New Stainless Steel User - help!

[tamholt]

Someone bought me a stainless steel pot set. They are called Tools of the Trade - Energie. It is 18/10, Is that good? Also, the set isn't shiny on the interior. Does that make a difference in how the food cooks or how I should clean the pans?

What foods are best cooked in stainless steel vs. non stick (since I have both).

I used one of the skillets for the first time and cooked some green beans in them with oil. When I washed the pan there was a white film over the bottom - it didn't look to nice. I read to clean with vinegar. That removed the film - but am I going to have to clean with vinegar, every time I cook with these pans?

Any advice would be very helpful. Thank you

 

[CharlieD]

I've had my Tools of Trade SS set for about 10-12 years now, I cook everything in it, I love it. The only thing that is diffrent is frying pan, that you have to get used to. I never did, I perefer non-stick or cast iron, but mostly because my stove doesn't produce enough heat. Everything else is easy to cook in, and to clean. Enjoy, and welocome to DC!

 

[tamholt]

Is your set - the brushed stainless steel on the interior? Have you had any problems with the white film residue?

 

[Robo410]

tools of the trade is a Macy's brand and generally good quality. Is it disc bottom or clad cookware? CLeaning stainless (misnamed btw) use a product like Revere polish or white vinegar.

sauteing and browning will go better in stainless, eggs etc will be stick free only in teflon.

 

[CharlieD]

My set is not brushed SS, but you shouldn't get reidue in dishwasher, if you do then it is dishwasher and not your pans.

 

[Corey123]

I heard of them. Don't know much about them though.

I just saw a set at Filene's the other day.


~Corey123.

 

[tamholt]

tools of the trade is a Macy's brand and generally good quality. Is it disc bottom or clad cookware? CLeaning stainless (misnamed btw) use a product like Revere polish or white vinegar.

sauteing and browning will go better in stainless, eggs etc will be stick free only in teflon.

They are disc bottom.

 

[Corey123]

Yes, they do, but I didn't like the way the bottoms looked.


~Corey123.

 

[tamholt]

Does anyone have the brushed SS on the interior of the pan?

 

[Corey123]

Most of my Emerilware SS cookware has that.

 

[tamholt]

Have you had any problem with them leaving a white residue? I didn't know if it was the brushed SS or maybe just my dishwasher.

Is there any difference from the brushed to mirror?

 

[Corey123]

I think it would be about the same.

And usually, I found that this white residue comes from cooking starchy foods, especially from rice potatoes, barley and certain hot cereals like Cream of Wheat and oatmeal. These foods have a very high content of starch, as you may know.

Though your cookware IS said to be dishwasher safe, I keep my new Emerilware SS cookware out of the machine because of this. The machine will clean them, but for some ungodly & strange reason, it will not
rid SS cookware of this problem.

During cleanup after a meal that I've cooked in the cookware, I just go on and wash the pots by hand.

Then when a pot has been used to cook any rice dish - plain boiled rice or otherwise, I just used a paste copper cleaner or a little bit of Bar Keepers Friend to to tackle that stubborn white residue problem.

I've made this a daily ritual as part of the normal pattern of keeping the pans clean. This helps to return the pans back to their sparkling-clean shine they had when you first bought them.

Also, youj may want to dry them immediately if you wash them by hand. Rines them in hot water and dry them with a paper or cloth towel to keep water spots at bay, since stainless steel tends to spot badly if you don't towel-dry the pans after you've washed them by hand.


~Corey123.

 

[Crash]

I get the white film on my old stainless Farberware as well as my new All Clad. I get it after cooking any protein. I think it is a result of coagulated protein.

 

[Michelemarie]

I clean the inside and outside of all my ss pans with bar keepers friend - sometimes I make a paste and let it sit a bit. I also dry them with a soft towel right away and hang them up.

 

[Crash]

Michele

I use BKF on the inside. As an abrasive doesn't it hurt the shiny exterior?

 

[Andy M.]

You can safely use BKF inside and out on SS without harm.

 

[Corey123]

Yes, that's true.

BKF is not an abrasive-action cleaner. It does not have the same roughness or harshness as Comet or Ajax.

It safely cleans your SS cookware inside & out with extreme gentleness.


~Corey123.

 

[Michelemarie]

Good to hear, I have not had any problems with it scratching. It really makes clean up easy.

 

[CharlieD]

Even if it did scratch a bit, it is not like non-stick, it wouldn't be ruined, as the matter of fact it wouldn't make that much diffrence alltogether.

 

[Corey123]

There are also copper cleaners available in paste form.

I have one that's called Wright's Copper Cream. It's for copper, but it also does a wonderful job on SS cookware as well!

For the copper strip that surrounds the botoms of the Emerilware pots & pans, I don't even have to scrub the tarnish off! This stuff just literally melts it right off as soon as it touches the copper. As though it was just plain grease!!

It's a godsend, saving tons of scrubbing and hard labor!! Your SS cookware will look like you've just given it a new lease on life!!! It make your old SS
cookware look brand spanking new, and your new SS cookware looks even better!!

Even the bottle of SS cleaner that i paid $6.00 for at Macy's dosen't work like this stuff does.


~Corey123.