Question about cleaning stainless steel pans and scratches

[foodnoobie]

I'm new to cooking with stainless steel. Today i made a fried egg, cleaned it first by wiping the oil residu gentle with a paper towel.
Then cleaned it gently with the soft side of a cleaning sponge. And yet there are shallow scratches in the pan.
How is this possible? It's a Demeyere pan too.
I literally baby my pan and yet light shallow surface scratches appear. Is this just inevitable with stainless steel?

Also how long should i let a SS pan cool down before i wash it? I heard a hot pan can cause metal warping.
But if i wait 30 minutes to an hour, the colored oil is literally stuck on there. And i'd have to scrub it off and even then the dark stains stay persistent.
I don't think i could clean it without barkeeper's friend.

Any advice? Do i need specific sponges or a cloth for cleaning?

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Don't over think it. Stainless pans are very robust.

Yes your pans will develop scratches. I have quality stainless and I occasionally clean the bottoms with a stainless scrub pad. That leaves light scratches. Metal utensils can leave light scratches. Just the way it is but doesn't hurt anything.

Your pans will warp if they are blazing hot and you submerge them in very cold water. A little water in the bottom to soak while hot will do nothing to them. We deglaze after all. Let it cool a bit and wipe the oil out with a paper towel or two. You can use tongs if still a little hot to the touch. If you can handle the pan to wash it, it shouldn't be warping.

 

[Michi]

Any advice? Do i need specific sponges or a cloth for cleaning?

As @HumbleHomeCook said, it is normal for stainless steel cookware to have superficial scratches. They are unavoidable because stainless steel is soft (as far as steels go). Don't worry about it. Those scratches are minute and don't affect the performance of the pan.

 

[Dan-]

You’ll be happier if you go buy this for your eggs, though from a more local source:
https://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=43935

 

[btbyrd]

Stainless scratches but it’s not like it wears any worse than carbon steel or cast iron or aluminum or nonstick or copper. If you care that much, which you shouldn’t, Hestan makes some pricey titanium clad pans that are supposed to be basically wear free in a home environment.
All pans run the risk of warping when you expose them to lots of water while they’re very hot. If you just let them cool down to the point that drops of water don’t boil off, that should be cool enough to wash with warm water. It doesn’t take long to cool down. You should do that for all cookware, not just stainless. If you need help removing oil residue (or anything else) from stainless, use Barkeeper‘s Friend.

 

[foodnoobie]

You’ll be happier if you go buy this for your eggs, though from a more local source:
https://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=43935

Thanks, i'm planning on poaching my eggs from now on since i'm on a diet and don't need the excess oil. But i just wanted to try it out and see how it tasted fried in a pan. So today was only for experimenting.

Also thanks everyone. I guess i'm a bit over worried. I know there's a chromium oxidation layer that prevents metals from leaching into the food. And i figured, the more scratches, perhaps the oxidation layer is less effective. Or food might stick more.
But there's no way i can clean them any more gently than i already do, and yet shallow scratches appeared. So i'll just accept it. Thank you! The community here is awesome. Very helpful advice.

 

[rickbern]

Fwiw, I usually fry or scramble eggs in olive oil. I like it better than poached.

 

[SammieM]

I have inexpensive ones and usually just soak them a little in the sink with hot water and then use white cream cleaner to scrub them with the yellow part of the sponge…
I’m not sure if I’d use stainless to fry eggs… Non stick or carbon might be better for that…

 

[mengwong]

I know there's a chromium oxidation layer that prevents metals from leaching into the food. And i figured, the more scratches, perhaps the oxidation layer is less effective.

https://www.thefabricator.com/thewelder/article/arcwelding/what-makes-stainless-steel-stainless

The chromium oxide layer forms on the stainless steel surface when chromium reacts with oxygen. This happens instantly, with formation speeds measured in nanoseconds and film thicknesses in microns.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Medical implants are made out of stainless steel.

 

[Jovidah]

I don't know why people are whining that stainless isn't good enough to fry eggs. If you can't fry an egg in a stainless pan that's a cook problem, not a pan problem.
Some scratching always happens eventually (for all I know it's the salt doing it!) but it's not something to worry about. For cleaning what works best for me is just having hot water running over it for a while (essentially deglazing) and then just using a normal dishwashig brush. If there's any really persistent dark spots a soak with lemon juice/vinegar will get rid of that.
I've never needed anything exotic or fancy or high amounts of elbow grease to get a stainless pan clean.

I wouldn't worry about the oxidation layer getting damaged; if it gets scratched it'll oxidize again in a blink like mengwong said.
From a diet perspective I don't think the little bit of fat from frying an egg is really worth losing sleep over.

 

[sumis]

it's a pan. it's a tool. it will not look like new after use. especially not after a while. even if it shouldn't look like a scratchy camouflage surface.

has functionality suffered? if not, don't worry about appearance. get over it. pans look better if they look used anyway. objectively so

everyone above are right. just don't 'over clean' your pan, and definitely not while hot
shallow scratches or discoloration is NOT a problem as long as it doesn't change how your pan work.

if you scrub and scrub and scrub away in order to make your pan look pristine again, you definitely run the risk of ruining it IMHO.

the demeyere silvinox surface is very forgiving to cook with to begin with, and while the pan will continue to be great, its properties will change and you might have to adjust your technique. YMMV.

FWIW i'm cooking a cooking a classic french omelette with great results (in relation to my competence) every morning in a demeyere 20 cm skillet.

.

 

[Dan-]

I don't know why people are whining that stainless isn't good enough to fry eggs. If you can't fry an egg in a stainless pan that's a cook problem, not a pan problem.

I mean, you can, and I have, and even my wife has, but it’s just so much easier on carbon steel.

 

[boomchakabowwow]

my All_clad skillet is so scratched up it looks pristine. it is like one big uniform scratch across the surface. no biggie. i love that thing.