Dishwasher made aluminum ugly

[Maylar]

I bought a new house that came with a dishwasher. Never had one before. So I ground some chicken with my Tasin 108 meat grinder and decided to put the metal parts in the dishwasher instead of manually cleaning them. This morning the aluminum tray, auger, and retainer ring are FUGLY dark grey instead of the brite aluminum that they were. The surface will clean up with a scrub pad and abrasive cleaner like Soft Scrub, but it leaves a black oxide on the pad that reminds me of polishing the aluminum cases on my motorcycle.

So, I'm like WTF wit dat? My aluminum pots and pans don't discolor like this. What is it with the dishwasher that'd do that? The heat?

I need to clean these parts up good before I even think of grinding food again, but damn it's gonna be tedious. Is there anything I can soak them in that'd remove the layer of oxide or am I stuck with wasting an afternoon with a Brillo pad?

Check it out...

 

[triethylborane]

What detergent did you use? What is your tap water like, alkaline, hard etc?

Generally, aluminum is not dishwasher safe. The manual for the grinder will likely state this. The combination of detergent, heat, water and aluminum ions caused the oxidation.

That said, your best bet is to use Barkeeper's friend (oxalic acid) and a brillo pad. You can try some aluminum polish like Flitz, its food safe.

 

[Maylar]

Dunno about my water, never tested it. The detergent is Cascade premeasured sacks. Nothing on the packaging about not being safe for aluminum.

Ugh - Barkeepers Friend and elbow grease it is I guess.

 

[passedpawn]

Al is pretty soft. BKF has abrasives in it that will dull the finish of Al. In the case of the OP, it'll definitely fix that mess, but for anyone reading this thread that has shiny Al pots, might want to use something else.

 

[triethylborane]

Al is pretty soft. BKF has abrasives in it that will dull the finish of Al. In the case of the OP, it'll definitely fix that mess, but for anyone reading this thread that has shiny Al pots, might want to use something else.

The BKF is only to get the oxidation off the aluminum, for polishing use Flitz or even something like Mother's mag and al polish with a good washing afterwards.

 

[Yooper]

I wonder if the detergent has some bleach in it- bleach + aluminum don't mix nicely.

 

[ProblemChild]

dishwashing detergents are alkaline. I believe Cascade is generally up around 11.0 ph. Aluminum hates a high ph and an untreated pot should not be placed in the dishwasher with an alkaline detergent, epecially one that strong.

 

[The_Bishop]

That's probably not even aluminum, more likely plated pot metal. You're probably never going to get it like new again, as the surface plating is gone.

You can get replacements here:
https://www.onestopjerkyshop.com/tasin-meat-grinder-parts/

Looks like the feed tray is only around $16.