4:27pm
I've been using All-Clad and other SS pans for 30+ years. Best solution that works for me is a long soak in very hot (boiling) soapy water using a detergent like Dawn. Overnight seems to work just fine. Then a wipe with a sponge and finish up with Barkeeper's Friend. I scrupulously avoid any abrassives and scouring pads.

Schmoozer
Schmoozer
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post #7 of 34
2/2/10 at 4:42pm
Really? Avoid scouring pads? I guess to each their own but they work wonders for me with hot, soapy water and comet.
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post #8 of 34
2/2/10 at 4:53pm
Shmoozer is right. With stainless you want to avaois abrasives because they can cause minute scratches in your cookwear.
"J'aime cuisiner avec du vin, j'ai parfois même mettre dans les aliments je suis cuisson. ""Mi piace cucinare con il vino, talvolta ho persino messa nel cibo sto cottura. ""I enjoy cooking with wine, sometimes I even put it in the food I'm cooking." - Julia Child 
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post #9 of 34
2/2/10 at 5:01pm
When something really gets burnt on my pans, I put about a quarter cup dishwasher powder in the bottom along with a cup or two of water, bring it to the boil on stovetop, then let it sit until it's cooled enough to proceed with the scrubbing. Then I stir that around to loosen it up, dump that out and finish with a nylon scrubber and some barkeepers friend (powder---don't waste money on the liquid). Beautiful every time. :thumb: However, if you're "afraid" of Barkeepers Friend, you can use baking soda. It will also do a great job, just takes a little more time.
"The pressure's on...let's cook something!"
 
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post #10 of 34
2/2/10 at 5:45pm
Thread Starter 
thanks for the input!

im soaking it overnight and going to get some barkeepers friend tomorrow, can't stand the sight of that spot covering half the pan...
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post #11 of 34
2/2/10 at 5:53pm
Soaking + BKF is a good, environmentally friendly way to go.

If you're in more of a hurry, or if the BKF is taking too much elbow grease, just hit your pan with a spritz of an oven cleaner like Easy Off. Oven cleaners are made to remove burnt-on grease. Easy peasy.

BDL
What were we talking about?
 
http://www.cookfoodgood.com
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post #12 of 34
2/2/10 at 6:59pm
What's always worked for me is a quarter-inch of water in the pan and a tablespoon of powder dishwasher detergent. Put this on to simmer (AND TURN YOUR STOVE VENT FAN ON HIGH - THE FUMES WILL CHOKE A RHINOCEROUS) and it should lift the burnt-on residue right off. :peace:

Only good for stainless steel. It would remove any anodizing from aluminium, and G*g knows what it would do to non-stick. :eek:

Mike
travelling gourmand
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post #13 of 34
2/2/10 at 9:24pm
Elbow grease - lots of it. creamy cleanser and PLASTIC scrubber, not metal scourer, after a good long hot soak in suds. If your arm gets tired, switch arms, try a figure 8 motion for something different.
 Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy.
Robert A. Heinlein
 
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post #14 of 34
2/3/10 at 12:40am
For all burned food i found that WASHING soda, like arm and hammer puts out in the states (may not be as easy to find as it was once, but it's out there), is miraculous. You put some in the pan, like half a cup, and fill with water to the spot where the burned stuff is (if you've burned your sauce, it might be 3/4 up the sides, or in a frying pan, the sides may be all black from the oil if you've been frying chicken or eggplant or something) and put it on the stove. Bring to a boil and simmer for as long as you feel - sometimes it;s enough to bring to the boil and let it sit. More often than not, the spot just lifts with a plain sponge after that.

Not sure if you can do this with aluminum - but with stainless it;s a dream.

By the way, washing soda is great for greasy clothes, like jeans someone has used for fixing the car or aprons you've been wiping your greasy hands on. Just wet the cloth, sprinkle all over with washing soda so it looks like you left your wet towel on the beach and the sand stuck to it, and roll it up and put in the washing machine. Amazing.

Baking soda works a little, but not nearly as well.
"Siduri said, 'Gilgamesh, where are you roaming? You will never find the eternal life that you seek...Savour your food, make each of your days a delight, ... let music and dancing fill your house, love the child who holds you by the hand and give your wife pleasure in your embrace.'"
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post #15 of 34
2/3/10 at 6:03am
Washing soda is a strong base (alkalai), and even though most of what get's sold is put out by Arm and Hammer it does NOT have much in common with baking soda.

It's strength depends on how strong a solution you make. Obviously, more washing soda to less water will be a stronger solution.

With the quantity and method suggested by the talented and lovely DC you need to be careful. Treat it as you would a strong household chemical like oven cleaner. Keep it way from children and pets; Arm and Hammer recommends gloves; if you splash some on your skin rinse it off quickly; and, be very careful not to get any in your eyes, but if you do, rinse them immediately and copiously.

No aluminum, no fiberglass, no waxed floors.

BDL
What were we talking about?
 
http://www.cookfoodgood.com
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post #16 of 34
2/3/10 at 6:56am
this is my combo treatment:
(As per Mike LM) dishwashing powder in 1/2 water , simmer 10 min. let rest.

Discard water, scrub and dry. If any residue left: use Glass Cook top Cleaner.

