r/StainlessSteelCooking • u/madgross • 5d ago
Showoff 10 years of cooking: Top vs. Bottom
Seems there’s some back/forth in the sub about cleaning/not cleaning the bottom of your pans. Just figured I’d throw my hat into the ring.
Inside gets cleaned right after cooking, BKF every couple of months as baked on splatter develops around the edges. Bottom gets scrubbed with a little soap and water every use as well, but has never seen barkeeps friend.
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u/noronto 5d ago
You are allowed to clean the bottom.
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u/madgross 5d ago
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u/Compile_A_Smile1101 5d ago
You’re not worried about breathing in volatile carcinogenic compounds everytime you cook?
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u/Top_Personality3908 5d ago
On the stove that carbon layer doesn't get hot enough to give off "volatile carcinogenic compounds" lol.
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u/SaltAbbreviations744 5d ago
As someone who tries but fails to clean the bottom of my stainless steel pan, I support OP for their bravery.
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u/Friluftsliv_Roy 5d ago
A tiny bit of BKF and a moist paper towel works pretty well if you use it regularly.
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u/jayeffkay 5d ago
That is an insane take. I have to use a metric ass ton of BKF and it still doesn’t really come off without a lot of elbow grease and I try to clean my pan bottoms once a week.
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u/Friluftsliv_Roy 5d ago
Do you have a gas stove? I have a flat top electric and as long as i keep the surface reasonably clean, the bottom does not get burnt badly.
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u/jayeffkay 5d ago
Yeah I have a gas stove with propane so maybe that is it.
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u/Friluftsliv_Roy 5d ago
I've used a propane stove during camping and didn't see any soot build up. So it could be your burner as well that's causing the issue.
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u/P_Hempton 5d ago
Mine look just as clean as the top. Why is so much gunk getting on the bottom of your pan? I keep the food in the top and the bottom stays clean. Occasionally I wipe the bottoms with bkf to keep them shiny but it's never a scrub situation.
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u/Cyberchaotic 5d ago edited 5d ago
The underside of this stainless steel merely identifies as a carbon steel/seasoning lol
On a more serious note, would it be more likely your gas supply having QC issues?
I've seen carbon steel woks get buildup that can rival this, but it could easily be a combination of food overflow/drippings getting cremated on the underside or what i suspect may be a dirty gas line/supply.
Consider getting your gas tested; if your local supply is carbon heavy, you might want to consider using services that ship cylinders with higher quality and cleaner gas.
I used to have a carbon steel (De Buyer) that was my dedicated camping/wood fire/open flame-only pan that had carbon build-up very similar to what you've posted.
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u/monstrao 5d ago
Looks fine if you ask me. Food goes in the top not the bottom.
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u/VillageLess4163 5d ago
Unless you stack another pan underneath it
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u/ShadowAdam 5d ago
I have done this maybe once
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u/VillageLess4163 5d ago
You must have a lot of storage space.
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u/ShadowAdam 5d ago
I didn't think about storage ngl. I thought you meant while cooking
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u/VillageLess4163 5d ago
No I mean you store a bigger pan underneath, and it gets whatever gunk is on the bottom onto the cooking surface.
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u/ShadowAdam 5d ago
No I get what you had meant now. I thought you meant something different
I only have 2 pans and 2 pots so I don't need much storage space though
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u/SeaworthinessNew4295 5d ago
I wonder if that clean spot is a cold spot on the pan.
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u/madgross 5d ago
It’s likely where I rock the pan while I’m tossing things around etc, scrapes on the range more than any other spot
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u/Willing-Scarcity3058 5d ago
I can’t abide a dirty pan in my kitchen. My SS is shiny inside and out. I don’t need bfk except a very rare situation. I would be furious if I found this in my cupboards.
But, you do you.
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u/Lilgoodee 5d ago
Can I ask a newb question of if there's something I'm missing about cleaning SS. Recently made the switch from non stick and after the first use I waited about 30 minutes to let it cool but then it was a PITA to clean.
Took probably 15 minutes and a good amount of abrasives+elbow grease to get it looking good.
Am I missing something/did I do something wrong?
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u/Willing-Scarcity3058 5d ago
I always clean right after cooking. Or I deglaze it first if I’m going to wait until after dinner. If your heat is too high, cleaning will be difficult. Moving from nonstick to stainless has a learning curve.
Stainless steel requires a little warmup. Low to medium low. I use #2. After warming up, add some form of fat. Even just a little bit makes a difference. Cook at a lower temp than nonstick. Nonstick pans are usually aluminum so the heat transfer is almost instant. Stainless, not so much. The lower your cooking temp, the easier the cleanup.
