# Cleaning stainless steel cookware



## Rings Я Us (Sep 5, 2017)

I thought my stainless steel pot was never going to get clean.
I tried a few methods to get the wood gunk (pine tar) (creosote) off my pot. [emoji]129299[/emoji].. 
Look how bad it was next to lid.












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__ Rings Я Us
__ Sep 5, 2017






Well, I tried a few methods to remove the stain.. but what worked faster and made the pot look best of all was....

Baking Soda and dish soap made into a paste. That took off the creosote fast and this pot never looked better. [emoji]128077[/emoji] 

Just some useful info if you use stainless steel pot in your heavy smoking smoker..[emoji]128514[/emoji] 













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__ Rings Я Us
__ Sep 5, 2017






My sink got clean too.. used the sponge with a green pad built into it with the baking soda and dish soap paste.


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## noboundaries (Sep 5, 2017)

I use carbon steel, aluminum, cast iron, and ceramic coated steel in my smoker, but my stainless steel pots will NEVER know the joys of smoke.  Great job though finding what works to clean it.  Probably will work for a lot of things.  Good to know!


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## Rings Я Us (Sep 5, 2017)

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__ Rings Я Us
__ Sep 5, 2017


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## Rings Я Us (Sep 5, 2017)

Tried that CLR too.. not as good as the baking soda/dish liquid.












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__ Rings Я Us
__ Sep 5, 2017





 vinegar either.. nope..


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## Rings Я Us (Sep 5, 2017)

Noboundaries said:


> I use carbon steel, aluminum, cast iron, and ceramic coated steel in my smoker, but my stainless steel pots will NEVER know the joys of smoke.  Great job though finding what works to clean it.  Probably will work for a lot of things.  Good to know!


 I just was afraid to use my enamel coated cast iron.. so I used the  old 50s stainless heavy duty and took off the handles.


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## noboundaries (Sep 5, 2017)

Enamel coated cast iron is WAY more pricy than enamel coated steel.  I don't own any of the enamel coated cast iron, but if I did, it would probably get treated as nicely as the stainless steel.  I have my smoker gear and my kitchen gear, and a wife who knows the difference.


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## Rings Я Us (Sep 5, 2017)

Noboundaries said:


> Enamel coated cast iron is WAY more pricy than enamel coated steel.  I don't own any of the enamel coated cast iron, but if I did, it would probably get treated as nicely as the stainless steel.  I have my smoker gear and my kitchen gear, and a wife who knows the difference.



Lol. Same thing Al told me his wife said.. 
I have used a few stainless pots on the ECB but not for 8 plus hours.. it sure does build up a finish .. [emoji]128556[/emoji] sometimes I listen to you "old know it all's".  [emoji]128521[/emoji]


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## dave schiller (Sep 6, 2017)

Rings (and everybody), next time try PBW (Powdered Brewer's Wash) for cleaning things.  It was developed for Coors to clean debris left inside beer brewing equipment and is now used throughout the brewing industry.  Just about every home brewer uses it.  It's available at all brewing supply stores or can be purchased online.  No scrubbing, no scratching.   http://www.northernbrewer.com/powdered-brewery-wash


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## Rings Я Us (Sep 6, 2017)

Dave Schiller said:


> Rings (and everybody), next time try PBW (Powdered Brewer's Wash) for cleaning things.  It was developed for Coors to clean debris left inside beer brewing equipment and is now used throughout the brewing industry.  Just about every home brewer uses it.  It's available at all brewing supply stores or can be purchased online.  No scrubbing, no scratching.   http://www.northernbrewer.com/powdered-brewery-wash


Hmmm.. that sounds easy.. lol thanks
Might try smoked chili too


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## dave schiller (Sep 6, 2017)

I guess if PBW fails, then oven cleaner would work.  But I wouldn't recommend it for cleaning enamel coated pots nor aluminum.


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## browneyesvictim (Sep 6, 2017)

Looks like a job for TSP.

It pulled many years worth of creosote build-up out of the bricks inside of my fireplace and chimney before I put a wood stove insert in.

