I tried barkeeper's friend on stainless steel pan but it didn't remove any stains
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foodnoobie
Active Member
Thank you for all the replies everyone!
I have one more question. I cleaned the pan as thoroughly as i could and it was shining silver again.
But then i cooked 1 steak and the oil mixed with the meat juices, splattered everywhere, mostly on the sides of the pan.
Even though i immediately cleaned it off after the steak was done, say within 5 minutes. The stains on the side seemed to have ingrained themselves into the metal instantly, to the point where hot water and soap were useless.
Of course i can clean those stains again with barkeepers friend, but i don't want to do this every day.
Is there a solution? Or do people cook with stained stainless steel pans most of the time?
I have one more question. I cleaned the pan as thoroughly as i could and it was shining silver again.
But then i cooked 1 steak and the oil mixed with the meat juices, splattered everywhere, mostly on the sides of the pan.
Even though i immediately cleaned it off after the steak was done, say within 5 minutes. The stains on the side seemed to have ingrained themselves into the metal instantly, to the point where hot water and soap were useless.
Of course i can clean those stains again with barkeepers friend, but i don't want to do this every day.
Is there a solution? Or do people cook with stained stainless steel pans most of the time?
foodnoobie
Active Member
I use Bertolli olive oil. I don't know if that is the problem or not.
I find it's difficult to cook, because first i have to reach the right temperature before i can put the oil in, then i put the oil in until it sharts shimmering which is almost instantly, and then i put the steak in. But then what? Do i instantly lower the heat to low?
Is the heat too high, hence why the oil starts to stick to side of the pan?
A lot of meat i buy has a high water content. They probably inject it so it weighs more and can ask a higher price.
I'm on a budget so i can't buy higher quality meat at a butcher, i'm stuck at the grocery store kind.
The water/juices with the hot oil causes a lot of splatters.
PS: I can't seem to figure out how to add a quote to an edited comment, so i'm double posting.
This is normal, happens all the time. You can easily scrub it with some stainless cleaner on a paper towel after cooking. It's way easier to just maintain it after cooking each time instead of having to deep clean every once in a while.
You can do a couple of things to dry the meat (in the case of steaks).
Remove it from the packaging well before cooking and pat dry, then cover in a layer of coarse salt and leave it uncovered with the salt on in the fridge for a couple of hours. Then take it out of the fridge an hour or so before cooking, wipe salt off and pat dry again if needed.
You can look into dry brining steaks for some more info.
Also don't use olive oil for this, use a neutral oil which can tolerate high heat, or even better clarified butter specifically for steaks, then you'll get rid of the splattering (from the oil/butter that is at least, there is no way around the water coming out of some types of food).
Turning down the heat or not is a matter of preference, and how hot your stove gets. Don't heat it for 2 minutes on the highest setting, but thoroughly heat it on a medium setting (4 of 9 using induction) for a minute or 4 and then increase to medium/high (7.5 of 9 using induction) for another couple of minutes.
Look into what's called the Leidenfrost effect to determine if the temperature is right when getting the hang of this.
If you buy supermarket thin cut steaks (< 2.5cm thick) and want medium rare, you don't have to lower the heat at all probably.
What could also be interesting to look into is doing what's called a reverse sear. A different way of cooking steaks.
You can do a couple of things to dry the meat (in the case of steaks).
Remove it from the packaging well before cooking and pat dry, then cover in a layer of coarse salt and leave it uncovered with the salt on in the fridge for a couple of hours. Then take it out of the fridge an hour or so before cooking, wipe salt off and pat dry again if needed.
You can look into dry brining steaks for some more info.
Also don't use olive oil for this, use a neutral oil which can tolerate high heat, or even better clarified butter specifically for steaks, then you'll get rid of the splattering (from the oil/butter that is at least, there is no way around the water coming out of some types of food).
Turning down the heat or not is a matter of preference, and how hot your stove gets. Don't heat it for 2 minutes on the highest setting, but thoroughly heat it on a medium setting (4 of 9 using induction) for a minute or 4 and then increase to medium/high (7.5 of 9 using induction) for another couple of minutes.
Look into what's called the Leidenfrost effect to determine if the temperature is right when getting the hang of this.
