cleaning burnt wort from stainless steel?

Well, I fell asleep 3/4 through a 1hr boil, I awoke to the house full of smoke and the wort a thick, gooey mess in my stainless steel kettle.

Now its a hard burnt on concrete ....something!

Anyone know how to get this cleaned off and rescue my kettle?

Thanks

popadoc said:

Well, I fell asleep 3/4 through a 1hr boil, I awoke to the house full of smoke and the wort a thick, gooey mess in my stainless steel kettle.

Now its a hard burnt on concrete ....something!

Anyone know how to get this cleaned off and rescue my kettle?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Try some caustic soda

When I burn stuff in my stainless soup pot sometimes the only resource is a wire wheel on a portable drill or Dremel. But a good soak in hot soapy water and a scotch scrubby pad is always the first thing I try.

Definitely a hot soak with caustic soda solution (sodium hydroxide) will loosen organic materials. After the soak, use a scrubby to remove the deposit. Use rubber gloves to protect yourself when using that stuff (safety glasses too).

mabrungard said:

Definitely a hot soak with caustic soda solution (sodium hydroxide) will loosen organic materials. After the soak, use a scrubby to remove the deposit. Use rubber gloves to protect yourself when using that stuff (safety glasses too).

Click to expand...

Dollar store drain cleaner? Same stuff, right?

Use washing soda (not baking soda) and hot water. It's almost as effective as lye and a lot safer, cheaper, and easier to find. Let it soak overnight; don't try to keep it hot, it doesn't matter that it gets cold. But you want to start with it hot.

Oven Cleaner

Redlantern said:

Dollar store drain cleaner? Same stuff, right?

Click to expand...

It can be. Make sure it says sodium hydroxide or lye on the ingredients.

PS: If this is an aluminum pot, you'll need to be careful. This treatment will corrode that metal. (this note is to others, not the OP)

mabrungard said:

PS: If this is an aluminum pot, you'll need to be careful. This treatment will corrode that metal. (this note is to others, not the OP)

Click to expand...

First hand experience with that at work - watched an operator "clean" aluminum by mistakenly using caustic tank instead of the proper solution (was thinking it was titanium for some reason). Needless to say that it did not take long to figure out the error - especially since our caustic tank is heated to 450°F

We need pics!!

Oven cleaner is convenient... sodium hydroxide (aka lye) is the active ingredient.

Guess I didn't add anything to the responders before me. But, we need pics!!

Bar Keepers Friend. If that doesn't work, then go to the chemicals. You may be surprised at how effective Bar Keepers Friend can be on Stainless.

Sounds like too big of a job for BKF. Lye was the first thing that came to my mind too, if that doesn't work nothing will.

While we're on the subject, will lye react with other various materials that might be in the brewery besides aluminum? Rubber gaskets (silicon or otherwise), plastics within ball valves, copper, brass, etc?

Thanks for everyone's ideas, I do not have internet @ home any longer so I couldn't respond this weekend.

I used oven cleaner, then baking soda and vinegar alternating between the two methods rinsing clean before starting the next.

I was able to get 99.9% of it out, its not like new but very close.

Thanks again!