Is it turbo toast?

I recently had a priming sugar accident in my kettle. I am just curious if I should consider it a lost cause and buy another one, or if there is a way to salvage it. I wouldn't normally use my kettle for priming sugar, but I am in the middle of a move and all the other pots and pans are packed. I recently learned about the microwave trick, but only after the accident. I took an important call and completely forgot about it on the stove. Any help is greatly appreciated.

is that pot steel or aluminum? the only way it would be ruined, which has nothing to do with the sugar itself, would be if you severely overheated the pot and the metal itself got damaged (much more likely for aluminum than steel).

if its just burnt sugar (which is essentially just carbon), boil some water in it untill it comes off. if its a steel pot, let some oxyclean it in it for a while. might not be shiney and new again, but it will still work as a pot.

audger said:

is that pot steel or aluminum? the only way it would be ruined, which has nothing to do with the sugar itself, would be if you severely overheated the pot and the metal itself got damaged (much more likely for aluminum than steel).

if its just burnt sugar (which is essentially just carbon), boil some water in it untill it comes off. if its a steel pot, let some oxyclean it in it for a while. might not be shiney and new again, but it will still work as a pot.

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It is SS. I will give your advice a shot. Thanks.

Been there, did this: oven cleaner and a heavy duty scrub brush (the ones they sell next to the steel wool). Trust me. I tried a bunch of other techniques first, including oxyclean, but that one did the trick.

Heavy Duty Easy-Off oven cleaner. Repeated applications will most likely be necessary. Apply and give it time to work. A strong solution of hot Oxyclean will also work. Barkeepers Friend is another option, but it will require more elbow grease. Once you get the burned sugars softened up a bit they will dissolve, but it won't happen instantly.

+1 on the Bar Keepers Friend ... that stuff works wonders for stainless

Note that oven cleaner works best when hot (if you decide to go that route).

Well, I tried oven cleaner. Pretty much ruined the pot. It left numerous discolored spots once I cleaned it. I followed the directions for SS on the can too. Not worth saving at this point. I had bar keepers friend too. Should have just used that.

Oven cleaner normally will not attack SS. Are you certain that the kettle is SS? It would, however, trash an aluminum kettle. The BKF may have worked, but you would likely have a similar result. I would not be too concerned if the only remaining issue is some discoloration on the bottom of the kettle. Don't understand why that would be a big deal at all.

Catt22 said:

Oven cleaner normally will not attack SS. Are you certain that the kettle is SS? It would, however, trash an aluminum kettle. The BKF may have worked, but you would likely have a similar result. I would not be too concerned if the only remaining issue is some discoloration on the bottom of the kettle. Don't understand why that would be a big deal at all.

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It was a cheapy $40 SS kettle. I am sure that factors in at some point. It seemed to work really well on the burnt sugar, but left a bunch of odd spots.

Hefanatic, did you try the Bar Keeper's Friend?

Why are you concerned with spots on the inside of your brew kettle?

Hefanatic said:

It was a cheapy $40 SS kettle. I am sure that factors in at some point. It seemed to work really well on the burnt sugar, but left a bunch of odd spots.

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The discoloration is probably a result of the exposure to high temperatures and not caused by the oven cleaner. The discoloration is probably permanent, but it's only an aesthetic issue and won't affect the beer. You can often see similar discoloration on motorcycle exhaust headers and such. The bottom skirt of my converted keg kettle has taken on a heat induced coloration over time. I'm not a metallurgist, so I can't explain the chemistry of this phenomenon, but it's a result of long duration exposure to high temperatures.

Catt22 said:

I'm not a metallurgist, so I can't explain the chemistry of this phenomenon, but it's a result of long duration exposure to high temperatures.

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It has to do with light refraction. Its a layer of oxidation, and light bounces off of it differently as the layer thickens. It will start off as a straw color, then change to more of a copper then all the way to blue until it is black, if it is exposed to too much heat.

Kar keepers friend and one of these Paint Scrubbie on a drill. Worked wonders for me when I scorched some LME in my keggle.

It's just discoloration what's the big deal?

main concern of discoloration is it shows a change in the metal from over heating. I don't know the answer to this question but "does the discoloration mean a change that will prevent even heating and create a hot spot?"

Would such a spot which holds heat more cause more scorching in your pot? I have heard of this, but I'm sure material makes a difference on getting hotspots, so SS might be immune (or more so) than Aluminum or Copper.

Look, there really is absolutely nothing to worry about. You are being a little OCD about this whole thing, frankly. Not to be rude, but there is nothing wrong with your pot. Just carry on with your brewing, and I promise everything will work out great. There is no hot spot, its not like the oven cleaner etched a crater in your pot.

bottlebomber said:

Look, there really is absolutely nothing to worry about. You are being a little OCD about this whole thing, frankly. Not to be rude, but there is nothing wrong with your pot. Just carry on with your brewing, and I promise everything will work out great. There is no hot spot, its not like the oven cleaner etched a crater in your pot.

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I really don't see how anything I posted could be considered OCD. I could certainly care less about the aesthetic aspect of spots on the inside of my brew kettle. My issue more lies with the brew kettle changing colors, when I used a stainless steel safe cleaner on it. The pot was really cheap so it makes me think that it is most likely not SS. The reaction is more in line with aluminum than SS. Also concerning is that I have rust spots on the burnt sugar portion which tells me there are some other issues going on here.

Hefanatic said:

I really don't see how anything I posted could be considered OCD. I could certainly care less about the aesthetic aspect of spots on the inside of my brew kettle. My issue more lies with the brew kettle changing colors, when I used a stainless steel safe cleaner on it. The pot was really cheap so it makes me think that it is most likely not SS. The reaction is more in line with aluminum than SS. Also concerning is that I have rust spots on the burnt sugar portion which tells me there are some other issues going on here.

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Rust spots on the burnt parts... if you used any metal scrub pad to try to scrub it off, some of that metal could have gotten in and rusted... post new pics so we can see the discoloration.

I don't think its rust necessarily. It could just be discoloration or more stubborn buildup on the pot. Is it a plied pot or is it just a single layer on the bottom?

Xalwine said:

Rust spots on the burnt parts... if you used any metal scrub pad to try to scrub it off, some of that metal could have gotten in and rusted... post new pics so we can see the discoloration.

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I will try and take some when I get home. I didn't use anything metal to scrub it, so I am not sure how it got there.

bottlebomber said:

I don't think its rust necessarily. It could just be discoloration or more stubborn buildup on the pot. Is it a plied pot or is it just a single layer on the bottom?

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Single THIN layer on the bottom.