rust on my NEW stainless steel pot

[rshortt]

Here's one for ya...

I got a brand new Acrosteel 20 quart stainless steel pot on the weekend. The pot is 6 mil thick and has a "sandwich" base with aluminum core. I've been shopping around and this seemed like an ok quality pot for the price ($55 Canadian dollars). The outside of the pot is smooth and shiny while the inside walls have a brushed metal texture to them.

Yesterday afternoon after washing it with hot soapy water, rinse, dry, etc, I had splashed some water into it while cleaning some of my other gear. I came back later to find brown rust / oxidation spots on the inside where the water droplets were! I scrubbed them off with a damp cloth and was kind of perplexed. I left some soapy water in it overnight after using it as a bit of a cleaning bin and came back this morning to see even worse oxidation. There were even stains on the bottom from a tiny bit of water in the sink!

This can't be normal for "stainless" steel. I have half a mind to take this thing back and pay an extra $30-$40 for a higher quality pot.

Has this happened to any of you? What do you think? Maybe I got a bad pot.

Thanks,
-Rob

 

[Julohan]

Try using Barkeepers Friend on it. Could it just possibly be burnt wort?

 

[bullinachinashop]

Did you use steel wool to clean it? If so, the steel fibers will cause the SS pot to rust. If not, I would get a refund!

Bull

 

[rshortt]

No, I haven't even brewed with it yet. This morning I filled it full of water to see how long it takes to boil on my stove. It took about 40 minutes for around 4.5 gallons.

 

[rshortt]

Did you use steel wool to clean it? If so, the steel fibers will cause the SS pot to rust. If not, I would get a refund!

Bull

No, I didn't use anything porous at all, just a dish cloth. I know things like that can cause SS to rust and that's why I am wondering about the brushed metal texture to the inside of this thing.

 

[bullinachinashop]

Complain and get a refund!

Bull

 

[IrregularPulse]

definitely refund. And while you're at it get a bigger pot

 

[rshortt]

definitely refund. And while you're at it get a bigger pot

LOL, this IS a bigger pot!

I figure I will eventually build an e-keggle but I will also use this pot to make large batches of hot sauce. I grow peppers and have about 80 plants this year... looking forward to some good harvests!

I've never heard of an SS pot rusting like this so I'll probably take it back and get another from somewhere else. Even if this comes off with a vinegar solution or oxyclean, I mean WTH. Kind of a pain to have to clean it like that after every use.

 

[TipsyDragon]

sounds like you got cheap SS. the cheap stuff isn't really as stainless as the good stuff and well... you see what happened.

 

[Julohan]

Definitely take it back and, I agree on getting a bigger pot.

 

[weirdboy]

20 qt is not big enough.

If you're looking for something cheap to tide you over in the meantime, consider an aluminum pot.

 

[Homercidal]

Stainless can come in differing qualities. Apparently you got one that wasn't so good in the quality department!

And. yeah, if I were dropping that much money on a new kettle, I'd pay a bit more and get a bigger one. And I'm pretty cheap.

 

[samc]

Sounds like cheap SS. Try the magnet test. Magnets will show some attraction to cheap SS and not be interested in sticking around with good SS.

Either way bring it back.

 

[rshortt]

Hmm, I wonder if it has anything to do with the chlorine in my tap water...

And the pot's probably going back.

 

[giligson]

Cleaning SS with a corrosive solution like bleach, any hydroxide or a cleaner like BX/A may break down the passivation (don't ask me to elaborate - I'm not a chemist) and allow the naked iron in the steel to rust. The composition and quality of the steel will determine how prone it is to this effect. Furthermore if the steel left the factory after it had been abused (lets say the way they sandwiched the aluminum in with heat treatment etc) it will no longer be "stainless".

 

[BargainFittings]

I bought an import kettle off of ebay and it did the same thing. I kept cleaning it with bar keepers friend and spraying it with some star san (if I remember) after I clean it and the rust spots don't come back now.

It must get contaminated like giligson said when they draw the pot or stamp them with the press.