Methods for cleaning a frying pan from fat and carbon deposits at home.

Cleaning Features for Different Frying Pans

The method for removing carbon deposits should be not only effective, but also safe, otherwise, along with the contamination, it is easy to lose the further meaning of using high-quality utensils, which are not cheap.

On the shelves of hardware stores, you can find three types of frying pans:

• cast iron;
• steel;
• aluminum.

The last two varieties are often supplemented with a non-stick coating: Teflon or ceramic.

Check out a selection of useful ideas for organizing the storage of frying pans.

What should be taken into account when cleaning a frying pan with a non-stick coating?

The most popular non-stick coatings are Teflon and ceramic. Let’s consider the features of each coating in more detail:

• Teflon must be handled with care, avoid abrasive cleaning agents and hard brushes, and stir and lay out the food being cooked with a wooden or silicone spatula. And to remove carbon deposits from a Teflon frying pan, it is recommended to use gentle products: soap solution, any detergent or soda.
• Ceramics are stronger and more durable, but they can also be easily damaged with a brush or metal utensils if handled carelessly. It is better to remove burnt fat immediately after cooking and not leave it for a long time. If this doesn’t work, use soaking in a soap solution, but no abrasives, calcinations or melamine sponges.

Let’s now take a closer look at the rules for handling cast iron, stainless steel and aluminum products without a non-stick coating, but first remember one general rule:

Regardless of the material, frying pans do not need to be scrubbed hard from the inside, because the thin layer of burnt oil that forms over time improves their performance.

Cast iron

Every second housewife appreciates cast iron cookware for its powerful heat, fast and even heating, long cooling dishes and a century-long service life. Heavy, good-quality frying pans are passed down through generations and, by the time they reach from grandmother to granddaughter, they acquire natural non-stick properties. But along with them, hard-to-remove carbon deposits appear on the outer surface and inner sides.

Cast iron can be rubbed with the hard side of a sponge, treated with acidic and alkaline compounds, mercilessly calcined over a fire and in the oven. It is afraid of only water, from which it quickly becomes covered with rust, and sudden changes in temperature – because of them it becomes brittle.

Therefore, cast iron frying pans cannot be soaked for a long time in a solution of household chemicals and washed in a dishwasher, or put under a cold tap immediately after cooking, hoping to wash off the fat faster. By the way, such somersaults are harmful to any hot kitchen utensils.

How to restore a cast iron frying pan after removing carbon deposits?

After cleaning the carbon deposits, or better yet, after each use, it is recommended to dry the cast iron frying pan and wipe it on all sides with a napkin or paper towel with a drop of vegetable oil, then put it away for storage separately and do not put wet dishes inside.

And before the first use, be sure to add salt and heat the frying pan for 15 minutes. Then pour out the salt, wipe with a dry towel and thoroughly rub the inside of the pan with oil.

Stainless steel

Steel pans are much lighter and more convenient than their cast iron counterparts, but they have less heat capacity, and without a non-stick coating, food annoyingly sticks to them and fat deposits form. To avoid this, you will need strong heating, and this is the only “evil” that steel fears. The exception is expensive multi-layer frying pans with a capsule bottom, and if you are ready to neglect savings in order to cook with comfort, then why not?

To clean a steel frying pan from carbon deposits, all means are good, except calcination – a thin product will “lead”, and a very flimsy one will shrink.

Aluminum

Thick-walled aluminum frying pans, saucepans, sauté pans and roasters with Teflon or ceramic coating have flooded the market. They combine light weight, affordable cost, attractive design and high performance. But getting rid of old carbon deposits and grease from such dishes is a million-dollar question; you have to wash them thoroughly after each cooking session from all sides.

With frying pans made of pure aluminum, there is even more hassle. Soaking them for a short time, boiling them, and treating them with gentle chemicals based on acid or alkali is allowed, although you should not put them in the dishwasher – dishwashing tablets are too aggressive in composition. You can’t calcine it, and rubbing it with melamine sponges, wire sponges, metal or plastic scrapers is downright dangerous – harmful oxides will get into the food from the resulting damage.

An aluminum frying pan scratched with abrasives and brushes will become covered with carbon deposits even faster, and any food will hopelessly burn to it.

For convenience, let’s summarize:

Working methods for removing carbon deposits

Attention: before trying to clean the frying pan using one of the suggested methods, look at the table and make sure that ruin the cookware. If it is possible to dismantle the wooden or bakelite handle, do so.

Folk remedies for combating carbon deposits

Soda

Sodium bicarbonate is used to remove carbon deposits from frying pans at home most often. A specific method is chosen based on the intensity of the contamination. If the problem is small, prepare a paste of equal parts of soda and water and rub the cookware with it. To increase friction and improve efficiency, add some coarse table salt.

