Saucepan disaster - is caustic soda OK on stainless?

[Harbo]

I found a link to our pans:

http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=62792

They were bought as an Engagement present in the 60's.

Also use some small cast iron Le Crueset for making sauces and large one for making casseroles etc. they are very heavy but great for slow cooking.

Rod

 

[Steve Maskery]

I'm surprised the Circulon ones don't get the thumbs up. I have a set that is now 20 years old and most of them are still in excellent condition And yes, they do get used! The only one that I've ditched was the frying pan. After years of high-tem cooking they got to the stage where it oozed, so I ditched it when I moved. Mind you the replacement was £16 job from Aldi/Lidl and it is absolutely excellent!
I'd happily buy Circulon again.
S

 

[whiskywill]

Caustic soda will not affect stainless steel. It's use in breweries every day to clean out their stainless steeel pipework and brewing plant.

 

[AndyT]

Barkeeper's friend is a very bad idea on any sort of stainless steel where you care about the finish - it is very abrasive and will pineapple it up - I've been there on my Mercury range and it cost me many many hours getting it back to looking anything like acceptable (like dismantling it and re-polishing the whole front).

Probably good for sharpening (or the inside of a pan), though.

Good point. I should have said it's meant for steel with a 'brushed' finish, not a glossy polished one.

 

[Gary Morris]

I think the main point of not useing caustic soda would be, if it's not completly removed and someone ends up in hospital. There are safe ways to clean cookware. A bit like removing the guard on a circular saw bench, you may get away with it for a while, but you never know....

Gary

 

[andersonec]

Contact the manufacturers or a stainless steel expert. http://www.teknomek.co.uk/

Andy

 

[DrPhill]

I'm surprised the Circulon ones don't get the thumbs up. I have a set that is now 20 years old and most of them are still in excellent condition And yes, they do get used! The only one that I've ditched was the frying pan. After years of high-tem cooking they got to the stage where it oozed, so I ditched it when I moved. Mind you the replacement was £16 job from Aldi/Lidl and it is absolutely excellent!
I'd happily buy Circulon again.
S

The main problems are:
- The lids have a bulge: when you drain something using the lid, stuff gets stuck in the bulge. You can lose a good handfull of peas that way, and it is a bugger to clean the inside of the lid. When you wash the lid, you have to place it level to drain, or you get a puddle of water stored for future amusement.
- They have non-stick, which we did not want (obviously not Circulons fault, but the product description did not make it very clear - apparently)
- They are ugly and look cheap.