If you buy supermarket thin cut steaks (< 2.5cm thick) and want medium rare, you don't have to lower the heat at all probably.
What could also be interesting to look into is doing what's called a reverse sear. A different way of cooking steaks.
HolyDiverScallop
Not too smart, but at least I’m ugly.
The above is thorough and high quality advice.
I mostly don’t bother trying to keep my pans pristine.
If you want to keep it very clean. And generally stainless steel works best when it is really clean, then you need to polish it. Scouring it with a green scotchbrite or a stainless steel scrubber is what works for me.
HolyDiverScallop
Not too smart, but at least I’m ugly.
Green scotchbrite will scratch most stainless IME.
One man's scratch is anither man's polish. If you want it to get clean you have to scratch it.
You seem to be achieving a level of seasoning on your stainless steel that the carbon steel geeks go to great lengths to achieve. They might say “just cook with it!”
HolyDiverScallop
Not too smart, but at least I’m ugly.
Blue scotchbrite does it for me most of the time.
Blue is designed to be non scratch. So it will work until it doesn't.
HolyDiverScallop
Not too smart, but at least I’m ugly.
Yeah. And when it doesn’t, copper scrubbies and barkeepers friend have yet to let me down.
But I’m a sample size of one.
Mostly I avoid green scrubbies on the outside of cookware. I care a lot less about the inside. My utensils scratch that up already.
I use avocado oil for steaks which is good for high temperature searing. I don’t have cleanup issues but if I fry steaks I make a pan sauce so its pretty clean after making sauce. Definitely do not use EV olive oil for high temp cooking.
aporigine
The slow blade penetrates the winter squash
Evoo is a dish best served cold. Or kinda warm.
My partner really likes these little fellas. Sort of in between a blue and a green. And always smiling. 
sumis
Senior Member
My partner really likes these little fellas. Sort of in between a blue and a green. And always smiling.
View attachment 315431
i had one forever but didn't unpack it because it looked so silly. but it is actually great. serious scrubbing power without being abrasive. and it makes a big difference hpw much pressure you use. recommended for home use at least. i use them with my silvinox pans.
with that said. if you need your pots and pans to continue to look new, i think you're in for a disappointment regardless. and more inportantly: why? they are pots and pans! stains and scratches and signs of use is not a bad thing. (up to a point of course.) tools that look used but well cared for look better than tools that look bnib.
.
+1
Scratched is the natural state of stainless steel. Patina hides scratches and stainless steel doesn't patina. So you see all the scratches. This is just the way it works.
I also think scratches are fine, however I do want my stainless to be spotless to prevent sticking.
Also depends on what you use the pan for of course, if you don't fry eggs in it life becomes a lot easier...
Also depends on what you use the pan for of course, if you don't fry eggs in it life becomes a lot easier...
This is actually a myth. EVOO has a slightly lower smoke point than some other oils. However, it's still plenty high enough for high temperature cooking. And smoke point is only part of the story. EVOO has much higher levels of antioxidants than other oils. Scorching oil and oil going rancid are both forms of oxidation. The antioxidants in EVOO help prevent both forms of oxidation.
The most unhealthy thing people do with oil at home is reuse fryer oil. Cooking it cooling it cooking it again. With maybe weeks or months between uses. In scientific studies olive oil actually fares better over times in terms of levels of oxidation and transfats (which is also related to oxidation) in reused oil. Soybean oil for instance, has a higher smoke point but is more sensitive to becoming rancid when heated and cooled multiple times.
Interesting, I looked into your comments and learned a few things.
Avocado oil has mostly the same health benefits as olive oil but has a much higher smoke point (100deg F hotter) and more neutral taste. I’ll stick with avocado for my steaks and I use it to make mayo. EVOO to fry/roast vegetables and any moderate temperature cooking.
Avocado oil has mostly the same health benefits as olive oil but has a much higher smoke point (100deg F hotter) and more neutral taste. I’ll stick with avocado for my steaks and I use it to make mayo. EVOO to fry/roast vegetables and any moderate temperature cooking.
