burnt pan?

[seandicare]

i have a SS steam table pan that boiled out.

my partner happened to make the mistake of trying to boil after a midnite shift, last season. boiled everything down to charcoal. my question is, since there are no holes in it, is it salvageable if i were to take a wire brush and scrape the charred stuff out of it? or would there still be the charred taste to the syrup?

[maple flats]

Very unlikely that you can save it, but try. I would not wire brush it, that will leave scratches that will not be good. Try soaking it first in water, then scrape it using a plastic scraper of some kind, like a plastic putty knife. Then saok again and repeat. After 2-3 times, then saok it in a 50/50 mix of white vinegar. If that doesn't work, then get a new pan. Also, a pressure washer may work.

[seandicare]

thanks, i had already tried the soaking and scraping.......wire brush was going to be my next step.........i needed to get a couple more pans anyways to fit my "new" fueltank evap, so guess i will go with 1 more while i am at it.

i notice the price of those pans fluctuates pretty good on Amazon (where i usually get them) last year was $17, this winter was $24, this weekend they were $22 and today they were up to $26-28.....

[happy thoughts]

Since you're ready to toss it, try a lye based oven cleaner like Easy-Off first. Make sure to wear heavy gloves. You can rinse with vinegar to help neutralize the lye. Bar Keeper's Friend is a great non abrasive stainless cleaner and cheap for whatever char is left after the oven cleaner. The last thing I'd try is a wire brush because it will scratch.

[pathfinder22]

Just a thought if your are looking to replace your pans,
new is better but I have gotten them from party supply rental places (tents tables chairs ect).
Sometimes they have inventory they are replacing.
They may be a bit beat up, but are clean. and for $10 average, I will not complain.

[maple75]

I have heard that soaking it overnight with water and a generous amount of liquid dish washer detergent works. I know it works wonders for tea and coffee stained, stainless steel thermos but never actually tried it on burnt pans myself.

[happy thoughts]

Just a thought if your are looking to replace your pans,
new is better but I have gotten them from party supply rental places (tents tables chairs ect).
Sometimes they have inventory they are replacing.
They may be a bit beat up, but are clean. and for $10 average, I will not complain.

Good idea. I got mine at a restaurant supply store that carried used equipment. I got heavy gauge vollrath pans for less than a quarter of their retail cost.

[seandicare]

Just a thought if your are looking to replace your pans,
new is better but I have gotten them from party supply rental places (tents tables chairs ect).
Sometimes they have inventory they are replacing.
They may be a bit beat up, but are clean. and for $10 average, I will not complain.

wanted to go that route when i first started getting set up.....appearently i really live in the middle no where. could not find any party or reasturant supply stores close by (couple hours)

[Helicopter Seeds]

Stainless steel won't get damaged until around 2500 degrees. Believe it or not the easiest way is to burn of the char. YES burn it.
Put it on a propane burner directly, watch the red hot spot and move it, or put the whole thing in the oven on self clean, if you don't mind smoke. It may bang and rebang but no serious warpage. If you are ready to toss, then what's to lose. I put three into a restaurants pizza oven at 900 degrees, ten minutes later all black was gone. I'll look for photos...

To shine them, "barkeepers friend" took another ten minutes. looked good as new. will never scrub the black again.

[buckeye gold]

try some muriatic acid

[Smitty8377]

Let it soak in white vinegar for a few hours even helps to warm it up in the pan. You can also use Cascade powdered detergent and warm water an let it soak. Every at some point will burn or has burnt a pan.

[BreezyHill]

I used my air compressor and the air grinder with the green finger wheel. This is a hardened plastic and did a great job. I had a 2x2 pan cleaned and rinsed out in 45 minutes.

I drained the "stuff off that was left in the pan, added water and some soap stone remover acid, put on a tee shirt and got to work. The brick of the rig had enough heat to keep the pan warm and it cleaned up fast. The thickest was only about 3/16" thick.

I had the auto draw off set from the previous night and it was to high and was not able to keep up with the entire pan being near brix. Plan to build an emergency flood system for the pan in the event this ever happens again.

Good Luck!

and as another said:" We all have done it" some just rather not talk about it. LOL

[Big_Eddy]

If you are going to use a wire wheel or a wire brush, only use a stainless one. A plain steel wheel or brush will leave deposits on the surface that will later rust.