Stubborn carbon deposits from the outer surface can be removed by boiling with soda:

1. Pour water into a large saucepan or basin and bring to a boil.
2. Pour in half a glass of soda ash or baking soda per liter.
3. Lower the dirty frying pan and boil for 30-60 minutes.
4. Brush off any remaining carbon deposits as needed.

Vinegar

Soda, as a weak alkali, not very effective if the sides and bottom of the pan are covered with a thick layer of black soot. You will need a reaction with acid. Generously sprinkle the dirty areas with soda and pour in table vinegar – the mass will foam and hiss. When the process has calmed down, rub the metal, and if the carbon deposits do not come off the first time, repeat the procedure.

To remove stubborn greasy deposits on the bottom, do it differently:

1. Pour a glass of water and 9% table vinegar into the frying pan.
2. Put on the stove and boil for 15-20 minutes.
3. Pour in half a glass of soda (if the sides are low, drain some of the solution, otherwise the foam will come out over the edge).
4. Wait until the boiling stops and finish cleaning off the carbon deposits with a sponge.

Soap for internal contamination

72% laundry soap is better than baking soda at removing solidified fat and carbon deposits inside a frying pan:

1. Grate a quarter or half of a bar into a dirty dish and fill it to the top with water.
2. Heat the soap solution, but do not bring it to a boil.
3. Remove the frying pan from the stove and leave it until it cools completely, or better yet, overnight. In the morning, all that remains is to clean off any remaining carbon deposits, rinse with warm water and wipe dry.

Glue

By adding stationery silicate glue to the three above-mentioned substances, we will obtain the most effective weapon for combating centuries-old layers of carbon deposits. It successfully copes with cleaning when caustic household chemicals are powerless, and does not destroy metal.

The method is known as “Soviet”:

1. Bring water to a boil in a 10-liter enamel bucket, remove it from the stove.
2. Grate a bar of laundry soap into it, wait until it dissolves completely.
3. You will need a bottle of PVA glue and half a pack of soda, add them and mix well.
4. Dip the frying pan in the solution and leave it to soak overnight.

Hydrogen peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide can enhance the effect of baking soda and laundry soap – add one bottle to the above recipes if the carbon deposits do not want to leave the pan with a non-stick coating after several rounds of boiling with soda or soaking in a concentrated soap solution.

Ammonia

Ammonia copes with carbon deposits and fat faster than hydrogen oxide, does not require boiling, but is not always at hand and has a pungent odor.

If you have a large arsenal of household tools at your disposal, arm yourself with rubber gloves and try this method:

1. Dissolve a teaspoon of borax and a tablespoon of ammonia in a glass of warm water.
2. Pour the mixture into the frying pan, apply to the sides or immerse the bottom to remove carbon deposits from the outside.
3. Wait an hour and rinse with warm water.

Citric acid

You shouldn’t consider this culinary additive as a panacea; table vinegar cleans more effectively. But if it runs out and you need to clean the carbon deposits inside the frying pan urgently, replace it at the rate of one tablespoon of citric acid instead of half a glass of 9% vinegar, strengthen it with liquid dishwashing detergent and boiling.

Washing powder

In Soviet times, when there was a shortage of household chemicals, hand washing powder came to the rescue of housewives. They saved themselves from carbon deposits by boiling the utensils in an enamel basin with the addition of 100 g of the product and a few spoons of vegetable oil. It is difficult to say what useful role it plays in the process of cleaning the frying pan, but I think it is worth trying.

Mustard

Dry mustard powder really does allow you to quickly remove solidified fat and carbon deposits inside the cookware – this information is verified. Pour it into a dirty frying pan, put it on the stove and heat it for 15-20 minutes over medium heat.

Cola

Many people demonize this sweet fizzy drink and claim that with prolonged exposure it can dissolve aluminum. Let it be so, and cola is also of no use to health, but in the kitchen aggressive soda can be useful – it will perfectly cope with light fat deposits and carbon deposits, and at the same time remove an unpleasant smell if you soak the frying pan in it overnight or boil it.

Activated carbon for an aluminum frying pan

Aluminum is a beautiful, durable material, but it requires special care. Harsh cleaning and boiling in complex compositions will spoil the appearance of the cookware. You can restore the cleanliness of your frying pan and remove old carbon deposits using activated carbon.

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Dilute any washing powder in hot water and soak the dirty dishes in it for 1 hour.
2. Remove the frying pan from the water and wipe dry.
3. Crush 8 tablets of activated carbon to a powder state and pour into a container prepared for cleaning.
4. Add a glass of water and bring to a boil.
5. Leave the solution for 40 minutes.
6. Drain the liquid, wipe the surface with a sponge.