Luc H.
I eat science everyday, do you?
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post #17 of 34
2/3/10 at 6:59am
Overnight soaking with Dawn detergent with a little bit or a lot of vinegar helps a lot too, somewhere around 2:1 mixture...or if you are in a hurry, put some vinegar with water and boil it away...I rather tend to do the former than the latter as I have lots of pots and pan I can use anyway...:mullet: (<< I really like this girl. :lol:)
Bill and Izzie: Proud parents of a soldier.
Looking back on all the mistakes I've made in my life, all I can say is I've gotten a lot of miles out of stupid.
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post #18 of 34
2/3/10 at 8:27am
Aww heck - shucks BDL :D (I'll take that with a grain of salt).

The method works for me. The OP needs to decide for themselves what to do - sounds as if most everyone has had the same problem at least once. Most pans survive the treatment. Once burnt, twice shy? hehe :rolleyes:
 Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy.
Robert A. Heinlein
 
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post #19 of 34
2/3/10 at 11:07am
Reminds me of making a rice pilaf and getting distracted. Wow, did that ever take a long time to clean up!!

I've used some of the solutions listed above with great success. One trip on the sailboat had a friend cooking below. Afterwords there was a quarter inch of black in my stainless pot. My friend suggested deep sixing the pot and offered to buy a replacement. However, having lots of time (sailing at 5 mph over 250 miles takes a while) I proceeded to scrub with scouring powder. Eventually, it looked like new.

More commonly now, at least at home, we put some dishwasher detergent in plus hot water and let soak overnight. Works quite well although I don't know why.

I also don't understand the aversion to the tiny scratches that abrasive cleaners might leave. I don't treat my stainless with the kid gloves that non-stick might warrant and have never noticed a difference. Even with metal utensils, dishwasher cleaning, etc. the stainless cookware is still a joy to use and virtually non-stick on its own. I simply apply a bit of pre-heat, add lube, and go. Nine times out of ten a sponge and hot water will do the trick.

Rich
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post #20 of 34
2/3/10 at 11:57am
Fill it with water and bring it to a boil. It will then degrease right? After it boils you will be able to see that most of the oil stuck on the pan eventually bubles up, as soon as it happens, wash your pan with lukewarm water and scrub. Its gonna be easily cleaned.
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post #21 of 34
2/3/10 at 12:24pm
Boiling water with baking soda always works for me. The burnt on bits just float to the surface. No elbow grease required.
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post #22 of 34
2/3/10 at 7:58pm
Here's what I do:
Try soaking with soap and hot water

If that doesn't work use Bar Keeper's Friend

If that doesn't work use steel wool SOS pads
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post #23 of 34
2/3/10 at 8:11pm
The easiest thing I found to clean burnt pans was coke. Put some coke in the pan and bring it to a boil. While boiling for a few minutes take a wooden spoon and scrape the pan. The burnt food comes up easily. (Trust me the first time I heard this I laughed. Then I tried it and it worked beautifully)
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post #24 of 34
2/4/10 at 4:16am
Several options here.

1st is to boil back with vinegar and water
2nd option is to scrub back with a half lemon with salt.
3rd option would be to spray out the pan with oven cleaner, and while you do this, you may as well spray out your oven, put then pan inside and let the whole lot soak out together.

of course, if you have access to a combi oven, then thats another story altogether.
"Nothing quite like the feeling of something newl"
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post #25 of 34
2/4/10 at 4:57am
BDL is right. Washing Soda used to be pure Sodium Carbonate but even 30 years ago, A&H started adding other ingredients. Baking soda on the other hand is Sodium Bicarbonate, and is still available pure.

I sprinkle dry baking soda on scorched black spots, and add just enough water to make it pasty. Overnight usually is enough to make the stain come off with a little rubbing with a plastic scrubber. No steel wool. It scratches the surface and leaves tiny grooves which food will stick into and make your pan harder to keep clean in the future.

doc
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post #26 of 34
2/4/10 at 5:43am
If you think this is really an issue you may want to try finding some close up photos of any SS cookware that's new. There is really no such beast as SS cookware with out minute scratches. A ss pad, brillo, scotch brite etc is not going to hurt the interior of your SS cookware. The stewards at nearly every restaurant in the land are using SS scrubies on SS pans etc. and have been for many, many years. A pan with a few extra micro scratches is far better than a pan in the trash. ;)
I think the most wonderful thing in the world is another chef. I'm always excited about learning new things about food.
Paul Prudhomme
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post #27 of 34
2/5/10 at 10:06am
[QUOTE=DuckFat;297588 A ss pad, brillo, scotch brite etc is not going to hurt the interior of your SS cookware. The stewards at nearly every restaurant in the land are using SS scrubies on SS pans etc. and have been for many, many years. A pan with a few extra micro scratches is far better than a pan in the trash. ;)[/QUOTE]

I don't know. We had a $450 22 QT All-Clad stock pot with SS finish inside. It worked great until the wife used a Brillo steel wool pad on it. Now, the food always sticks to the bottom and forms a burnt spot. Using the same ingredients and same proportions and same heat and same cooking time. New vs. post-Brillo did make a tremendously big difference.

doc
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post #28 of 34
2/8/10 at 1:06pm
nothing works better than Decarbonising powder/chemicals ;)
we're as good as our last meal.
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post #29 of 34
2/8/10 at 1:31pm
This is my trick too. I use a flat-ended wooden spatula and gently nudge the hideous crust off the bottom while it boils merrily away. Any residue or discolouration remaining tends to come off with a nylon scrubbie when the pot has been rinsed and cooled a bit.

Only once did I think I had killed my favourite stock pot, but happily she recovered beautifully. :crazy:
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post #30 of 34
2/8/10 at 1:33pm
I wonder if a micro-abraision polish, and then a tich of seasoning might help your stock pot recover?
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