[tcross]

I had a similar situation when I first started. I inherited a used syrup pan that was scorched badly in the front two sections and on the dividers! I tried using the acid wash which was mildly affective with some scraping. however I couldn't get the really burnt stuff off, so I soaked it in a 50/50 vinegar solution for 3-4 days, drained it and filled it about 1/2" with hot water and got myself one of those 3M wheels you can put on your screw gun. the first pad had an abrasive material (similar to sand paper) in between the 3M pads. that worked to get the nasty stuff off, then I used a regular 3m pad on my screw gun and got the rest off and shined it up. it looks great now! you may scratch it a little bit if you're not careful with the first pad I mentioned but it did the trick! much better then scrubbing for hours!

[seandicare]

well, after looking at amazon and the bulk deals i found 6 for $95 after tax. decent deal from what i can see. plus gives me a couple extras in case i get stupid and leave my partner alone with it again :)

[BreezyHill]

LOL it is hard to find good cheap help and cheap help is usually not good and good help isn usually cheap...but kids and partners can come in handy. LOL

[dugit]

I've sanded my pan to get the burnt layer off

[Helicopter Seeds]

Totally jinxed myself. Burned a batch Friday, 3 pans total burned cake molasses ashes. Built a mini brick oven to burn them out. Took a few hours but worked.

[eustis22]

I have a burn SPOT in my pan (just noticed it). A) what is the effect on my current contents? B) DO I need to clean it off before my next boil? C) I assume the vinegar stainless brush treatment?

[eustis22]

follow up: not that serious as the boiling water & vinegar solution removed the black. However, I noticed that there is a small dent at that location that I'd not noticed before nor was it there last year....

It's dented UP so I'm wondering if some wood hit it. I turned the pan around so the syrup channel is now the undented one....I;'ll have to see what can be done after the season.

[georgelineman]

Lots of White Vinegar and a box of baking soda add some water you will see it start to bubble then put it on the burner and let it boil repeat if you need to it should come loose.

[Polish Wizard]

This year during my first-ever attempt at boiling sap I followed the suggestions of other posters and kept the sap low in my (3) 6" deep buffet pans. My evaporator is made from a heavily modified and insulated lateral file cabinet, with the center pan being directly over the flue --- and ultimately the hottest pan.
With a good amount of steam being produced I failed to notice my adding sap to the pan failed to keep up with the steam generation and I had actual flame where there should have been maple syrup.
Luckily I had additional pans so I could pull out the burnt one and keep going with my cook.

Two days after receiving it from Sam's on-line, I thought my new pan had suddenly turned to junk.
I tried oven cleaner and ScocthPads with no success.
I looked to this thread for suggestions and found the best method for my application is 50/50 vinegar and water --- deep enough to cover the burnt stuff.
I then cover the pan with foil and put the pan in my kitchen oven at 350 degrees to get everything warmed -- especially the metal pan.

After I feel the pan has had enough warming time I turn off the heat and leave it sit covered in the oven overnight.
The pan was easy to clean, and I completed my process for any stubborn areas with a ScotchPad designed for use in my electric drill. (Walmart tool area for the pad)

I've used this process three times, saving the vinegar solution each time. I use a screen basket from the dollar store and a cloth dishtowel to filter out chunks.

My neighbor provided a small quantity of an Oakite product (number 44???) that he uses on his Leader evaporator. I haven't tried his sample yet, but he gave it good reviews.

[psparr]

I applaud you for being man enough to admit you did it three times.

[CampHamp]

I'd love to see your file cabinet evaporator!

[Polish Wizard]

I'd love to see your file cabinet evaporator!

Sorry for my delayed response. I previously tried to post photos wifey had taken and sent to my e-mail, but no luck.
I'll try again when wifey has time to help this computer-illiterate maple sucker post photos.

[MaxJ]

Well I have had the pleasure of trying to clean a burnt pan and what didn't work and what did. First I warmed water and let it sit and scraped with a wood paint stirrer, it took the edges off and that's all. Then came the Easy-off and basically did the same-then the pan cleaner on the recommendation from the supplier "The new pan cleaner will take that right off-no problem" $30 later I believe that it's as good as spit. So after rinsing and scrubbing with baking soda, and rinsing I finally got a razor blade and two days later I have a pan thats still warped (Metal shop annealed back out to being level) on the centre section but it's working till the new (promised by Monday) one arrives-hello:roll eyes:

I have learnt "One must not load evaporator up with wood, then go out collecting sap for 5 minutes"
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