subject: How To Clean Great Home Cookware [print this page] You have just purchased a brand new home cookware set and you wish to test it along with your cooking skills by inviting your friends over for dinner. After the meal your friends thank you for the great time and the great food but as soon as your friends leave, you face the reality of cleaning your brand new and expensive aluminum cookware set.
It might be aluminum, it could be cast-iron, clay and enamel or copper. Whatever the material is, you need to know a few tips about general cleaning of home cookware.
1. Taking care for all sorts of cookware begins with reading the manufacturer's instructions.
2. You need to wash all pots and pans thoroughly inside and out after using them.
3. If baked-on food makes it necessary for washing the pans in soapsuds, make sure to dry the pans thoroughly after washing over a warm burner. It would be better if you rub vegetable oil into the pan using a paper towel.
4. Keep gas flames low while cooking to prevent heat stains from licking the outside of your pans.
5. Do not expose cookware to sudden temperature changes. Before you wash or soak, allow cookware to cool first.
For an aluminum cookware set, you need to watch out for discoloration. To protect aluminum cookware from discoloration, do not wash it in a dishwasher or let it soak in soapy water for long periods of time. If there are already signs of interior discoloration, fill the pan with water, add 1 tablespoon cream of tartar or 1 tablespoon lemon juice per quart of water, and simmer until the discoloration is gone. Complete the process by wiping the pan with steel-wool soap pad. Make sure to wear rubber gloves.
Do not wash cast-iron cookware in the dishwasher, it will remove seasoning on the cookware and cause the cookware to rust. Make sure that you store cast-iron cookware in a dry cupboard without its lid in place. Wash cast-iron cookware with sudsy water and then dry thoroughly.
Never put hot clay cookware on a cold surface or it could crack. Soak the top and bottom and scrub well with a stiff brush to remove clay dust. Before using clay cookware for the first time, they need to be soaked in water first for about half an hour.
Make sure that you use synthetic and not steel cleansers to scrub stubborn oil. Enamelware can be washed safely in the dishwasher. Rapid changes in temperature will cause the enamel coating to crack. Let enamel cookware cool before washing, at all times.
