I Love Cheese, But...

[Andy M.]

I've mentioned elsewhere that spaghetti alla carbonara is a very favorite dish.

I use the SeriousEats.com recipe that includes using a large bowl to combine all the ingredients to make the final dish. I use a stainless steel bowl with the cooked meat, fat, olive oil, egg, pepper, cooked pasta and cheese. It sits over the pot of boiling water and is stirred for the final emulsification step.

When that's done, I empty the food into a dish and stuff my face. There's usually a glass or two of wine and a veggie involved. When I'm done I clean up and load the dishwasher.

Just one problem. There is a cheese/(egg?) residue that is CEMENTED to the SS bowl and frustrates me with how difficult it is to remove. My usual process now is that I fill the bowl with hot soapy water and leave it until morning when it's quite a bit easier to remove but still really not what I'd call "easy".

How do you all deal with stubborn cheese residue?

 

[GotGarlic]

You could try spraying the bowl with kitchen spray before making the sauce and see if that helps.

 

[Andy M.]

You could try spraying the bowl with kitchen spray before making the sauce and see if that helps.

The recipe has ample pork fat and olive oil in it but I'll give it a try. Thanks.

 

[taxlady]

Are there scratches in your bowl that stuff is sticking to? I do the emulsification in the pot I cook the pasta in and I have never had that problem, even when I follow a similar recipe.

 

[medtran49]

It does that with our SS too. Craig hates it when I make something like carbonara and he has dishwashing duty. We soak too, but like you wrote... Only thing I've found is using a nonstick pan.

 

[bbqcoder]

I just throw it in the dish washer. Mine never had trouble getting food off unless someone overloads it. Just make sure that you use a good detergent and that you don't rinse food off. Just scrape any excess.

 

[Aunt Bea]

You could try the ammonia/plastic bag trick that you taught me a few years ago.

Good luck!

 

[Andy M.]

You could try the ammonia/plastic bag trick that you taught me a few years ago.

Good luck!

Aunt Be a, that was for burned on food. This cheese didn't even reach boiling temp. It's just very clingy.

 

[caseydog]

It does that with our SS too. Craig hates it when I make something like carbonara and he has dishwashing duty. We soak too, but like you wrote... Only thing I've found is using a nonstick pan.

I have only made Pasta Carbonara in a non-stick pan. The SeriousEats technique should work with a non-stick pan, I would think.

CD