White spots on stainless steel pans

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kitchengoddess8

Sous Chef
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Nov 4, 2011
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I just boiled some potatoes in my new Calphalon stainless steel saucepan. I had added a pinch of salt to the water. After I rinsed the pan I noticed a few whitish spots, on the inside bottom. An article I just read said they are mineral spots from salt and can be removed in a variety of different ways. Curious what method people here use to remove these spots.


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If you add the salt to the water after it's boiling, you won't get the spots. I have a few and just ignore them.
 
I had an inherited pan in atrocious shape. I boiled some vinegar and baking soda in it, cleaned it right up.

You might try scrubbing your pot with a baking soda paste. Or make a paste of the BKF, with a dust mask on.
 
I had an inherited pan in atrocious shape. I boiled some vinegar and baking soda in it, cleaned it right up.

You might try scrubbing your pot with a baking soda paste. Or make a paste of the BKF, with a dust mask on.

I love your idea of using baking soda and vinegar! I just tried using the liquid BKF with some scotch brite sponges and it didn't work. What actually worked better was pouring in some Bon Ami and spraying the Bon Ami with a little vinegar creating a fuzzy paste. It looked like a science experiment, but the mineral spots were much less noticeable after rinsing the pan.

Did you use straight vinegar for boiling or a water/vinegar mix?
 
Keep in mind these pans are tools in the kitchen and don't need to be perfect. I can live with a salt spot or two rather than agonizing over it.
 
Keep in mind these pans are tools in the kitchen and don't need to be perfect. I can live with a salt spot or two rather than agonizing over it.

Good point, Andy! I tend to be a bit obsessive about cleaning cookware sometimes:wacko: It's good to know that the salt spots don't effect the functionality of the pan.
 
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