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
Xylene may work with carbon deposits. Sold at AutoZone.
iIf 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.
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.
Lye (oven cleaner).
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
I should add that I use it regularly for cleaning burned-on food. But not on aluminum pots.
Bob
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)
CLR is a brand name for a Calcium-Lime-Rust remover. Typically used on showerheads, faucets,....
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:
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
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!
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