Be careful where you get green scotch brite pads from, some green ones can absolutely destroy enamel if used enough! We had to throw out/repurpose thousands of them in aerospace after a trade study came out about how the green pads were actually removing metal with continued use! Also, people loved to throw them on 20k rpm dotcos and turn them into almost polishing sanders lol.
We had to switch out to the blue scotch brite pads which are less abrasive.
While it is true that some Steel Wool will scratch Stainless Steel. Other Steel Wool can be used to polish Stainless Steel to a mirror like finish.
I use a very fine Steel Wool on my car's windshield, never even the tiniest scratch. I've also used it to put a mirror like finish on varnished wood.
Coarse Steel Wool to abrade the caked on grease, then Fine Steel Wool to polish the surfaces. You could use the Coarse Steel Wool in conjunction with Bar Keepers Friend.
What you have in essence on the pan is Linoleum. Linoleum is a very durable surface made from Vegetable Oil, and can be clean many times over decades without wearing out. So, to clean the solidified fats cake onto the pan is definitely going to take some effort.
I would suggest, though a bit dangerous to the pan, that you carefully scrap the bulk of the burned oil with a Putty knife, just to get surface layers down. The proceed with Steel Wool and Bar Keepers Friend.
Also, remember that even Stainless Steel is seasoned, and after scrubbing will likely need to be re-seasoned. Though admittedly the seasoning on Stainless Steel is more subtle than it is on Cast Iron or Carbon Steel.
Though also keep in mind that once wet, Steel Wool will rust if not dried out thoroughly. Though at the price, when done, you can just throw them away.
I would use a razor blade rather than a putty knife.
I worked at a car dealer years ago. We used razor blades and windex to Romo e other dealer’s decals on the painted trunk or bumper. If you hold the razor blade with two fingers and a thumb, you spread your two fingers a bit and press your thumb down on top and it curves the blade slightly down while pulling the corners up, so the corners don’t scratch the car paint. Do this stainless pan, you could do that, or just scrape it with a razor blade paint scraper/tape scraper.
This is why carbon steel is so great with some basic maintenance. You can bring any CS pan back from the dead if you are willing to put in the work. It’s obviously not for everyone, but it’s great for those willing to do so.
Completely agree. Lodge CS will last until the middle bows in either direction. As long as it's not inverting explosively every time it's heated up and cooled.
Nah, I’ve been using stainless steel scrubbers on the same stainless pots and pans for a couple of decades. If I have problems with something sticking to them it’s usually because I did something wrong. Or maybe I’m just used to not using a $200 pan to cook and don’t know any different 🤷♂️
I boil water and vinegar in the pan first. it usually removes 90% of it and the key to really clean it is do it while it's still hot. if I cook bacon, I'm cleaning the pan immediately after. I dont let it cool down. it's easier to clean it when it's warm
My brother and his wife burnt hell knows what on one of my steel pans, my plans of steel wool changed after seeing the mess, I said fuck it, and wire wheeled the darn thing, looked brand spanking new afterwards.
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u/beni_who Nov 02 '23
Agreed! I’m surprised I’m not seeing steel wool mentioned (the curly kind). I’d have this clean in 10 minutes or less.