Happy Saturday, Friends!
No links this week, but, with it being the weekend, I do have a cleaning tip for you. Somehow this post has been sitting in my drafts for a while, and magically posted itself and then unposted itself a while back. The magic of the internet and my clumsiness with dates may have had something to do with that.
Anyway…
Last year, I treated myself to a matching set of pots and pans. We had never had a full set that matched – just a hodgepodge of things we’d acquired over the years when the need arose. I wanted a grown up set of pots and pans, so I bought Cuisine Art set made of stainless steel.
And, they’re great. Except for one tiny little thing. They tend to be hard to clean if you’ve made something like eggs, sautéed onions, or anything that can turn brown and stick. I have a little trick up my sleeve I thought I’d share for those in the same boat.
If you have never tried Oxi Clean, you should! It is a fantastic cleaner in a whole bunch of different applications. Turns out it is good on pots and pans, too! I stumbled on this little bit of cleaning wisdom entirely on accident. One day, when I scooped out some Oxi Clean to add to a load of laundry, I thought, ”what if…” and as it turned out, my “what if” worked.
How to Clean Stainless Steel Pans in a Jiffy
This is part chemistry and part cleaning, so: Please. Be. Careful. There. You have been warned! (Bold + Underline = I’m serious!)
1. Here we have our dirty pan. It isn’t that bad as cooked on items go, but it would take some scrubbing in the sink.
2. Fill the pan with about 1 inch of tap water, and bring to a rolling boil. The boiling alone will loosen up some of the baked on food.
3. Carefully and slowly, pour about a tablespoon of Oxi Clean into the boiling water. Have your free hand on the temperature knob and be ready to turn down the heat if you need to.
The reaction when the Oxi Clean hits the pan is sort of a foaming action, and it will rise up a bit, depending on how much you add. Start small to get a gauge for how much you need, and add more once it resumes boiling if you need to. If you add too much initially, you’ll have your own version of one of those soda pop/Mentos volcanoes on your hands.
4. I usually let the foam rise up to within a half inch of the rim of the pan, then turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for about 5 minutes
5. Turn off the heat and let cool for 10 minutes or so, then wash as you normally would. For really baked on/burned pans, you may have to repeat the process.
The end result is so clean you can see my reflection in the pan!
This works well on pots, too. In fact, I used this method just the other day to clean off burned on beans in a stock pot. I had set some pinto beans to boil, walked away, and totally forgot about them until a couple hours later. Eeek! But, the Oxi Clean worked its magic just as it always does.
I hope you enjoyed that little tip. And if you use it, remember my warning – start small and be careful so as not to end up with an Oxi Clean volcano on your stove!
View Comments (17)
Hi,
I am wondering if anyone has used oxy clean on the outside of the pots. I have stainless steel pots but found when we switched to a gas stove that the outsides of the pots have stained from the gas. I have tried several cleaners but none has worked as well as I would like. Thanks so much!
Hi Bev,
I think the reason it works so well on the inside of the pots is because of the reaction between the granules and the boiling water. You might try doing the procedure I outlined here in one pot, and then pour the bubbly solution on the outside of the pot (in a sink) it could work. It’s worth a try anyway. We have a gas stove but I haven’t had any burning on the outside of the pots, only the insides. Let me know if it works!
Angela
Yes and soak it for at least 11-5 minutes and spray some members mark oven grill fryer cleaner, just for expediting
I’m amazed at how well and how easily this worked. My husband had said to just throw the pot away—I had burned beans to a hard black crust, and I really did think the pot was ruined. I did the Oxy-clean treatment twice and it’s as good as new. Thanks so much!
So glad it worked out for you, Joana! I love Oxiclean – it truly works wonders!
I tried this on some pans with great success…so when I took a look at the stainless coffee cup my husband brought in from his car I decided to see if I could clean it using the Oxy-Clean. Between the rubber bottom and plastic handle, heating it on the stove was not an option. I brought water to a boil in a pot, added the Oxy to the coffee cup, then poured in the boiling water. After letting it sit for a few minutes, I poured out the water, rinsed the cup, and looked in to see a beautiful, almost new surface!
That is great, Sandra! So glad it helped you! Be sure to run the mug through the dishwasher or give it a good washing with normal dish soap just to make sure all the Oxi Clean is gone.
Has anyone tried this with nonstick pans instead of stainless steel?
Mine are burned beyond recognition and I’ve hardly had them two years. Looking for a solution.
Do not use scented oxiclean to clean your stainless steel coffee carafe! I’ve used unscented oxiclean for this before and it worked fine; this time I couldn’t find unscented and opted for the “regular” scent. I can’t get rid of the perfume smell that seems to have soaked into the plastic lid and top of the carafe. The coffee tastes awful! Now I’ve found I can no longer buy a replacement carafe for my expensive coffee maker. I will appreciate any suggestions on how to get rid of this smell. I’ve tried vinegar and baking soda to no avail. Thanks!
I would think if you totally soaked the top and lid in the vinegar for some time you can rid the aroma.
Likewise with the baking soda.
The removal’s not instant.
Or, locate unscented oxiclean. I can’t say enough on the merits of unscented. I’m sensitive to odors.
I recommend boiling with the same ingredients. Vinegar, baking soda will just have more violent reactions to this than usual while unscented oxiclean will not. Perhaps after using the unscented oxi boil, let the thing cool to the touch then boil it again with coffee grounds in water (no chemicals). This should recreate the desired scent.
Another thing it works great for is getting labels off of glass jars or beer bottles for re-use… load up a cooler with some oxiclean and hot water. If you put glass with pesky labels in there and let it soak overnight they will pretty much come off on their own and be floating in the morning.
That is a great tip Dan, thanks for sharing!
I’ve used Oxi-Clean to soak the oven racks for years. Let them soak in the sink overnight starting with hot water and in the morning simply wipe clean. Normally kitchens don’t have a sink large enough to get the whole rack under water but turning them to submerge the other side will do the trick.
Success! Thanks tons. I followed the directions exactly, and it worked–completely after two tries. I’d been sick over how badly this pan was covered in burn marks; it’s not a cheap pan! Did I mention: THANK YOU!!
I did this today on my own and then looked it up and saw your post. It does work, and fast. I put the water and Oxyclean in and then turned on the heat. I used more than you did, but within a couple of minutes, the bottom of my pan that had burned on crud was perfectly clean. I didn't do the sides and will try again with those later. My son asked me how safe this was. Stainless steel doesn't seem to be very porous and I thought I'd seen something on the Oxyclean site about using it for dishes, but I'll check it out anyway. Not sure about how safe the steam is with this, so I had my vent going and windows open with a fan blowing fresh air in. I like clean air.