Did I buy fake olive oil?

[dwasifar]

Hi, new to this forum, hoping to gain the benefit of your greater experiences.

The other day my wife seared a pork loin in a stainless saute pan using a little olive oil, as she has always done.

We're accustomed to being able to clean up the pan with a little vinegar while it is still hot, but that didn't work; Bar Keeper's Friend didn't work; an overnight soak with dishwasher detergent didn't work. Even Ajax didn't touch it. I wound up having to actually wet-sand the interior of the pan with 1500 grit sandpaper to remove the baked-on oil. ($300 pan, you can bet I was not happy about that.)

This is a new bottle of oil, of a brand we haven't previously used (Botticelli). Before this we were using more major brands, like Bertolli. I see three possibilities:

1) The Botticelli oil is fake.
2) The Botticelli oil is genuine, but the previous major brands were fake, and we just don't know how to cook with genuine oil.
3) The problem is unrelated to the oil, and caused by some other mistake.

What say you?

 

[roadfix]

Hi !!

 

[Stock Pot]

From my research, I think you can rule out the Botticellli oil as a brand problem. Don't know where that leaves you, but I think you can rule that out.

btw, I like your logical aprroach!

 

[dwasifar]

From my research, I think you can rule out the Botticellli oil as a brand problem. Don't know where that leaves you, but I think you can rule that out.

btw, I like your logical aprroach!

Thanks.

I take you to mean that you've had no problems with Botticelli. This is exactly the kind of information I was hoping to get.

Maybe she just had the heat up too high, or maybe the name brand oils had a higher smoke point or something. I guess I'll have to go buy a little bottle of Bertolli and do some tests.

 

[Just Cooking]

Thanks.

I take you to mean that you've had no problems with Botticelli. This is exactly the kind of information I was hoping to get.

Maybe she just had the heat up too high, or maybe the name brand oils had a higher smoke point or something. I guess I'll have to go buy a little bottle of Bertolli and do some tests.

The majority of problems with stainless that I am aware of, stems from that in bold..

Welcome to DC..

Ross

 

[Stock Pot]

Right. I've had no problems with Bottecilli. It's a well respected supermarket brand. I would look into the high heat thing. Olive oil has a low smoke point. There are so many variables, but you rare on the right track.

 

[di reston]

I find that when you use oil in a skillet (I presume that's what it was), every time you use them you clean afterwards with oil. When I buy a skillet, I season it first with olive oil, heating it slowly, and then letting it cool with the oil still in. But you probably already know this. Have another go, and see what happens. If it still doesn't work, ask an expert.

Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde.

Hope you get a reply. I've noticed that when I post, nobody replies.


di reston

 

[Stock Pot]

You know I am just getting off of years of well-seasoned cast iron, carbon steel, etc. and getting back into high-end stainless steel (in my case All Clad and All Clad copper). So far the stainless steel is doing a great job and clean-up has been easy . Jury is out.

 

[Andy M.]

If the oil in a SS pan is subjected to too much heat, it leaves a brown residue around the inside rim of the pan. No need to resort to sandpaper to clean your pan. All you need is a can of Barkeepers Friend, a scouring powder. Use it on a blue scrubber sponge and it'll do the trick.

 

[tenspeed]

I've been reading "What Einstein Told His Cook", and just read the section on fats. There is quite a variation in the smoke points of olive oils, which range from 410 F to 460 F. EVOO is generally lower, and light olive oil is highest because it has been filtered.

 

[dwasifar]

If the oil in a SS pan is subjected to too much heat, it leaves a brown residue around the inside rim of the pan. No need to resort to sandpaper to clean your pan. All you need is a can of Barkeepers Friend, a scouring powder. Use it on a blue scrubber sponge and it'll do the trick.

That is exactly what I used; that very sponge, in fact. And it didn't touch it. With Ajax instead of BKF, I was able to get a very tiny area clean after way too much scrubbing. So I took the next step in abrasives and wet-sanded, and it was STILL a lot of work.

