Dumpster dove at work today.....

and found a 16 quart SS pot in it....next smoke break is for the lid (it's cold outside)

Anyway, looks like someone used it once, burned a small area (maybe 4 square inches tops) of something on the bottom. What should I use to clean it? (I'm lazy and prefer soaking vs. hard scrubbing)

It doesn't look like it was used more than once, the big sticker is still on the side and looks kinda new and so they pitched it. This is going to replace a pot of similar size in the kitchen, so not technically brew related...but could be

Oxyclean... I soak bottles in my boil pot, after about every third or fourth batch, and it gets loose stuff that I did not even realize was there. Hot water and oxyclean, let it stand for a few hours, come back, pour out the pot, and you will be able to wipe the bottom clean with a damp sponge.

You can do a boil out. Put in oxyclean and fill almost all the way with water. Bring to a boil for 30 min.

don't have any oxyclean....never had a use for it. Is it good to have handy around the brewery?

Emphatic YES.

You want to find a "lazy" way to clean a pot that you need to clean ONCE but you don't let your buckets, carboys and Better Bottles soak in oxyclean? Something's backwards there.

Kevin Dean said:

Emphatic YES.

You want to find a "lazy" way to clean a pot that you need to clean ONCE but you don't let your buckets, carboys and Better Bottles soak in oxyclean? Something's backwards there.

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I have this big green plastic tub that I do my ice baths in, and I'm going to use that to soak them in.....it just hold water, doesn't do much else.

Oxyclean is one of those things that I never bought prior to brewing but now that I've got it around I love it. After I rack I let my buckets sit in onyclean for a little while then just give them a rub with a washcloth and all the "gunk" comes right off. I'm sure you've seen the "I love oxyclean" threads here before, but yeah, I consider it a wonderful part of my brewery.

hmmm, I'll have to try it out

Kevin Dean said:

Oxyclean is one of those things that I never bought prior to brewing but now that I've got it around I love it. After I rack I let my buckets sit in onyclean for a little while then just give them a rub with a washcloth and all the "gunk" comes right off. I'm sure you've seen the "I love oxyclean" threads here before, but yeah, I consider it a wonderful part of my brewery.

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Same here, never had it in the house before I started brewing, now, as soon as I get close to being out, it goes on the grocery list. That is also the beauty of Oxyclean, compared to PBW and all of the sanitizers, where I have to go to my LHBS to get them, I can run to any grocery or hardware store in town and get Oxyclean.

We always use Oxyclean to clean all our brew gear. Esp. great for removing labels.
I've never heard anyone mention but Oxyclean comes generic too, for a lot cheaper. Me and my buddy stopped at Safeway for ice and Oxyclean when I noticed it sitting right next to the Oxyclean.

If the Oxyclean doesn't do the trick, then pick up some Barkeeper's Friend. It will surely remove the stain with minimal scrubbing. You should be able to find it in your local grocery store. Great stuff.

Oxyclean is strong stuff though. Just don't toss in like 4 scoops... I'd be afraid that it would eat through the pot.

When all else fails, and you don't mind a small amount of elbow grease:
http://www.choreboyscrubbers.com/metal.htm

PBW is the balls, but it's expensive. Generic Oxyclean from Walmart works almost as well and is 1/4 the price.

well....trying to track down a sample of Oxyclean somewhere. If I can't find any by the time I go get veggies for chili (while I'm brewing) then I'll just grab some

98EXL said:

don't have any oxyclean....never had a use for it. Is it good to have handy around the brewery?

Click to expand...

Seek Oxyclean you will...
(it is the clean side of the Force in homebrewing)

+1 on Oxyclean (I'm a recent convert)
+1 on Barkeepers Friend - quite possibly the greatest little secret in pot cleaning technology ever!

Get the Oxyclean Free (or the generic equivalent), so that you don't get the scent carried over. That would be nasty...

I got the generic OxyClean from Safeway....I felt like paying cash so that's all I had money for, we'll see how it works

if oxyclean won't remove it, try spray on oven cleaner (Easy Off). just be careful...the stuff is pretty toxic and caustic, and you don't wanna let it sit too long on SS or it'll damage the "finish" and you may need to fix the pot afterwords.

do a search on Stainless steel passivity...it'll help fix any discolored/oxidized looking bits of the pot.

well, the generic OxyCLean I bought worked like a champ. I let it soak for about 24 hours, and the generic OxyClean took the burnt stuff right off! The water was crystal clear the following morning!