What's the best way to clean my stainless steel cookware?

Question

I love my stainless steel cookware. Nothing sears like it, and it's the only thing to use for high heat cooking. But my pans are starting to look like pretty bad. I've used Brillo pads on them and it's gotten a lot (but not all) of the burnt black off, but now I have discoloration and white blotches.

I know I can't restore these pans to looking like new; I just need to know the proper care. How clean exactly should I expect them to get?

Answer 1

Don't put a pan away unless all of the grease has been removed from the sides and outside of the pan (my husband doesn't see the necessity of this, so he gets out of pan washing.) After the next cooking use, you will have those gummy plastic stains.

Nothing works like a Mr Clean Magic Eraser for the stubborn remaining burnt marks.

Revere stainless steel polish brightens up stainless steel and copper bottom pots

The white spots may be happening because you are salting your food too soon. Wait until the food starts to cook or boil to avoid "pitting".

NEVER let the water "boil out" to a dry pan. The mineral residue is very hard to remove. You can try CLR, but you'd better wear gloves and really wash that pot thoroughly after you use the CLR.

Using a burner that is too big for your pot wastes energy and discolors the sides. I haven't found a cure for that yet.

Answer 2

You can do this with your stainless steel cookware, Burnt and scorched pans

Sprinkle burnt pans liberally with baking soda, adding just enough water to moisten. Let stand for several hours. You can generally lift the burned portions right out of the pan.
Stubborn stains can be removed by boiling 2 tablespoons of baking soda, 1/2 cup vinegar and 1 cup water for 10 minutes. Good Luck !

Answer 3

I use this product called Bon Ami. It is recommended for cleaning stainless steel pots & pans. You should be able to find it in a local grocery store. In the future you might want to only cook with Med-High heat instead of High heat.

Answer 4

Pour tomatoe juice in them and let sit over night. Rinse and then clean with a very fine steel wool, 00000 is the finest, use a cleaner like comet that is not gritty, the liquid type, rinse and polish with a cotton cloth.

Answer 5

Try baking soda. You can use it as a paste or if that doesn't work, try heating on the stove with some water in the pan and then scrubbing it out.

Answer 6

It is best to not allow build up, clean them after each use. Sometimes white vinegar will takes the marks off them, they also claim to use cold water so you don't leave marks.

Answer 7

thy have sponges for this or put some water in the pot with some soap put it on the fire and live it for 2 hr.