SS- how do you deglaze?

[pacanis]

I was told to add some water and bring up to a boil to deglaze/clean my new SS pans. I am having a bit of a problem having the pan come clean by just doing this with two things I cook; creamed asparagus (the cream residue) and fried potatos.
On the cream residue, I don't see any difference whether I deglaze right away or let the pan sit with some soapy water in it and scrub it when I'm through eating. Seems like the same amount of scrubbing is needed. Not that it's a lot, but the residue doesn't seem to "lift" off like with thinner gravies.

On the potatos, really I think my problem is I don't know how to treat the deglazing procedure properly, after all, there's hot oil in the pan when I'm through scooping my home fries out. Right now I pour off the oil, add water and bring to a slight boil. Am I perhaps not letting it boil long enough? Or am I supposed to heat up the oil in the pan by iteself?
Come to think of it, when I'm making a gravy I don't worry about adding water to the cooking medium...

Anyway, is there a certain procedure to deglazing SS cookware?

Thanks

 

[GB]

It sounds like you have the procedue right. Get the pan hot, add liquid and bring to a boil. Scrape using a wooden spoon.

 

[pacanis]

Hmmm, I do have it right? I guess why pans I make gravy in clean easier then, is because I've already been boiling and scraping a whisk in it.
I thought I was missing something.

Thanks, GB

 

[Robo410]

deglazing meat residue is lifting off proteins, but cream is fats and potatoes are starches, both react differently and need warm soapy soak and cleaning with a scotchbrite pad and something like bar keepers friend (great for stainless)

 

[pacanis]

Thanks Robo, any tips on cooking potatos in SS?
They aren't sticking real bad (lots of oil), but they aren't "releasing" like meat does. I suspect from the reasons stated by you above. I'm wondering if it would be better to start flipping them right away.
I was really trying to get away from non-stick cookware, with only a small pan for eggs, but sometimes I find myself wishing for non-stick when I cook potatos or a cream sauce.

 

[The Dessert Diva]

I use a good old fashioned baking soda and seltzer water paste, allow this to set up for a few hours and then rinse with hot water and a cool water rinse after that. Take some nice crisco and rub it in then wipe it down dry and voila, shiny clean cookware (not non stick, only ss or alum and even certain copper, works wonder on stoneware too).

 

[Corey123]

The thing that I like about my SS cook ware is that after something like bacon or steak is fried, and the brown particles in the bottom of the pan help to make a good sauce or gravy.

Once the water or wine is added, those bits come right up, making the pan(s) easy to clean later.

Pacanis, if you still find that deglazing doesn't help clean the pan, just get some Dawn Power Dissolver, spray the bottom of the pan with it, wait 15 minutes and voila! That stuff will just lift up and float up off the surface once the water hits it!!

 

[pacanis]

I'll look for that power dissolver when I go to the store today.
It's the cream sauce that's the worse. That stuff sticks like glue. Anything to "help" things along in the cleaning department is a good thing.

 

[GB]

Get yourself some Barkeepers Friend. It is a powder that is great for cleaning SS. If that does not work (which is rare) then go for the Power Dissolver.

 

[Corey123]

You'll find the power disolver in the same spot where the dishwashing liquid is sold.

 

[auntdot]

Gosh, have never had a problem with the deglazing thing. Once I learned about it for making sauce I wondered why it would not clean the pans. Boy did it help.

For stuff like taters or meats, will pour off any fat and add cold, not hot, water to a very hot pan (be careful). Find adding the water to a warm or cold pan does not do the trik.

For a cream type of sauce you need something to emulsify the fats, so I add a soapy water solution. Seems to work fine.

Have never heard of Power Dissolver though, sounds great. Will get some.

 

[pacanis]

I think you may have hit upon something auntdot.
Typically when I am making creamed asparagus (on sale today for $1.49 BTW ) or home fries, I am eating right away. So, I am not adding water, soapy or otherwise, to a hot pan and deglazing it, not until I am finished anyway and then the pan is cool. This might just be why my results aren't worth the effort.
And no Dawn Power Dissolver at the grocery store. Oh well. Maybe Wally World carries it. I'd like to give it a try anyway, but I'm thinking my problem lies in letting the pan cool for half hour with the residue in it. It would be nice to spray something in it that goes to work while I'm eating.

 

[ella/TO]

Has anyone every tried to just dissolve dishwasher soap and hot water in the sticky/messy pan, and let it sit for a time?....works everytime for me, no matter what kind of mess is in the pan.

 

[Snoop Puss]

Pacanis, no point in leaving the pan to cool. If it's a good pan, the heat in the base will be enough to carry on cooking the thin film left in the bottom of the pan, giving you a nearly burnt-on crust to have to clean off.

I'm with Ella. Leave the pan to soak as soon as you've finished cooking and then use ordinary washing-up liquid, hot water and the soft spongy side of the pan scrubber.

 

[Andy M.]

I often leave a pan or baking dish to soak overnight. It's a big help.

 

[Corey123]

Or run some hot water into it with a little detergent to loosen the soil in a few minutes.

 

[pacanis]

Yeah, that's what I've been doing, letting it soak with dish soap. It just doesn't seem to do much. You do that with a non-stick pan and the faucet sprinkler with hot water will flush all the residue off and it's ready to dry and put away. Just one of the trade-offs from using SS I guess.

Boy, it's good to be online again. My cable internet went down a couple days ago in a windstorm. I found a free trial of AOL on one of my PCs until the DSL gets hooked up. Cable wanted 12 days to send a repairman out. C-YA Time Warner! Dial-up stinks though, especially when you only have one phone line and it's your business phone...

 

[Corey123]

Well, I hope that you'll find some restitution from the hard time that you're having getting the pan clean.

Have you tried the power dissolver yet?

My laptop pc went completely south 2 weeks ago! It's being restored, but my friend has had to restore all the way back to the time when it was new 2 years ago!!

I'm using one of his pc's from his job until he's done fixing mine.

 

[CanadianMeg]

I know this is an old thread, but thank you to all of you who posted. This is really helpful. My new SS saute pan thanks you. Helpful to know how to make cleaning quicker.

 

[pacanis]

You'll probably find that I started quite a few posts trying to learn something everybody else knew...