After a discussion with my wife this evening, I learned that this was her first time searing in this particular pan on this cooktop, which was a detail I had been unaware of. Previously she'd been using a smaller fry pan, and took this one out because the pork loin was large. So I think that is the heart of the problem; too much heat and maybe this pan was NEVER used this way before. It's possible. Both the cookware and the cooktop are fairly new, and this cooktop is more powerful than the one it replaced.

Good to know that it's not the oil. Now I don't have to go have an argument with the supermarket.

I'll go season it as di reston advises. It's just been basically resurfaced, so I have to treat it like a brand new pan now.

Thanks all!

 

[msmofet]

I've had no problem with Bottecilli in the past. I now use Trader Joe's EVOO. I use EVOO to sweat and sauté veggies on medium low heat as EVOO has low smoke point and as a dressing. I don't use EVOO to fry meats on high heat. I use canola, grape seed, coconut, peanut and avocado oils for high heat searing and frying as they have a high smoke point.

 

[Stock Pot]

Time for steel wool on that pan, then. Break out the SOS pads, lol. And don't forget the miracle of soaking in hot sudsy water.

 

[Andy M.]

Another option is to put the soiled pan into a plastic bag with a dish full of ammonia and leave it outdoors over night. The ammonia does all the work.

 

[msmofet]

I burned fondue to bottom of my pot recently. I put a dryer sheet in the pot, hot water and blue Dawn dish soap. Let it soak for about a half hour then scrubbed. Burned stuff came off and pot had a nice shine when I was done.

 

[Stock Pot]

Yes. Ammonia is amazing. I have used it on stubborn oven racks. You want to avoid breathing it, but it does get the job done.

 

[RPCookin]

If the oil in a SS pan is subjected to too much heat, it leaves a brown residue around the inside rim of the pan. No need to resort to sandpaper to clean your pan. All you need is a can of Barkeepers Friend, a scouring powder. Use it on a blue scrubber sponge and it'll do the trick.

When I use my SS pans, even to sear, I never have the heat higher than 6 (the dial goes to 10, and on one burner it has a "Power Boil" setting that's even higher), and usually no higher than 5. When I go higher, the meat doesn't release until it's actually burned - I found that out quickly after a few failures and I think it was a link from a thread here that put me onto a site that said the same thing. Stay at medium heat for best results frying meats on stainless.

When I do get anything stuck on my All Clad, I usually just heat it back up and deglaze with water before washing. That's only necessary if I didn't make a pan sauce after doing the meat.

To Di Reston: I've never seen any reason to try and season my stainless pans - I wash them clean and put them away dry. Cast iron and carbon steel are different, but stainless, just by its very nature resists seasoning. Both of my tri-play stainless pans (one Kitchen Aid and one All Clad) are as shiny and clean as the day I got them. The KA pan is about 12 years old.

 

[dcSaute]

BarKeepers Friend can do wonders . . .

 

[Just Cooking]

+1..

Ross

 

[Steve Kroll]

When I use my SS pans, even to sear, I never have the heat higher than 6 (the dial goes to 10, and on one burner it has a "Power Boil" setting that's even higher), and usually no higher than 5. When I go higher, the meat doesn't release until it's actually burned - I found that out quickly after a few failures and I think it was a link from a thread here that put me onto a site that said the same thing. Stay at medium heat for best results frying meats on stainless.

When I do get anything stuck on my All Clad, I usually just heat it back up and deglaze with water before washing. That's only necessary if I didn't make a pan sauce after doing the meat.

To Di Reston: I've never seen any reason to try and season my stainless pans - I wash them clean and put them away dry. Cast iron and carbon steel are different, but stainless, just by its very nature resists seasoning. Both of my tri-play stainless pans (one Kitchen Aid and one All Clad) are as shiny and clean as the day I got them. The KA pan is about 12 years old.

I agree 100% with everything here, and especially the cleaning technique. That's all I do, too. I've had plenty of crud baked on the bottom of SS pans, and usually I can just deglaze it with water. Often "scrubbing" requires nothing more than taking a folded up paper towel with a pair of tongs and rubbing the bottom of the pan with it while the water is boiling. If there's anything still a little stuck on after that, soapy water and a blue scrubby sponge does the trick.