Priscilla Ballou wrote:
In article ,
zxcvbob wrote:


Oven cleaner (lye.) It work great on glass or stainless steel too;
don't use it on aluminum.


OK, now you've got me curious. What happens if you use it on aluminum?

Priscilla, visualizing a mushroom cloud


Strong alkalis disolve aluminum. I'm not sure what the reaction is, but
it gives off hydrogen gas.

If you have anodized cookware, using oven cleaner on it or washing it in
an electric dishwasher are about the only ways to ruin it (and are not
covered by the lifetime warranty.)

Lye will also etch the glaze off stoneware. I found that out by making
soap in a crockpot.

Bob

Dog3 at wrote on 3/20/05 11:20 AM:

wrote in
:

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 07:41:50 -0500, "No One" wrote:
snip

"Corningware" wrote in message
oups.com...
My friend accidentally left a Corningware casserole dish(white) in the
oven at 400 degrees for six hours.

She was roasting vegetables and garlic in olive oil. Needless to say
the dish is a mess with burnt on stains that cannot be removed by
scrubbing etc. It was completely black after charred remains of the
vegetables were scraped off.

I have tried many things but alas this sentimental dish seems to be
dead. The black and brown stains seem to be painted on.

I can send you a pic. It's pretty ugly.

If the stains are on the outside as well as the inside, pop it in a
big pot, cover it with water and lots of baking soda, and bring to a
boil, and then turn back down to medium heat. The resulting akali and
heat will loosen most of the burnt food, and once cooled, you can
scrub it off.

Shirley Hicks
Toronto, Ontario

I've used ice and Kosher salt in coffee pots with good results. Might work
on corningware. I've never burnt corningware before. Baking soda might just
work. Personally I'd pitch it and buy a new one. Corningware is inexpensive
and I'm not sure the effort is worth it.

Michael

That's not necessarily correct. They are only making the French White
pattern nowadays, for one thing, so you can't even get the classic
Corningware shapes anymore, let alone the painted on cornflower blue design.
She said it was white, i don't if it had any other design on it, but if it's
any of their other patterns (there were many over the years, created to
match Corelle dinnerware patterns), then they are DEFINITELY irreplaceable.

Plus, the orginal poster says the dish is sentimental.

Anyway, as for getting the stains off: the baking soda idea inside is a
great one and it's gotten me out of quite a few messes. So try it. It will
take some of the mess off, at least. What you have to do is actually
chemically break the bonds between the crud and the dish. That crud is baked
on, it's not gonna just wipe right off. That Baking soda bath is a start.

Whatever is left, use a powdered cleanser called "BAR KEEPER'S FRIEND".
WalMart has it, many supermarkets have it, too. Wet the dish. Sprinkle on
a liberal dose of cleanser, let it sit a minute or so and then scrub with a
sponge. That should get the brown stains up no problem.

I use Barkeeeper's Friend on Corningware all the time....my Corningware
pieces are about 40 years old, give or take. And although I consider myself
a Corningware and Pyrex collector, I actually use the stuff, all the time,
every day. So keeping them sparkling clean is important to me.

The Corning outlets also sell a soft cleanser that works nicely, but it's no
better than BKF, which is easier to get your hands on and not as expensive.

jmcquown at wrote on 3/20/05 1:30 AM:

Corningware wrote:
My friend accidentally left a Corningware casserole dish(white) in the
oven at 400 degrees for six hours.

Did you try 'Bartenders Friend' abrasive cleaner or a Brillo pad? OTOH,
Corningware isn't that expensive - buy another one.

Jill



Actually, that's a great product, except that it's called "Barkeeper's
Friend".

And you can't just go get another anymore. They don't make it really
anymore, except for the French White. It's not what it used to be.

Anyone who has old Corningware, hang onto it!!!!

You can find odd pieces on Ebay or at thrift stores, but it's getting harder
and harder to find.

In article ,
zxcvbob wrote:
Priscilla Ballou wrote:
OK, now you've got me curious. What happens if you use it on aluminum?

Priscilla, visualizing a mushroom cloud

Strong alkalis disolve aluminum. I'm not sure what the reaction is, but
it gives off hydrogen gas.

Which, IIRC, is explosive! So there might be a mushroom cloud after all.

If you have anodized cookware, using oven cleaner on it or washing it in
an electric dishwasher are about the only ways to ruin it (and are not
covered by the lifetime warranty.)

I'm not in the tax bracket which can afford cookware with warranties.

Lye will also etch the glaze off stoneware. I found that out by making
soap in a crockpot.

Fascinating! My day is now not in vain since I have learned several
interesting new pieces of information.

Thanks.

Priscilla
--
"You can't welcome someone into a body of Christ and then say only
certain rooms are open." -- dancertm in alt.religion.christian.episcopal

Several years ago I burned and blackened a couple of Stainless Steel
Pots and a Corningwear Coffee Percolator......for the same reasons
that your friend did.....The first time it happened I tried everything
like many of the suggestions mentioned here and to no avail. Then a
buddy of mine who was a High School Tech teacher suggested that I
soak the Pot for 24 hours or even 48 hours if necessary with Javex
(Javel water)........which is a brand name for a bleaching agent. The
burned blackened surfaces of the coffee percolator started to break up
after 24 hours and you could start to see white.....by the next day I
was able to clean what was left of the black stuff with less abrasive
but coarse scrubbing pads....if you're doing the scrubbing with Javex
still in the pot..wear something over your eyes and wear thick rubber
gloves......the pot was eventually as good as it was before my
accident happened. I used the Javex straight or pure and did not
dilute it because my pots were real badly burned......

