STAINLESS STEEL AND OTHER METAL CLEANING

CAST IRON PANS

Cast iron pans are the best cooking pans out there, but most people are put off by the rust which appears after washing. Cast iron, which never wears out, should be dried over heat after washing and then dressed while still hot, with oil you use for cooking with. If they go rusty after this, you have dressed them when cold. Keep the oiled pan as warm as you can for as long as you can. Result-no rust. you do not need to wash the pan before use, but you must always dress it after use.

HOW TO CLEAN STAINLESS STEEL

In response to the real need to keep this clean without doing any damage to it - here is how you clean stainless steel.
Stainless steel is not stainless and it can be easily damaged especially when new, by acids, bleach and metal scouring pads - we know of an entire, brand new commercial kitchen which was ruined by metal scouring pads and bleach.
You clean stainless steel by leaving it to soak to remove the grease and the burnt bits in a degreaser - 2% caustic soda for preference which does not damage the steel.. You wash this off. You wash it again in a hard surface cleaner solution and this is rinsed off enough times so that the steel is clean and grease - free. Now dry the steel using paper or a clean cloth. It dries to a dull, sometimes smeared finish.
Dress the dry steel with oil - baby oil can be used, but if you can get it use food grade mineral oil. It shines and looks good.
There is only one scouring pad to use on steel and that is specific to stainless steel. Everything else scratches it, and any use of metal scouring pads or steel wool will result in a scratched surface with rust stains developing on the damaged areas.
Stainless steel can be steam cleaned, but you will still need to use a detergent soak to loosen the grease before steam cleaning.
Restore stainless steel with a very dilute solution of phosphoric acid detergent, rinse well and dry.

ALUMINIUM

A soft metal, but it cleans easily, so you can and no doubt do, use scouring pads on it. What you cannot use on it is a caustic detergent. It reacts with it and you will find that your nice aluminium turns black and pitted. So soak your greasy pans in detergent solution, rinse well and dry quickly. Aluminium which is left to dry tends to leave water marks. Restore aluminium either with a specialist aluminium cleaner (the use of which is not recommended for general use) or use a very dilute solution of phosphoric acid detergent and a metal scouring pad.

COPPER, BRASS, BRONZE

Clean by salt and lemon juice as a paste. Rinse it off, dry, and then polish the metal by rubbing with newspaper.

SILVER AND PEWTER

Clean with lemon juice and salt.
For heavily tarnished metals, use proprietary wadding specific for the metal. The salt and lemon juice treatment maintains an already clean appearance. The alternative cleaner for copper, brass and bronze is the phosphoric acid detergent, but be aware that acids will sometimes damage an old plated surface, so if your cleaned surface shows pitting and looks irregular in appearance then the plate itself is worn. Copper, brass and bronze are not damaged by fine grade steel wool, but care should be taken if using this.

CHROMIUM AND NICKEL

Clean with a neutral detergent, rinse well and then buffed with a soft lint-free cloth until dry. These metals are usually, but not always, found as plated and any wear in the plating will show up quickly.
After washing, the base metal will start to rust if not dried quickly. Acid restoration is not always that effective on these metals.