I have a 10" All-Clad stainless steel frying pan that I may have damaged. I got distracted and left it on the stove too long, to the point where the cooking oil baked itself onto the pan. The actual cooking surface survived, but the oil vaporized and redeposited itself on the rim and down the outside of the pan.

This is about an $80 pan, plus another $50 shipping and import fee to bring it into Mexico, so I am not eager to replace it.

What can I do to clean this pan and make it look all pretty again? If it helps, it was olive oil that did the damage. Barkeeper's Friend will polish the stainless steel, but won't touch the baked on oil.

tanstaafl.

Steel Wool?

EDIT: but it would need re-polishing again after that.

Here's a possibly more practical suggestion: how about trying some of that citrus based hand cleaner intended for mechanics to use removing oil/grease? The stuff with some pumice (fine grit) in it?

I use it around here for cleaning quite a few tough stains as well as for after working on the car.

Cheers

Two words:

Barkeeper's Friend

Seriously, that stuff can do wonders. You have a pretty bad burn there, but I definitely won't be surprised if Barkeeper's Friend brings it back to mint condition. We have a complete set of All-Clad too (there's nothing like it), and when we aren't feeling lazy we'll use a little of that stuff on a sponge to get it looking nice again.

ps- I linked to some spray bottles because I was excited to see it in that form. Most of the time it's either in a powder or a squeeze bottle. I'm definitely going to try the spray next time, just for convenience...

As I mentioned, the Barkeeper's Friend will polish the stinless steel, it is amazing. But until I get past the baked-on oil, there is no steel to polish. It doesn't touch the oil...

tanstaafl.

Oh, I know what ought to do it: Brake Cleaner.

That stuff removes every kind of oil/gunk from pretty much anything.

Pool acid might do it. It won't touch the stainless but will dissolve everything else.

Oops! My apologies, I clearly did not read carefully enough.

In my defense, it was midnight and I was on muscle relaxors for a torn muscle in my back. I was a little out of it.

Sorry, I guess I'm not sure what to use to get past that...

Try oven cleaner (Easy Off). My wife did much the same to our frying pan. Probably took 20 rounds - spray on, leave 15-20 minutes, gently wash/rinse, repeat. Tedious, but you'd never know she'd scorched pan.

-jk

I just this moment booted up my computer to ask if I should dare to try oven cleaner. It seems an obvious choice, but I was concerned that it might damage the finish on the pan beyond what the Barkeeper's Friend would restore.

I am encouraged that it worked for you, and will give it a try.

tanstaafl.

The useful ingredient in oven cleaner is usually caustic soda, ie sodium hydroxide. It's normally much cheaper than oven cleaner as well. It will hydrolyse practically anything organic given time, but won't touch stainless or other ferrous metals. Anything based on aluminium, magnesium, or other light reactive metals will disappear extremely fast, though, so be warned!

You could try soaking it in a bucket of warm caustic soda solution for a while. I've used it in the past for similar problems and it works well. It's often used in car workshops for old rusty oily parts, because it eats both the oil and the rust. Digesting oil like that is the basis of making soap, of course.

Another effective method is using an enzyme based clothes washing powder or liquid. Again, oils, grease, etc, will be dissolved pretty effectively, if you leave it in a concentrated solution of it for long enough. I often clean saucepans that have baked on crud with this method, just leave it in overnight and rinse it under the tap.

I'd try this first, then the sodium hydroxide if the first method fails. Make sure to wash it very thoroughly before using it again, though, neither is particularly toxic but they taste absolutely horrible even in trace amounts...

pca

(I had to put the coin in the pan because it was so shiny and clean that the camera wouldn't focus on it!)

tanstaafl.

Woohoo! Glad to know that works in case I ever need to do this with my All-Clad.