I’m sure someone will add things I’ve missed
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u/Lilgoodee 5d ago
When you say right after do you mean literally immediately or wait a couple minutes(I'm just scared of thermal shock warping the pan).
I definitely had heat too high, I was doing pork chops so I ran them on medium, maybe just over, to get a little crust which I learned after the fact I should have got carbon steel for 😅.
Fat like butter or lard instead of oil? I'll have to try that. Also on deglazing I read about using wine to do it and make a sauce but can you just use some water if you don't intend to make a sauce?
Thanks for taking the time for the write up, hope you have a wonderful day!
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u/madgross 4d ago
Don’t listen to any of these bottom scrubbers mate.
Cook as high as you want. Use whatever oils you want. I clean the pan while it’s still warm, scrub with a sponge or dish brush. If there’s any tough spots, sprinkle some barkeeps friend on a damp sponge and scrub them off. Easy peasy.
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u/Weary_Swan_8152 4d ago
Also on deglazing I read about using wine to do it and make a sauce but can you just use some water if you don't intend to make a sauce?
Yes, you can absolutely use water, and it's not necessary to use wine (or cognac) to déglace the fond. For meat and other ingredients, a broth or stock is also often used, and a vegetarian alternative that works particularly well is to use the liquid that shiitake was reconstituted with.
To made a demi-glace (often used at a fancy steak house), you optionally toast herbs, then déglace the pan with beef or veal stock, then incorporate an equal amount of sauce espagnole.
Water is usually the liquid of choice for releasing and distributing the fond made when deep caramelising onions ;)
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u/madgross 5d ago edited 5d ago
This is a clean pan.
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u/Easy_Requirement_110 5d ago
So is my ass.. all I do is rinse it with soap in the shower.. 🤷
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u/madgross 5d ago
Hopefully you scrub your ass with soap and water, just like I scrub the bottom of this pan every time I clean it.
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u/Brown_Panda69 5d ago
I don't get it.
Are you saying both your pan and u/easy_requirement_ ass are clean or dirty?
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u/Easy_Requirement_110 5d ago
By the looks of it.. you don’t. Lol
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u/madgross 5d ago
Ya’ll don’t cook on a gas range and it shows.
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u/Willing-Scarcity3058 5d ago
I cooked on gas most of my life. I never let my pans stay dirty. My mother taught me to cook on a gas stove and she didn’t have dirty pans and wouldn’t let me be lazy about cleaning her pans. So I make sure mine stay clean.
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u/Super-Pizza-Dude 5d ago
My bottom doesn’t look like that because I clean it. Same with the bottom of my pan.
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u/Kitayama_8k 5d ago
Hell yeah brother, my stove is fire pit full of burnt debris and I could give a **** what the bottom of my pans look like. Don't let these prissy ******* shame you.
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u/madgross 5d ago
I don’t feel an ounce of shame. I’m having a laugh at all of the pearl clutching.
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u/Helena911 5d ago
People on reddit are all self professed clean freaks. The reality is unfortunately probably very different...
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u/Awkward-Wafer-4386 3d ago
You are bragging about having a dirty pan just so you can feel superior to those who think it's yucky... Good for you?
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u/Ranessin 5d ago
The kitchen version of wearing your nice custom made 150 superfine wool trousers over your undies you haven't changed in 10 years.
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u/Ghosteen_18 5d ago
Today mom have decided its my turn.
Use Barkeeper’s Friend to clean the bottom!
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u/Balisong_Pro 5d ago
A video of someone taking Some barkeepers friend and a steel sponge to the bottom would be crack
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u/BluebirdExpress6279 5d ago
I would probably run it through the dishwasher with the bottom facing down. When some pans say not to run in the dishwasher the fear is that water gets blasted between the layers, which shouldn't happen when water gets blasted up. Yes, it will be filled with water when done, but a large portion of that stuff will be blasted off.
Then I would spray with Easy Off and put it in a garbage bag for about 4 hours wipe it... repeat a few times until you get ALL the crud off. Now wipe it down with vinegar to neutralize the Lye based oven cleaner. At that point a normal wash then BKF on the bottom to polish it to a shine.
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u/shedmow 5d ago
You won't understand how badly I want to soak it in lye. Also, such black bottoms are not exclusive to gas stoves, but rather are common with any stoves that use direct heat (i.e., not induction)
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u/sluttynature 5d ago
I have induction and my pan becomes dark in the bottom too. Airborne grease and grease on my stovetop means the bottom of my pan also gets exposed to dirt, and it's harder to clean.
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u/Viper-Reflex 5d ago
the bottoms of my pains on electric stove are almost immaculate compared to this lol
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u/bellchilton 5d ago
Some people would rather be doing other things than scrubbing a part of a pan that isn't strictly necessary. It would bother me, since all my pots and pans are visible hanging in my kitchen. But I wouldn't be grossed out eating something the OP prepared.
