Cleaning carbon off non stick pans

add water (and or a touch of washing up liquid) and let it heat up? It has probably lost its non-stickability

angle grinder?

I use bicarb/baking soda. Use a barely damp sponge dipped into dry baking soda.

What exactly has carbonised? If its the non stick itself then you are stuffed.

Brian

Actually not far off you will I suspect find its carbon down to the metal. I think these devices get localised heating as they get old and this cracks the non stick and then its only a matter of time before the inevitable happens. New pan is probably the only solution or you will be scrubbing it for ever until the element or thermostat dies. Brian

IME nothing takes hard carbon off anything except abrasion.

Which is why I do not use non stick pans any more..the average life is about 1 week. Until they get crapped up beyond the power to remove the crap without destroying the non stick.

What is 'hard carbon' anyway? Sadly, it's not diamond, or we'd all be rich, but it's not graphite either, as that's soft stuff that would wipe away easily.

Nothing removes it completely, but it is possible to remove some of it IME. When non-stick comes out of the dishwasher still hot, the crud is softened, and careful scraping with a fingernail slowly removes it - too slowly to remove a lot each time. I've not found any other type of scraper works.

NT

My guess is its a polymerised part of the fat with a high carbon content but where all the free molecular ends that respond to alkali and soap are simply absent

Probably some sort of ring compound resin..similar to whatever is in bakelite :-)

Leave the pan in soak for an hour. The lifespan of ours is >5 years

I sioked some smoke damaged china for a week in every household chemical known to man.

In the end it was down to abrasive pads..

The most abrasive thing I ever use on non-stick is a nylon brush (Vileda, not cheap but very long lasting). Curious that baked on animal fats are easier to remove than veggie oil.

I wonder what's in oven cleaner? Some strong oxidising agent?

Its pure caustic soda in a foaming agent.

It will get off 'brown' fat but not 'black' fat.

You need a fair amount of it to get off thick deposits, and its not kind to aluminium. You need to wash anything down bloody well - a mild acid like vinegar is a good tip - if food is going to come in contact.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I am stuck (!) with some carbon on there. I cooked it several times with a solution of bio washing liquid (for washing clothes) and this, combined with a nylon scrub, seemed to shift some but it would probably take a week to shift it all and would also remove the non-stick.

Perhaps a few sauces which are heavy on the tomato might help. Red hot chili?

Cheers

Dave R

Never mind - charcoal's good for you :-)

the non-stick.

I recall from somewhere that cooking turkey twizlers was supposed to be good for stripping baked on carbon off of pans. No idea why or whether they are still available.

Tim

For cooked veggie oil the thing is Doktor Power (Macro or Amazon)

the non-stick.

:-)

coke, which has phosphoric acid in it is a useful chemical there ought to be a wiki on acids around te kitchen

acetic - vinegar and lemons? citric in citrus fruits oxalic - rhubarb, especially the leaves. phosphoric - coke. Whats in tomatoes? (Also tamarind as a very different sort of 'sour' in it.. Tastes like vitamin C tablets.) Sulphamic - descalers. Formic - descalers. Hydrochloric, vomit and brick acid/patio cleaner Sulphuric - drain cleaner..

Sadly for fat removal alkalis are more use..

soaking a pan in neat caustic soda with JUST enough water to dissolve it, for several says is a good start.