How to remove hardened grease from side of a pot?

[Rich]

Stop being such a cheap s.o.b, throw the f*****g thing out and get a new one. Doesn't get any simpler than that.

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

The only place we vary on technique is that I like to seal the greasey thing in a bucket or plastic bag, but up *out of the ammonia*. In my experience it seems to be the fumes that clean the best.

If the pot is aluminum and old you might need to use a little aluminum polish on it afterward.

Jim

[OmManiPadmeOmelet]

Oven cleaner...

It works.

Very well.

I once made the mistake of using it to totally clean a cast iron lid that was getting a bit cruddy. Stripped that puppy SO clean, it was silver colored... and rusted like hell. :-(

Took me a bit to re-season it but I've found that grape seed oil polymerizes faster than olive oil by far. ;-)

"Easy Off" brand and a bit of sunlight.

[OmManiPadmeOmelet]

That's a good point.......

I once made the mistake of putting some dilute muriatic acid into an aluminum pot to get the hard water deposits off.

BIG mistake!

Good thing I was doing it outside!!!!!!

[tariq.1.rahim]

thank you all for the tips, i went with oven cleaner, which i already have, and steel wool to finish it off. worked well. *maybe* a little cosmetic damage, but not anything that i would care about.

[Nancy2]

It was NOT Goo-Gone, which removes label stickies, but rather a product called "Sokoff." It works really well.

N.

[Melba's Jammin']

Dawn Power Dissolver. "It's a murcle!"

[ms_peacock]

I'd try Dawn Power Dissolver first. It works really well at cleaning that sort of thing.

Ms P

[Wayne Boatwright]

Oh pshaw, On Fri 23 Jun 2006 09:39:54a, was muttering about...

If the pot is stainless steel, you can use oven cleaner. Do not use it on aluminum.

[Abe]

There was a show on PBS called Haley's hints where he covered this, and he swears by cream of tartar and a sponge.

[Eigenvector]

A little unconventional, but diesel works wonders on cosmoline, which can be considered a grease. Diesel won't hurt the pan and it isn't horribly toxic or corrosive.

Personally, I would try something more conventional first, after all you will be eating from this thing and it will be exposed to open flame (possibly).

[mm]

On the outside of a metal pot, I might use a bench grinder with a wire wheel in place of the grind stone.

I have an aluminmum popcorn pot, with built-in stirrer, that is about

50 years old and has been used more than 1000 times for popcorn. It keeps getting dirty on the INSIDE and I've been pretty successful boiling water in it, until it runs dry and then leaving it on until it's red hot. (This was a mistake both times, but it works.)

On the outside of a pot that doesn't have to look pristine, I use steel wool, brass wool, or copper wool, depending. I forget the order they go in but they are of different hardness. I use steel wool the least because it rusts. The others can be left by the sink.

[George E. Cawthon]

Yep, if it won't damage the pot. Grease plus lye makes soap!

[Stormin Mormon]

I quote enough text that I don't look like a mental case.

[Bob M.]

why not just throw it out?

[J. Clarke]

Would you throw out a Bosch jigsaw because it got dirty? Price good cookware sometime. And the quality does make a difference.

[Phisherman]

Lye or oven cleaner will take off old grease. Don't use this on an aluminum pot. Be careful--take it outside, use rubber gloves, eye protection, garden hose.

[Kswck]

It is called Goo-Gone. Small yellow bottle, black label. It is primarily used to take off gum and stuff like self adhesives.

[J. Clarke]

Wear closed shoes. DAMHIKT.