OT - ? - removing carbon char from stainless

OK, my brother burned a copper-bottomed stainless-lined kitchen pan real bad recently. He says they have exhausted all mechanical means of restoration and are now looking for chemical means to remove the burned-on residue. Personally, I really doubt he has exhausted ALL mechanical means - I doubt he's tried milling it off, or even sandblasting, but that's sort of beside the point. Anyone got any clever ideas?

GWE

Reply to
Grant Erwin
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Xylene may work with carbon deposits. Sold at AutoZone.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus7501

If the char is on the inside of the pan, I would fill it with hot water and one of those dishwasher tabs. I'm amazed at what they will dissolve.

Reply to
Pete Snell

  1. Goof Off, sold at Home Depot and Paint Stores is Xylene, per the MSDS
  2. My Bride says she thinks boiling a solution of Cream Of Tarter and water will help.
Reply to
nadogail

I remember my chemistry lecturer saying they used chromic acid to clean carbon deposits of test tubes as it was one of the few things that would dissolve carbon. I really doubt that you would want to do that as he said it's nasty stuff, he said only the chemistry technician or himself was allowed to use it because of the hazard. What it would do to stainless I don't know but I would have thought a good scrub with some silicon carbide or aluminium oxide loaded into a sponge would clean it up.

Reply to
David Billington

Lye (oven cleaner).

Reply to
Bob Engelhardt

Is the copper on the outside - I suspect so. Which means SS inside.

Sounds like trying CLR first. Should not mess with stainless but might help dissolve some of the mess.

Sulfuric acid - think battery acid - buy a motorcycle battery and a bottle... return the battery for the lead. BETTER yet - the heavy duty drain acid. It is Sulfuric acid. It might take out some of the hydrocarbons.

If it is burnt on brownish layer - LYE is your buddy.

A better description on burned-on would help - I bet oil.

I once took a chunk of SS I had turned and it was the scrap part - put oil on it and put it into our oven and put the oven in self clean. Beautiful brown finish.

Red hot metal and oil...

Drain cleaner - Drain-o contains metals and lye. Use it outdoors.

And if it eats the pot - so be it. Doesn't eat a drain until you use it to much.

Mart> OK, my brother burned a copper-bottomed stainless-lined kitchen pan real

Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

I should add that I use it regularly for cleaning burned-on food. But not on aluminum pots.

Bob

Reply to
Bob Engelhardt

Reply to
Grant Erwin

Err.... Being a welding group why not try any of the Stainless pickling solutions designed to remove discoloration from welded SS? Sulphuric acid I believe.

Cheers,

Bruce (bruceinbangkokatgmaildotcom)

Reply to
Bruce In Bangkok

CLR is a brand name for a Calcium-Lime-Rust remover. Typically used on showerheads, faucets,....

Reply to
TinLizziedl

Grant:

As a former chef, I've had several opportunities to clean baked-on food from cooking appliances and pans. The product I've had exceptionally good luck with is "Carbon-Off". It's a food service carbon remover.

They have a website:

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_kevin

Reply to
karchiba

Yes I know. It is also an acid. No information was given as to what kind of problem there was.

It might have been a hard water scale issue after soaking in some solution...

Who knows the real issue. Mart> CLR is a brand name for a Calcium-Lime-Rust remover. Typically used on

Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

If it's on the stainless try Caustic Soda as it's called in the UK. Proper chemical name Sodium Hydroxide. Our 'proper' plumbing shops sell it.

Don't use it on Aluminium though!

Reply to
Balders

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