How To Clean Stainless Steel Cookware Properly At Home?

By Consumer Advise Team
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Most of the stainless steel cookware is dishwasher-friendly. So the users do not have to go through heavy cleaning hassle. Most of them can be hand cleaned easily, while burnt utensils need special care. In this article, we will explain the correct ways to clean stainless steel cookware in various methods.

How To Clean Stainless Steel Cookware

Steps to clean light-soiled stainless steel cookware

Many people use abrasive steel wools and scrubber like scotch brite with harsh chemicals to clean up the mess. But that is a wrong approach, and it can also discolor and scratch the shiny finish of chromium oxide on stainless steel.

Thus, always use a non-abrasive material like a sponge. When it is still hot, you can clean more effectively. We recommend the following methods to clean stainless steel cookware depending on the dirtiness/ soil level.

  1. To clean the regular light-soiled steel utensils, arrange a good quality dish cleaner liquid or powder and warm water.
  2. Fill the cookware or rinse it in warm soapy water and then wait for ten minutes so that most gunks are loose and get ready to be cleared up.
  3. Drain the water and use a non-abrasive sponge to clean up the residue.
  4. This should clean your stainless steel cookware. If there is still some burnt mark or food gunk left, you need to do something different.

Best way to clean medium-soiled stainless steel cookware

Correct way to clean medium-soiled stainless steel cookware

If you could not completely clean your cookware following the previous method, pour soapy water and boil it on your stove for five minutes. The flame should be medium the entire time.

Afterward, use your sponge to rub the stained surface. It should be clean within a few minutes. If it does not, proceed as follows-

  1. First, put a suitable quantity of baking soda (2-4 tablespoons depending on the cookware size) all over the burnt surface of the cookware.
  2. Next, pour 1-2 glasses of water in the burnt pan or pot.
  3. Heat the cookware with medium flame for 5-10 minutes and boil the water.
  4. After some time, when the water tends to overflow, turn the oven off and let it cool down for 10 minutes.
  5. When done, wash the cookware with normal water and see if the burned and greased stains are removed. If it is not, repeat the same process.
  6. Finally, use a suitable detergent and clean the cookware by hand or any non-abrasive scrubber. This will guarantee proper hygiene and cleanliness.

But, sometimes, the gunks on the heavily stained and greased stainless steel cookware do not go away easily even after this process. You need more exceptional care.

How to clean heavily stained and burnt stainless steel pans?

How to Clean Greased and Burnt Stainless Steel Cookware

You can clean burnt food from your cookware using vinegar or baking soda. Salt and lime can also be used to clean burnt food. However, we got a great result with the following process-

  1. Take a large utensil that can partially or fully immerse the cookware you want to clean.
  2. Pour 3-6 tbsp of baking soda in the water and turn on your induction cooktop to heat it within 200°C. If you use a gas stove, choose a medium flame.
  3. After 10 minutes, take the cookware out, and scrub the gunky surface with a non-abrasive sponge. It should clear up the mess from your stainless steel cookware completely.
  4. Depending on how tough the stains are, you may notice the black burning spots are getting away. Once they are gone, use regular detergent powder to clean the surface.
  5. To remove discoloration of your cookware, use vinegar or tomato sauce. This will get the original color of the cookware back.
  6. Finally, wash your stainless steel cookware with water at room temperature.

Dishwasher Cleaning Procedure for Stainless Steel Cookware

stainless steel cookware cleaning in dishwasher
  1. Before starting the operation, discard any food residue from the cookware surface to ease and ensure better cleaning.
  2. Do it now if the instruction manual says you need to prewash the utensils. Otherwise, follow the next steps.
  3. Next, place the cookware on the bottom rack of the dishwasher or a suitable place mentioned in the user manual. Generally, most reputed brands recommend putting them on the bottom rack, as suggested.
  4. Use a suitable detergent like Pril Kraft Dish Washing Liquid to clean up tough oil stains with ease. Please put it in a reasonable quantity into the detergent dispenser.
  5. Select suitable settings from the dishwasher’s control panel and turn the switch on. It will take some time to complete the operation.
  6. Once the cleaning process is completed, turn off the dishwasher and take out the utensils.

Here is a video to help you get the idea visually. Follow these steps correctly. It will get your pans cleaned in a short time without making much effort.

Cleaning and maintaining every piece of cookware is a vital part of our daily routine. It makes the stainless steel cookware safe for food consumption with maintaining proper hygiene.

Most cookware brands manufacture their products with high-quality stainless steel that relieves the users in terms of cleaning and maintenance. A heavy bottom stainless steel cookware in India can give more flexible options for cleaning.

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