Tip for cleaning the bottoms of steam trays

[Run Forest Run!]

I tend to get a fair bit of soot and grunge on the bottom of my stainless steel steam trays, no matter how hard I try to adjust the flame on the fryers. Last night I had a lot of black soot to deal with and it got all over me and the laundry room when I washed up the trays.

Anyhow, I had an idea when faced with a similar mess tonight.... After emptying the trays I took both of them to the lawn and rubbed them back and forth over the lawn. The grass and the snow removed 90% of the crud on the bottom of each pan! That's going to save me from tracking in all that black mess. I'll definitely be doing that again!

[Twindadx2]

I've read that some people use oven cleaner on the bottoms of their pans as well to get all the soot off

[NirvanaFan]

I've never tried it, but I've heard rubbing dish soap on the bottom of the pan helps the back soot from sticking. I'm not sure how well it actually works though.

[happy thoughts]

I did the soap thing last year. It helped with cleanup when I used to scrub both the inside and outside of my pans between boils. This year I just brush the flaky stuff off the bottoms and only clean the inside between boils. Just a soak overnight in hot soapy water does the trick on the inside and maybe some bar keeper's friend and a nylon scotchbrite scrubby for tougher spots. I also took someone's advice on the forum this year and wipe the top 2 inches of the pan with a *very* thin coat of canola oil before each boil. That seems to keep down the sugar burns from splashing and makes clean up easier.

For end of year cleanup oven cleaner makes quick work of the soot on the bottom especially if you can do it outside where it won't hurt plants or grass, and have a hose handy.

[Run Forest Run!]

I did both things, put soap on the bottom of the pan and also rubbed a little oil on the top two inches of my pan. Both ideas worked great! Thanks to everyone on here who suggested trying that! Combining that with a quick pan rub on the lawn I was really pleased with the ease of clean-up. No black soot all over me and the sink.

[MustardSeedMum]

Darn. Wish this thread was a couple of days ago. Would've saved me some elbow grease. I won't be able to do any clean up now, since I'm trying to stay ahead of the big sap run that's threatening to overwhelm me this week....not that I'm complaining (about the sap run)

[Ravenseye]

Bar Keepers Friend!

http://www.barkeepersfriend.com/

[TreeTapper2]

I get some really tough sugar burn spots inside the pans. I've tried oven cleaner(the good stuff) and it wont penetrate the black burnt stuff. I have scrubed them with scotch pad....nada. I have soaked in water with vinegar over hot coals. This seems to help a little more.

Anybody got any better ideas.

[Run Forest Run!]

I have soaked in water with vinegar over hot coals. This seems to help a little more.


OUCH!! Try soaking your pan in the water with vinegar instead. :lol: Sorry TreeTapper2, I couldn't resist.

On a serious note, have you tried getting something like a putty knife and trying to scrape it off? I'm assuming you have. That's what I've had to do to get a few tough burned bits off and it seems to help, but the stainless under those spots (once scraped off) seems permanently darkened.