How to Clean Stainless Steel Pots and Pans

If you've ever felt dread at the sight of burnt-on, scorched, singed, or gunky food residue on your shiny stainless steel pots and pans, this video is for you. Michael and Lesley are here to show you how to clean your cookware and return it to its sparkly best.

[wildclaryranch]

I’m 102 years old and just got my first Stainless steel pan from a dumpster in back of a homeless shelter. Thank you for your video I never would have thought of using water in the cleaning process. It worked great

[dasmoove]

I'm 55yrs you would be amazed how just letting a pan sit in water for a few hours or overnight will release 99% of nearly burnt erodes and breaks down alot of organic material....and growing up in a household of 8 and having dishes duty for 1 week intervals gives you Great Understanding of how to get pots and pans clean

[txkos]

I've found using baking soda and just enough water to create a paste works for 90% of my pan cleaning needs. Once you make the paste, press your figures down and use a circular action. I like not using a glove so I can feel the tiniest bits that are still stuck on. Nothing is as satisfying as cleaning an old pan or pot and seeing it shine again. There you are my friend, welcome back!

[Leandrasjones]

This is a real video that works! Only thing I would say was missing is the amount of time needed or it could need... I had to boil mine for a long time and I thought it wasn’t working... but it was. So for those out there who have a really old pan from generations or one that takes a lot of beating from use don’t underestimate the time it can take or the amount of baking soda you may need.. but it works!!! Your pan can look brand new again! Thanks for sharing guys!

[easytiger]

pro tip: use the blue sponges that say "non scratch" on the label if you really don't want to scratch your pans. Also pour warm water with some white vinegar after cooking your food and scrub with a wooden utensil first before washing your dishes to make this proccess easier (for when you have charred burnt pieces stuck on pan)

[treyz]

I love the soothing Jazz music in the background

[streamplant]

Your baking soda method perfectly cleaned the thick layers from cooking steaks, AND did so quickly. WOW. Thanks!

[MrFreakzoidrj]

Can’t stress this enough, put the baking soda slowly, I poured a big amount and it boiled over and I spent the last half hour cleaning my cooktop

[mariesc]

Just used your technique and it worked! Thanks!

[paulbrickler]

I had some *really* difficult burnt-on chocolate/ milk at the bottom of my biggest stainless steel stock pot, from a run of mexican-style hot chocolate I made for New Years.

I couldn't get it off with vinegar or barkeeper's friend or soaking it in hot water. I saw another video that recommended Easy-Off, but in my experience, that's rather fragrant, and it seemed to take a lot longer than your methods.

I ended up using a method that was sort of a hybrid between the 2nd and 3rd methods that you guys detailed - I couldn't do a full-on version of the 3rd method because I didn't have a larger pot to put mine in. One difference is that I used A&H 'Super Washing Soda' instead of baking soda, because I had a new box handy, and my baking soda is kind of old. Super Washing Soda is Sodium Carbonate instead of Sodium BiCarbonate - very similar. I use it for cleaning other things.

Anyway, 4-ish cups of water in the bottom of the stock pan, about 1 cup of soda, and heating it on the stove to a simmer, then turning the heat WAY down to just maintain heat and not boil too rapidly.

MAN. That burnt-on crust just flaked right off after about a 30-minute simmer. I put a lid on once it started to bubble, about 10 minutes in. A few light strokes with a normal dish brush and I could already feel and see the difference. It might be cleaner than it was before I burned the chocolate onto it. I'm very impressed. This is definitely better than everything else I was trying.

Thanks.

[hauhua]

Thanks for the tip.
I used the first method and was able to get some, but not all stain off my cookware. However, I did it again but this time I used a wooden spatula to scrub the stain while the solution was boilding. It worked wonderfully😮. I finished it off with a quick cleanse with soap and water without scrubbing.

[SheepleProof]

I followed the directions with baking soda and water. My clad SS pan looks terrific now. Thank you - wish I'd known this trick years ago.

[jacktupp]

I just scored a 10" all-clad for $6. Man I love resale shops. These videos are helpful because I always avoided stainless and cast iron because of cleaning/care. Started ditching the nonstick recently... wish I'd done it sooner.

[mlkmlk]

I actually tried this and love the results. Thanks

[Paelorian]

The best way to reduce cleanup time and effort is to change the way you cook. If you cook well, you will rarely have to clean a bunch of crud out of a pan. Experienced cooks have much less to clean than novices.

For stainless steel pans in particular, I emphasize the importance of heating the pan before adding food in order to make food stick to the pan less. If I'm cooking on high heat, I heat the pan until water beads on it (the Leidenfrost effect, occuring around 379°F/193°C), then add my cooking fat (try to stay below it's smoke point) and then the food. Doing this I can scramble eggs and make them slide out leaving nothing stuck behind (almost) like it's a Teflon non-stick pan. The difference is that the non-stick pan doesn't require any technique to keep sticky foods unstuck.

And of course, don't let your food burn into your pots and pans. Use timers. The worst cooks I know think they don't need to use timers and they burn their food regularly. That causes the hardest cleanup jobs.

After I cook, a soak in water (soapy water is more effective if necessary) solves more than 99% of my stuck-on food problems. I can go years without breaking out my baking soda, Barkeeper's Friend, or Bon Ami for pan cleanup. I use those more for making the pans look new and shiny. Especially in regards to polymerized fat (seasoning) or the outside of pans.

[spdunktube]

What a cute video - and 5 years after it was made - very helpful. Can't wait to go clean!

[Zacharias]

Thanks. I was going to toss a somewhat grungy skillet and changed my mind after seeing this video. Baking soda worked great!

[sandraharper]

Well I'm 70 yr old and I never used stainless steel till recently.i had a pan I hadn't been able to clean really well used your baking sofa trick and used a wooden spoon handle to scub lightly and wala !!! Perfect!! Forever happy❤😂😅

[PPCCO.]

So glad you guys made a YouTube channel

[koruki]

Step 1 water. Step 2 buy a truck full of baking soda