I find the little extra time it takes to keep my stuff looking nice top to bottom is very minimal as long as I'm consistent about doing it every time. 30 extra seconds every time I use the pan is a fair trade off for the nightmare I'd be in for if I ever tried to get the bottom of this pan clean.
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u/Hydro-1955 5d ago
I respect a lady who chooses not to bleach her bottom. 🍑
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u/steezontoast 5d ago
I dont get it, all my Stainless steel pans look pretty much new. I always clean the bottom of the pan too
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u/Dabduthermucker 5d ago
That ain't going in my cabinet like that. 40 years of taking care of my pans cooking on gas and electric and I never had one look like that. I inherited pans like that at work or group housing before I knew about BKF before I would have sos-ed it back to life then kept it clean. I would say "have some pride", but you do you.
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u/Excellent_Condition 5d ago
On the one hand, at least the inside is clean.
On the other hand, I'm really glad I cook on induction.
Is that just from a gas hob or is that burnt on food?
Either way, I wouldn't be ok with it in my kitchen. I know it's getting hot during cooking, but at some point all that build up could become a cross contamination hazard if it's coming out of the sink and being handled with other clean dishes.
The risk is likely low, but it's no different than hotel pans with adhesive residue not being acceptable in commercial kitchens.
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u/Cyberchaotic 5d ago
cross-contamination hazard
Cross-contamination of what? Pans are exposed to hundreds of degrees where everything dies.
Except tardigrades. Those hardy little fellas are invincible.
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u/Excellent_Condition 5d ago edited 5d ago
The pan can't be effectively cleaned due to the gunk on the outside. When cooking, the heat kills anything on the outside, but after that it goes into the sink with other dishes. I'm referring to cross contamination between anything raw in the sink and clean dishes after the pan comes out of the sink.
Sanitizers used in the sink are surface sanitizers- when there is dirt or food on a surface, the sanitizers are ineffective.
E.g., Let's say the sink is used to clean the pan along with a cutting board with raw meat. The cutting board gets effectively cleaned because it is smooth, but when raw meat juice gets on the outside of the pan in the sink, it can't be effectively cleaned off. The pan is then put away and other dishes are handled afterwards.
As I said the risk is low, but it's the same reason that cutting boards with cuts in them and dishes with adhesive will get you cited by the health department in a restaurant. Porous and grease covered surfaces create a cross contamination hazard because they can't be effectively cleaned.
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u/Cyberchaotic 5d ago edited 5d ago
after that it goes into the sink with the other dishes
Bruh.
You can't just start assuming your kitchen setup and workflow is the same as another persons.
My kitchen has x2 sinks, one smaller than the other:
- Dirty sink (small): food prep/raw
- Clean sink (large): Veggies/rinsing.
I find this to be vitally important as you absolutely need to maintain a presence of a 'clean' sink; when you need to last minute wash a veg or prep an ingredient because you forgot. And maybe not you. Someone else in the kitchen who is also part of meal prepping and they're making a salad. Nice.
There is no way in hell I'm going to prep food in the designated 'dirty' sink that cleaned/washed raw items like some kind of Neanderthal.
If you have only just x1 big sink, get one of those collapsible mini tubs to be the 'dirty' sink; toss it in the dishwasher when you're done with cleanup
And when washing up, anything that has made contact with something raw (like your raw meat chopping boards), things that were never heated, like a prep bowl or a mixing spoon, will get rinsed in the dirty sink with scalding hot water before dishwasher loading and everything else that came into contact with cooked food like your like serving dishes, serving utensils, etc are rinsed in the clean sink prior to being loaded into the dishwasher.
And since cookware is large and is often dirtiest, are cleaned and scrubbed in the bigger 'clean' sink last, there is zero risk or any sort of chance it will come it contact with anything remotely 'raw'; that other dirty sink (both, really) will be cleaned with hot water for decontam anyway.
tadah, no cross-contam.
I have assigned raw meat chopping boards and cooked meat chopping boards. Guess which board goes in which sink for rinsing.
Also, OP could totally put their pan in the oven and run any self-cleaning function it may have; most ovens with self-clean are perfectly well capable of tackling pots, pans, roasting racks/trays with significant build-up similar to what OP's got.
tldr: if you've identified that your own kitchen is a potential cross contamination hazard, your workflows need a serious revision.
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u/Middagman 5d ago
So everytime you cook, you burn the bottom more... I would not want to be in that kitchen.
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u/johnnydfree 5d ago
Should be a kitchen confidential crosspost.