Now I keep a mixed up spry bottle around for cleaning a lot of things- including the racks from my smoker.


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## Rings Я Us (Sep 6, 2017)

[emoji]129300[/emoji]


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## Rings Я Us (Sep 6, 2017)

Browneyesvictim said:


> Looks like a job for TSP.
> It pulled many years worth of creosote build-up out of the bricks inside of my fireplace and chimney before I put a wood stove insert in.
> Now I keep a mixed up spry bottle around for cleaning a lot of things- including the racks from my smoker.


What is TSP?


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## browneyesvictim (Sep 6, 2017)

Trisodium phosphate. It's a cleaner degreaser that works real good. A Google search will tell you the history how it has been recently regulated out of many of the common household cleaners such as dish washing liquid.


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## Rings Я Us (Sep 6, 2017)

Browneyesvictim said:


> Trisodium phosphate. It's a cleaner degreaser that works real good. A Google search will tell you the history how it has been recently regulated out of many of the common household cleaners such as dish washing liquid.



Oh...ok.. thanks. [emoji]128077[/emoji]


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## gmc2003 (Sep 7, 2017)

I have a hard enough time keeping my thremometer clean after smoking. I couldn't imagine cleaning a whole pot. More power to you.

Chris.


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## Rings Я Us (Sep 7, 2017)

gmc2003 said:


> I have a hard enough time keeping my thremometer clean after smoking. I couldn't imagine cleaning a whole pot. More power to you.
> 
> 
> Chris.



Guess it's why people get those cast iron "chuck wagon" style pots for cooking outside on fire. Not sure they worry about the outside of those .


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## rexster314 (Sep 7, 2017)

Get some of that "Purple Stuff" at Lowe's.

Put it full strength in a spray bottle. 

Put on gloves; it's harsh on hands

Spray on, wait about a minute, most of it will melt right off using a kitchen sponge to wipe

A second application can be done after you dry it off


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## Rings Я Us (Sep 7, 2017)

I think the baking soda and liquid dish soap paste on a scotch pad took it off nice.. was maybe 5 minutes.


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## Bearcarver (Sep 7, 2017)

Best thing I ever saw for keeping SS looking like new is "Bar Keepers Friend".

My Plumber Buddy gave Mrs Bear a sample when we had our Log House built, and he installed our new SS Kitchen Sink.

Mrs Bear swears by it !!!

Bear


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## Rings Я Us (Sep 8, 2017)

Bearcarver said:


> Best thing I ever saw for keeping SS looking like new is "Bar Keepers Friend".
> My Plumber Buddy gave Mrs Bear a sample when we had our Log House built, and he installed our new SS Kitchen Sink.
> 
> Mrs Bear swears by it !!!
> ...



Comes in a can like comet . Only a couple bucks a can..  powder cleanser.. good info. Thanks


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## GaryHibbert (Sep 16, 2017)

An old camping trick we always used when cooking on an open fire was to coat the outside of the pot with liquid dishwash soap BEFORE putting the pot over the fire.  Everything scrubs off.

Gary


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## johnmeyer (Sep 16, 2017)

I'm late to this, but a great way to get hard water spots and "film" that you sometimes get on the cooking surface is Twinkle copper cleaner. I discovered this when cleaning the tarnish off some copper clad stainless saucepans and found that it easily and quickly removed all the stuff that was adhering to the inside of the pan as well. I could never get the stainless shiny before, and didn't want to scuff or scratch the smooth surface with any sort of harsh abrasive. This stuff works perfectly.

You, of course, have to make sure you wash the inside thoroughly after you rinse off the copper cleaner, to remove all the residual.

This trick also works on some pretty heavy-duty stains and buildup, and might actually have worked on the OP's pan. I often use a Dobie or other similar pad to help provide a little "dig" when working on anything that has some thickness to it.


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## bluewhisper (Sep 16, 2017)

How many of you have experienced this: Use cast iron in the smoker, clean it and store it. Use it again in the oven and once it hits the temperature in the smoker, it blooms smoke aroma like you had a fire going in the kitchen.


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