Uh-Oh - (scorched kettle)

[Cliff897]

You don't have to worry about pitting the aluminum?

Not with a wire brush you don't.
And aluminum will not pick up carbon steel and start to rust. Stainless can and once it starts the only way to stop it is to passivate it.

Pitting in aluminum will be an issue if you use acids or strong bases on it in a careless manner or an overly strong solution. But mechanical abrasion will do nothing to harm the metal unless the person loses his mind three stooges style and grinds a hole in it.

 

[Daddymem]

Just keep scrubbing, scrubbing, scrubbing. Getting there.

 

[Dynachrome]

I wish I could join a group. I think youre lucky. There is a local group, but they meet once a month on a night I'm busy.

Oven cleaner?

I sprayed that on a baked on broiler once. Seemed to work fairly well.

 

[Catt22]

Do not use oven cleaner on aluminum. Oven cleaner is caustic (I think it contains lye) and will severely corrode aluminum. Trust me on this. Been there. I would use an offset grinder and a medium Gator pad to buff it off mechanically. I would only use cleaning agents designed specifically for aluminum.