Help! How do I clean a badly scorched heavy stainless steel pan?

Throw it out and buy a new one. Problem solved.

A long soak and Bon Ami scouring powder.

Coca-Cola and cigarette ashes.

How the hell should I know?

R1. Can't, it's a top-of-the-line pan. I don't usually cook; my husband does, but he was out last night seeing some musical, Kimbo or something like that, so I was left to my own devices. He's going to kill me if I don't get this cleaned up.

R4 Top of the line or not, buy a new one.

I had an older but high quality stainless steel pan with a singed bottom interior. I restored it with a metal polish called Flitz and a Brillo Pad. I wore nitrile gloves and scrubbed moderately hard. It looks close to new.

Rachel Cooks with Love has a video on this.

OP get one of those degreaser sprays used for cleaning stovetops. Spray it on the pan and just use the back of a 🧽 the green Brillo side, or a regular Brillo pad. It will come right off. I’d let it soak in warm dishwater for about an hour first though. Makes the scrubbing easier.

Bleach takes tea stains off my stainless steel pitcher - maybe worth a try? Just liquid Clorox and allow it to sit a few minutes.

Barkeeper's Friend.

"He's going to kill me if I don't get this cleaned up."

JFC, OP! Are you Lucy Ricardo?

Op, R10 is correct. There is now a kitchen version. You will still have to use some elbow grease and a metal scouring pad, but it should do the job.

It saved a stainless frying pan for me.

I’ve never needed more than vinegar and baking soda for stainless.

Bar Keeper's Friend

The Bar Keeper himself

Scrape it with a sharp edged metal spatula after running through the dishwasher. Use SOS pads for any leftover bits.

I've used vinegar and baking soda. In the end, it needs a strong abrasive and a lot of elbow grease. But it won't hurt the pan. Stainless steel is a very sturdy material. If you go to youtube, there are a million videos of people cleaning their stainless steel.

Let it soak overnight with dishwashing machine detergent. Powder or a tab. If that doesn’t budge it. Easy Off oven cleaner. Spray and put in oven according to directions.

One of the youtube videos mentioned taking a tablet of dishwashing detergent and using a scrubber, scrub that tab all over the stain.

OP is just turned off by the amount of scorching and probably a bit of a drammatical ho. Brillo on stainless steel scrubs off easily. Just use a degreaser like Oxygen Orange. And OP don’t take offense, I call you a drammatical ho with love 😜.

I think you’ll just have to accept your impending death at the hands of your husband.

I've only ever used baking soda and steel wool. Eazy peazy.

Barkeeper's Friend. It also removes tarnish and scorching outside the pan edges too. I would soak the pan overnight first.

Boiling vinegar / deglazing it usually works.

I just boil water and Dawn in it a few times. Scrub it Barkeepers Friend

I had an ex-roommate many tears ago that cleaned my saute pan with vim after I had left it out to cool overnight and I wanted to throat-punch her afterwards.

Another vote for Bar Keeper’s Friend, though if you scorched it deep black you’ll have to spend some time scrubbing and scrubbing. Try three deep scrub and rinse cycles with BKF, 5 to 10 minutes each, and at that point I’d give up if it’s not happening.

OP all of your posts are quite stupid.

You just need to soak it a day. Then use baking soda and lemon juice or vinegar. Use a synthetic scoring pad before you try the metal Brillo pad.

The ASSHOLE above how says scrape it with a sharp spatula should kill himself. Now.

You order a new one-thanks for the reminder.

OP here. Thanks for all the suggestions!

I found a solution online. Since the scorch marks went up the sides, I submerged the entire pan in a very large stock pot filled with water, Dawn dish soap, and vinegar, then set it to medium heat. After a two-hour simmer, most of the burnt bits came off easily, and the remaining spots cleaned up with a scouring pad. It’s completely clean now!

Thanks, R6, for the Flitz recommendation! I used it on the bottom of the pan, and it worked amazingly well.

[quote] Throw it out and buy a new one. Problem solved.

At least keep it under your bed for those times when you need to clunk someone over the head with it.

Hmm. I have Flitz and I tried to use it on my stainless steel sink, which looks like crap. I was not pleased with the outcome.

Another vote for oven cleaner

r29 It works, dammit! You're doing physical abrasion with a pad, may as well do it all in one go with a spatula.

Is your boyfriend Joan Crawford?

I’m sure your boyfriend already knows what a fuck up you are, OP. This won’t surprise him.

Twenty seconds?

Your blacking out is a bigger issue that your pan, at least until you burn your mother's house down over your head.

Yeah mixing soap and vinegar is kind of pointless. Was probably the boiling in water + vinegar that did it.

Save yourself all the heavy labor and spray it with a good quality oven cleaner and then wrap it with plastic wrap to keep it from evaporating. Leave it overnight. If the encrustation is so bad that some is left, you should be able to get that off with a brillo pad.