I haven't had to do that in recent times because I am a lot more
vigilent about cooking times and avoid or try to avoid things that
would distract me and cause me to forget the action on the stove or in
the oven.

Good luck !

TJ

Get out your liquid used in the dishwasher and apply it liberaly to the
bottom of the pan and any other spots.
Allow it to sit for 24 hours. Wash with as hot water as you have from
the tap. It should come very clean.
If not a diluted cup of purex 1/2 to 1/2 will finish the job.
John

There is a product we refer to as "death in a can".
I don't usually recommend it for anything but the most dire situations.
When it says only use outdoors or under an outside hood, with gloves and a
face shield, it means it. It is for commercial kitchens and it gives nasty a
whole new meaning.

It removes almost anything, including removing the top layer of aluminum.
It cleaned the carbon off my oversized burner liners in one try -when all
the other oven cleaners and learned chemical/mechanical attempts didn't even
touch it.

E-mail me to remind me, and I will give you the name on the can. (I keep
it in the haz-mat locker (really) and will check it tomorrow.) You can
contact a restaurant supply house to get a can.

It will work, and it does not damage glass.

"Corningware" wrote in message
oups.com...
My friend accidentally left a Corningware casserole dish(white) in the
oven at 400 degrees for six hours.

She was roasting vegetables and garlic in olive oil. Needless to say
the dish is a mess with burnt on stains that cannot be removed by
scrubbing etc. It was completely black after charred remains of the
vegetables were scraped off.

I have tried many things but alas this sentimental dish seems to be
dead. The black and brown stains seem to be painted on.

I can send you a pic. It's pretty ugly.

Can you help?

Thanks

Cw5k

zxcvbob writes:
Oven cleaner (lye.) It work great on glass or stainless steel too;
don't use it on aluminum.

Oven cleaners are not just lye, nor are they designed to be used on any
bare metals including stainless steel... there are many hundreds of
stainless steel alloys, with those reserved for food use not being very
corrosion proof (I once permanently discolored a stainless steel pot by
boiling white vinegar). Oven cleaners are designed to be used on
porcelainized surfaces only (do not use on continuous clean ovens
either).

Oven cleaners may or may not work on corningware, I would suggest first
testing a small inconspicuous area... but actually I would never use or
recommend oven cleaners for any purpose other than as directed by the
manufacturer.

That said I've never found a situation where my patented ammonia method
would not safely/effortlessly remove burned on food from
glass/porcelain and ferrous metals (do not use on aluminum or copper).


If corningware were exposed to the temperatures approaching that of an
oven cleaning cycle I would suspect that permanent damage has occured,
in the form of crazing, then the piece is ruined and cannot be
cleaned... do not use if crazed... not only will the myriad minute
cracks/fissures harbor pathogens but exposure to extreme temperatures
(such as from cooking, freezing) can cause the piece to explode.

Sheldon

Sheldon wrote:
zxcvbob writes:
Oven cleaner (lye.) It work great on glass or stainless steel too;
don't use it on aluminum.

Oven cleaners are not just lye, nor are they designed to be used on
any bare metals including stainless steel... there are many hundreds
of stainless steel alloys, with those reserved for food use not being
very corrosion proof

I use Red Devil lye to clean the oven and also to remove burned-on food
from my Revereware and Corningware. I believe EasyOff over cleaner is
still lye, with foaming agents to make it easier to use (probably soap)

(I once permanently discolored a stainless steel pot by boiling white
vinegar).

Vinegar is not oven cleaner.

Oven cleaners are designed to be used on porcelainized surfaces only
(do not use on continuous clean ovens either).

I've never seen an oven rack that was porcelain.

Oven cleaners may or may not work on corningware, I would suggest
first testing a small inconspicuous area... but actually I would
never use or recommend oven cleaners for any purpose other than as
directed by the manufacturer.

That said I've never found a situation where my patented ammonia
method would not safely/effortlessly remove burned on food from
glass/porcelain and ferrous metals (do not use on aluminum or
copper).

If corningware were exposed to the temperatures approaching that of
an oven cleaning cycle I would suspect that permanent damage has
occured, in the form of crazing, then the piece is ruined and cannot
be cleaned... do not use if crazed... not only will the myriad minute
cracks/fissures harbor pathogens but exposure to extreme
temperatures (such as from cooking, freezing) can cause the piece to
explode.

I'm not going to disagree with that. But I think the *old* Corningware
could handle oven cleaning cycles. (It even said on the pieces that
they can be used in a broiler.) The new stuff they call Corningware
is really just stoneware; it can be used in the oven at moderate temps,
but not stovetop nor broiler.

Best regards,
Bob