Using and cleaning ss cookware 101, please

[vitauta]

a new calphalon saucy pot has come to join our little ss family. so far, the metals are gleaming and beaming in shining harmony of cookware comradery. they don't much care for my continued use of metal utensils across their surfaces, however. what sort of spatulas and spoons should i be looking at for them? plastic? silicon? ????

 

[Andy M.]

I use wood most of the time for spoons and spats. I don't hesitate to use metal spats or spoons if the occasion arises. Silicone spats for specific items that call for them.

 

[Dawgluver]

I use wood and silicon mostly. My "boat motor" has scratched my ss up a bit....

 

[vitauta]

oh no, oh s___t! help me! i rushed to the kitchen to find my new calphalon saucepot burning white hot on the stove. all my salted boiling water had evaporated, leaving only salt crystals in the pot's bottom. (i was in another room reading about salt crystals in the book 'salt' when this happened). have i ruined my new ss pan? the barkeeper's took care of the blackened areas nicely, but the pan has lost some of its beautiful satiny patina. the bottom inside of the pan appears dull now, and the outside pan's bottom has brownish stains, not removed by scrubbing with barkeeper's (so far). is there anything else for me to do to help restore the original silver luster of my lovely saucepan?

 

[Claire]

I mean as hell to my pans. I use all sorts of metal utensils during cooking and scouring pads to clean. Still, I've had no problems with food sticking and the pans hold up just very well

I don't have these types of pans (mine are all Sitram plus a couple of inexpensive teflon that I replace every couple of years), but if my stovetop wear requires more care that my crystal, china, and silver, then it doesn't belong in my kitchen! I'm downright abusive!

 

[Dawgluver]

oh no, oh s___t! help me! i rushed to the kitchen to find my new calphalon saucepot burning white hot on the stove. all my salted boiling water had evaporated, leaving only salt crystals in the pot's bottom. (i was in another room reading about salt crystals in the book 'salt' when this happened). have i ruined my new ss pan? the barkeeper's took care of the blackened areas nicely, but the pan has lost some of its beautiful satiny patina. the bottom inside of the pan appears dull now, and the outside pan's bottom has brownish stains, not removed by scrubbing with barkeeper's (so far). is there anything else for me to do to help restore the original silver luster of my lovely saucepan?

Bummer! I've gotten a very old and stained pan clean by boiling vinegar and baking soda in it. The stains shouldn't hurt anything.

 

[Andy M.]

oh no, oh s___t! help me! i rushed to the kitchen to find my new calphalon saucepot burning white hot on the stove. all my salted boiling water had evaporated, leaving only salt crystals in the pot's bottom. (i was in another room reading about salt crystals in the book 'salt' when this happened). have i ruined my new ss pan? the barkeeper's took care of the blackened areas nicely, but the pan has lost some of its beautiful satiny patina. the bottom inside of the pan appears dull now, and the outside pan's bottom has brownish stains, not removed by scrubbing with barkeeper's (so far). is there anything else for me to do to help restore the original silver luster of my lovely saucepan?

If the pan isn't warped or de-laminated, it will still perform as it's supposed to. Another application of BKF will probably give you the best finish you are going to get with that pan.

 

[vitauta]

I don't have these types of pans (mine are all Sitram plus a couple of inexpensive teflon that I replace every couple of years), but if my stovetop wear requires more care that my crystal, china, and silver, then it doesn't belong in my kitchen! I'm downright abusive!

from the time i was a youngster, i've been told that people like me, who don't take good care of their things, don't deserve to have nice new things. i guess she was right about that. but, i've had this lifelong attraction to nice stuff, regardless--one i continue to indulge on occasion....

 

[Andy M.]

I see nothing wrong with wanting and getting nice stuff and taking care of it afterwards. Relax and enjoy your cookware. Signs of wear and tear are a signs of their being used as intended.

 

[vitauta]

thanks dawg and andy for always coming to the rescue. i added vinegar to the saucepan in which i boiled some eggs, and followed that up with another overall bkf scrub. i'm pleased to report that callie is back to her former splendor, well almost...

 

[Claire]

I've had a friend or 20 over the years (b.c., that is before we all had the internet) borrow cookbooks and promise me not to splash food on them. Heck, I'm considered a meticulous housekeeper by most of my friends, but if your stuff looks like no one ever cooked with it ... well ....

 

[Claire]

I know I wasn't very helpfull. I've never had to throw a pot or pan away besides the many teflon skillets I actually buy knowing they have a small shelf-life. Mom used to buy them, then toss them on a bush to dry when they had outlived their use, as part of our camping gear. I once burned something in a Revere ware pan (the cookware of choice for decades of my life), and thought the pot was dead, no recovery. I put some soapy water in it and put it outside and, really, considered it dead. Strangely enough, when I recovered it, it cleaned right up. But when I gave up copper pans, it was for a reason ... I don't want to spend more time on my cookware than I do on my nice table ware. It needs to be clean, but not show-off beautiful.

 

[vitauta]

I know I wasn't very helpfull. I've never had to throw a pot or pan away besides the many teflon skillets I actually buy knowing they have a small shelf-life. Mom used to buy them, then toss them on a bush to dry when they had outlived their use, as part of our camping gear. I once burned something in a Revere ware pan (the cookware of choice for decades of my life), and thought the pot was dead, no recovery. I put some soapy water in it and put it outside and, really, considered it dead. Strangely enough, when I recovered it, it cleaned right up. But when I gave up copper pans, it was for a reason ... I don't want to spend more time on my cookware than I do on my nice table ware. It needs to be clean, but not show-off beautiful.

your pragmatic mind and views are indeed helpful, and always welcome, claire....

 

[Claire]

Thank you, Vitauta. Assuming you weren't being facetious! But even if you were, if I had to get everything in my house as perfectly clean as my mom raised me to do, I'd have a clean house but no life. To me, some things are meant to be utilitarian. It has to be clean, it has to be utilitarian, too. If I have to spend more time cleaning a pot or pan than I spend cooking in it, it, to me, is useless. If a well-meaning friend/relative uses the wrong cleanser and "mars" the surface of a pan or pot, it will not break my heart.

 

[vitauta]

Thank you, Vitauta. Assuming you weren't being facetious! But even if you were, if I had to get everything in my house as perfectly clean as my mom raised me to do, I'd have a clean house but no life. To me, some things are meant to be utilitarian. It has to be clean, it has to be utilitarian, too. If I have to spend more time cleaning a pot or pan than I spend cooking in it, it, to me, is useless. If a well-meaning friend/relative uses the wrong cleanser and "mars" the surface of a pan or pot, it will not break my heart.

vive la difference, claire, and beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder! to me, the ss saucpan i've been writing about, is more than just a kitchen tool. it is a thing of beauty. silverware, on the other hand, is not. i guess i spent too many saturday afternoons, as a child, polishing silverware. to me it came to represent not beauty, but drudgery. and an obstacle to my youthful yearnings and fancies. as an adult, i own no silver flatware, and few pieces of any kind involving silver or copper. stainless and chrome, though....i say live and let live.