What are these marks in my brand new SS pot?

[autonomist3k]

I've only boiled water in it since I got it, and afterwards the water was kinda cloudy, and it has all these circular marks on the bottom.
I took this picture after scrubbing with a green pad and pbw, the marks didn't seem to fade when scrubbing.
Are they bad?

 

[day_trippr]

Mineral deposits from your water...

Cheers!

 

[autonomist3k]

Thanks, I guess I'll be buying a filter.
Is there a way to safely clean it off?

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

vinegar

 

[Doed]

Try BarKeeper's Friend in powder form.

 

[flars]

The deposits will disappear with your next use. Hand drying, after the next cleaning, will eliminate the deposits.

 

[flars]

Took another look at your pictures. There are what looks like a lot scratches on the kettle bottom. Cleaning SS should only be done with a soft sponge or cloth. Stirring the wort with a wood or plastic spoon.

 

[rlmiller10]

Those are not hard water spots from air drying. Those are mineral deposits at the nucleation sites where the water vapor bubbles form during boiling. What happens is you have a mix of water and mineral molecules in the water. At a nucleation site enough energy is supplied to the water that it changes form from liquid to gas. Thus the water molecule leaves the mixture, which concentrates the mineral molecules. If that concentration gets high enough they can no longer stay in solution. So some plate out on the pot. Others clump together in a rough crystalline form which is what caused the milkiness.

I think RO water is in your future (a filter will not remove dissolved bicarbonate). That pot tells me you have very high bicarbonate in your water. That will cause problems in getting your PH down for mashing, especially for a lighter beer.

Yes, a mild acid like vinegar or whatever is in barkeepers friend will remove it.

 

[autonomist3k]

Took another look at your pictures. There are what looks like a lot scratches on the kettle bottom. Cleaning SS should only be done with a soft sponge or cloth. Stirring the wort with a wood or plastic spoon.

Damn, I just cleaned the entire thing with a green pad.

 

[autonomist3k]

Those are not hard water spots from air drying. Those are mineral deposits at the nucleation sites where the water vapor bubbles form during boiling. What happens is you have a mix of water and mineral molecules in the water. At a nucleation site enough energy is supplied to the water that it changes form from liquid to gas. Thus the water molecule leaves the mixture, which concentrates the mineral molecules. If that concentration gets high enough they can no longer stay in solution. So some plate out on the pot. Others clump together in a rough crystalline form which is what caused the milkiness.

I think RO water is in your future (a filter will not remove dissolved bicarbonate). That pot tells me you have very high bicarbonate in your water. That will cause problems in getting your PH down for mashing, especially for a lighter beer.

Yes, a mild acid like vinegar or whatever is in barkeepers friend will remove it.

Yep, those deposits were there before I drained the water out, looks like a RO system is the answer.

Vinegar cleaned it out with a lot of scrubbing.
It's not very shiny anymore though lol.
I just couldn't imagine anything lighter than a green pad taking it off, it was stuck on there pretty good.

 

[Bill_in_VA]

Mineral deposits.

Just leave a little starsan covering the bottom for a week. I do that after every other-ish brew to attack the beer stone it looks brand new afterwards.

 

[autonomist3k]

Mineral deposits.

Just leave a little starsan covering the bottom for a week. I do that after every other-ish brew to attack the beer stone it looks brand new afterwards.

That sounds like a great idea, I'll definitely try that.

 

[autonomist3k]

.

 

[ubnserved]

Those are not hard water spots from air drying. Those are mineral deposits at the nucleation sites where the water vapor bubbles form during boiling. What happens is you have a mix of water and mineral molecules in the water. At a nucleation site enough energy is supplied to the water that it changes form from liquid to gas. Thus the water molecule leaves the mixture, which concentrates the mineral molecules. If that concentration gets high enough they can no longer stay in solution. So some plate out on the pot. Others clump together in a rough crystalline form which is what caused the milkiness.

I think RO water is in your future (a filter will not remove dissolved bicarbonate). That pot tells me you have very high bicarbonate in your water. That will cause problems in getting your PH down for mashing, especially for a lighter beer.

Yes, a mild acid like vinegar or whatever is in barkeepers friend will remove it.

I agree... we have the same problem at times all of our water comes from Wells 40 miles from the city and are deep under limestone deposits. A weak (50/50 or less) solution of vinegar and water will clean it right off. Put solution in bottom of pan, turn on heat and bring to light boil. Turn off heat then scrub lightly with a long handled scrub brush. Basically just sloshing the mix around this is the exact same way that we clean the lime out of the water trays in steam tables here and it will remove all the lime deposits. If it does not get all the deposits the first time simmer a little longer the next time. You will find the sweet spot where the deposits are gone and you aren't wasting time waiting on them to dissolve. By using this method you will save yourself a lot of energy and time trying to scrub it off by hand and you will save money by not buying unnecessary chemicals or extra bkf. I bet you have to delime your coffee pot frequently.

 

[rlmiller10]

Yep, those deposits were there before I drained the water out, looks like a RO system is the answer.

Vinegar cleaned it out with a lot of scrubbing.
It's not very shiny anymore though lol.
I just couldn't imagine anything lighter than a green pad taking it off, it was stuck on there pretty good.

Don't worry about using a green pad...ever heard of brushed stainless steel. The problem with scrubbing with a pad or using chemicals is they can take off the passive layer. Contrary to some popular thinking, stainless does actually oxidize (rust). The cool thing is that when it does it locks that oxidized layer to the surface and that forms the barrier to further rust (oxidation) as well as stains and such. Depending on the thickness that oxide layer can cause a dull look to the finish.

So after a deep cleaning you need to let that oxide layer reform. Some people try to help it along but just exposure to air for a couple of days will do it in most cases, a little humidity helps. For more exciting information on this topic look up passive corrosion prevention.

 

[trussell]

I got some after doing a boil off test. Never got them from wort just a plain water boil. Not brewing for a couple of weeks I'll give a star san soak a try.