Thank you! My sous chef is a big dorky goofball, but will routinely shout "OLIVE OIL IS A FINISHING OIL ONLY" if he ever catches someone cooking with it. Like, bro, they're carrots in olive oil and herbs, roasted at 320 until tender. Smoke point is not a frickin issue!!!
It is one of the most pervasive food myths in the industry. I didn't realize it until I was teaching a culinary medicine class and doing research for the fats and oil module of the course. It is also counterintuitive but the less refined an oil is the more chemically stable when exposed to high heat. So anything that is expeller pressed, cold pressed, extra virgin, etc. will perform better than options that been more heavily refined. The refinement process itself introduces polar compounds that are unhealthy. These get worse with high temperatures.
But your sous chef is only half wrong. Restaurants use highly refined seed oils because they are cheap. Not because they are the healthiest, tastiest, or smartest option. Worrying about the smoke point of olive oil is silly. But most customers won't notice the difference if you use soybean oil to roast the veggies. However, if you dress their margherita salad with soybean oil they will probably be upset. So use the expensive item where it gets noticed. Olive oil is a finishing oil for the sake of the bottom line. But if you are cooking at home, the difference in price is much less material.
Michi
I dislike attempts to rewrite history
If you want to use avocado oil for deep frying or seasoning, get the most refined one you can find. There are a lot of different grades, from unfiltered to highly refined. The less refined ones are great for low-temperature frying and salads, but they do oxidise quickly at higher temperatures.
Jovidah
I'll make you a sponsor offer you can't refuse...
Unless you use insanely (and unnecessary) high temperatured I never really had much issues with stains that wouldn't get off with just plentiful hot water and soap. You might get some discoloration and smudging but I wouldn't obsess over that. Basically you get that on all pans, it's just more visible on stainless than on a carbon steel pan.
But who knows could be because I'm normally frying steaks in clarified butter which has a higher smokepoint.
If stains won't come off I've never had any that didn't come off with simple acids like vinegar/lemon. But usually you can just deglaze anything off without problems.
Jovidah
I'll make you a sponsor offer you can't refuse...
Extra virgin olive oil or 'standard' olive oil? You could try if you get as much staining with a different fat that's better at higher temperatures (groundnut oil, rice bran oil, clarified butter, whatever).
With my prolines I just heat them at medium heat on my biggest burner and actually keep them on that heat. The main virtue of such a pan is that it retains its temperature fairly consistently. Oil sticking to the pan is usually a sign of polymerization which is a result of heat + the composition of the oil. But there's a lot of variability. I noticed I got a lot more sticky mess using for example sunflower oil.
'Cheap' meat is actually rarely cheaper at all exactly because of the water content. My suggestion for a Dutch person would be to start your own cooking club (kookvereniging) for a chamber of commerce entry (inschrijving bij KvK) so you can buy at the restaurant wholesalers (makro/sligro/hanos). That's where you can buy good meat without getting screwed.
Watery meat does contribute to the problem a lot since there's more splatter. However there is another solution. Take your meat out of the package a day before, perhaps even salt it too (dry brining) and put it on a rack in your fridge overnight. That dries out the outside and it'll fry much better.
My method for dry brining is to only put on as much salt as you'd normally want to put on the meat. Makes it less time-sensitive and there's no risk of it getting too salty. Just make sure your fridge temperature is low enough (4 degrees max). If fridge temp is too high your meat will go brown a lot faster.
Jovidah
I'll make you a sponsor offer you can't refuse...
I've also started to realize over time that you really don't need the insane temperatures most people are using to justify really high smokepoint oil. Maillard reaction starts happening at 140 degrees. EVOO's smoke point is at 180 or 190? Defintily high enough and I agree people really overstate how problematic its usage is for normal pan frying. I agree it might actually be a half-decent option for deepfrying if it wasn't so costly.
I wholeheartedly agree with your statement about frying oil. Honestly the more I looked into it, the more I realized there isn't really a healthy way to do deepfrying, especially if you want to use the oil over a longer time frame. The best bet for 'occasional' use might actually be old school saturated fats because they resist oxidation much better.
All the refined garbage oils being used these days are more and more linked to all kinds of negative health effects. Which isn't too surprising when you look at what goes into the oils and what's being done to them to actually make them consumable by humans.