Potato starch for a frying pan with a Teflon coating

Teflon coating does not tolerate chemical exposure and the reaction of active substances. This means that you cannot use salt, chalk, or a reaction of soda and vinegar to clean a frying pan with a protective layer. A gentle method using potato starch is suitable:

1. Pour a glass of water into the frying pan, add 2 tablespoons of starch.
2. Boil the resulting solution for 20 minutes.
3. After the above time, pour out the liquid and rinse the container.

Attention! The product can be poured into a separate container and used to wash the outside of the frying pan.

Purchased products for removing carbon deposits

Purchased products for cleaning dishes from carbon deposits are aggressive chemicals. It is advisable to clean only the outer surface of household utensils with them, and the inner surface – with folk remedies.

They are also not recommended for cleaning products with a Teflon coating.

See a detailed analysis of the products from the blogger:

Household chemicals for removing carbon deposits “AZELIT”

The cleaning product is a professional household chemical for the home. Effectively fights grease, carbon deposits and soot. When interacting with carbon deposits, the product turns into powerful foam. It is enough to spray the chemical composition inside and outside the frying pan and wait 5-10 minutes. After the time has elapsed, you can start washing the utensils using a hard brush.

If the dishes did not wash the first time, you can apply AZELIT again. Of all the chemical compositions, I only use this one. But I do not risk using it to wash dishes with a Teflon coating.

Attention! Before cleaning, be sure to wear gloves. A mask would also be useful – the product has a pungent odor.

«Cilit»

It helps to cope not only with old grease stains, but also with carbon deposits. It has to be applied to the surface of the frying pan 2-3 times to achieve the desired result. When working, be sure to take safety precautions.

“Shumanit Bagi”

You can find this inexpensive cleaning product at any hardware store. You need to apply it to the dishes several times to remove the soot. The pungent smell takes a long time to dissipate.

Attention! After using chemical compounds, the frying pan must be rinsed thoroughly. To be sure, wipe the dishes with a napkin soaked in vinegar.

Mechanical cleaning methods

I believe that the mechanical method of cleaning cast iron and aluminum cookware is an extreme method. It removes centuries of soot in a matter of minutes, but there is one drawback. When removing a layer of dirt from the dishes, the top (anodized) layer is also removed. This means that a thick layer of carbon deposits will accumulate on the utensils very quickly.

Pyrolysis

It is not always possible to remove a thick layer of carbon deposits from a cast iron frying pan or cauldron using chemicals. Connect an open flame or extreme heat – let the fire, blowtorch, oven with self-cleaning function work.

A regular oven will do:

1. Preheat it to the maximum (the limit for household stoves is 220-250 degrees).
2. Apply vegetable oil to the dishes, turn upside down, place on the rack and keep in the oven for 1-2 hours.
3. Cool by opening the door and patiently waiting, brush off the black dust.

Sandblasting or grinding machine

A radical method for cleaning long-term carbon deposits from the outside is mechanical. Try to carefully knock it off with a chisel, clean it with coarse-grained hard sandpaper, cut it off with a grinder, or give it to the tire repairmen to be torn apart. They will be able to deftly clean a cast-iron frying pan with sandblasting.

How to deal with old carbon deposits and grease?

For severe cases, do not forget about the recommendations for different frying pan materials. So, for non-stick models, you can only use a repetition of suitable procedures. But for cast iron and steel, you can resort to mechanical means. Combination products also work well against old carbon deposits: for example, soda and vinegar, soaking and boiling.

Recommendations for preventing carbon deposits

To reduce the formation of carbon deposits on the frying pan, follow these simple rules:

• If you regularly wash your utensils in the dishwasher, clean them yourself with a sponge a couple of times a month, because the equipment copes with grease and soot worse than diligent human hands;
• Use abrasive products less often and do not touch the frying pan with hard objects, even if it does not have a non-stick coating – scratches accelerate the formation of carbon deposits and make it difficult to remove;
• On a gas stove, select a burner based on the diameter of the bottom – the flame should not “lick” and burn the sides;
• Use correctly heat, do not increase it thoughtlessly to achieve a boil faster or fry food better – it will burn, and the cookware will suffer along with it;
• before the first use and after a thorough cleaning, a cast iron frying pan must be calcined for 20-30 minutes with a centimeter layer of vegetable oil and table salt (regular salt also helps to remove rust from cast iron).

We have considered simple ways to remove carbon deposits from a frying pan inside and outside at home without the use of specialized household chemicals, but often you cannot do without them. In order not to spend money on buying expensive cleaning agents, spend it on caring for the dishes a little more of your attention, time and care.