Saucepan Trouble

patriks

Hello all,

As you'll most likely gather from the content of this post, i'm not altogether familiar with cooking (and all which that entails).
Anyways, I've noticed, recently, with a few of my pots and pans, that after use (boiling pasta on the hob, in particular) that a series of strange marks and patterns begin to appear at the bottom of the saucepans. I was just wondering, has anybody else had this experience (i'm assuming it's not that uncommon) and/or is aware of what it is, and whether it's still okay to use the pots/pans?

Thanks in advance!;)

taram

What sort of marks? Inside or out? If outside: The base that touches the hob will usually discolour a bit, usually browning from the heat. If inside: metal spoons etc used to stir the pot will damage the metal. Not sure what the pattern could be though. They should be fine to use unless it looks like they're peeling off bits of coating.

patriks

Oh, sorry, I guess I ought to have elaborated on the type of marks appearing. They sort of resemble oil/petrol marks on wet roads (same kind of colours, etc.), if that makes any sense, except for the marks are indelible and pretty much part of the saucepan, visible even when the saucepan is dry. This lead me to believe that it may be some sort of oily property in the food or, alternatively, perhaps some washing up liquid not properly cleaned from the saucepan, but i'm not quite sure.

Thanks again.;)

Tree

The heating of some stainless steelish pots will leave purple/blue colouration patterns from the stress of being heated

Alun

Tree wrote: »

The heating of some stainless steelish pots will leave purple/blue colouration patterns from the stress of being heated

Yes, and you can get a special stainless steel cleaning paste that will get rid of these stains in a jiffy. I've got some made by Spring who manufactured my pans.

Dizzyblonde

You can also get rid of stains on pots with a paste of bread soda and water - rub it in well and leave for a while before rinsing. For burnt in food add a drop of fairly liquid.

Cooking anything acidic will bring back the shine to the inside of your pots - apple, tomato etc. Even apple skins boiled for a few minutes will do the trick.

Alun

Indeed, the main ingredient of my Spring cleaner appears to be "organic acids", it doesn't specify what exactly. It also contains a very mild abrasive.

http://www.spring.ch/index.php?p=10&id=25&gid=361

rubadub

patriks wrote: »

a series of strange marks and patterns begin to appear at the bottom of the saucepans.

Is this the bottom on the inside or outside?

On the outside it can be when people fry food on a ring it can spatter oil onto the surrounding rings, then a pan goes on the oily hob and it burns the oil into the base. I have a glass top hob and go over it with a stanley blade at an angle to remove burnt on oil residue.

patriks

Hello again!

Well, actually, these markings are present on the indside of the saucepan.

The heating of some stainless steelish pots will leave purple/blue colouration patterns from the stress of being heated

This seems to be the most likely explanation.
I was just wondering whether the saucepans are still okay for use?

Thanks to everybody for their replies.;)

Minder

Are you washing them in a dishwasher?

Minder

I have some all stainless steel saucepans. After cooking pasta in the saucepans and washing them in the dishwasher, they show a pattern like dried pasta on the inside base of the pan - but there is no food stuck to the pan, just the pattern.