How to clean aluminum pans from soot?

Aluminum pans are an essential attribute in the kitchen of any housewife. Aluminum weighs little and in it you can quickly heat food to the required temperature. In order for pots made of this metal to bring you benefit and joy for a long time, you need to be able to properly clean them at home.

Aluminum products are prone to carbon deposits regularly appearing on their surface. This is facilitated by improper handling of aluminum cookware. Pollution can form not only due to burnt food. The darkening of the metal on the outside may be due to the remnants of fat on the pan, and inside a dark coating appears if:

• boil potatoes not peeled;
• boil unsalted water for a long time;
• cook sour soups (for example, with the addition of sauerkraut).

Aluminum utensils must not be cleaned with abrasives. You can clean the scale with a regular detergent applied to a sponge. It is undesirable to use soda to clean pans (especially when working with a polished surface), since the alkali included in its composition will not have the best effect on the appearance of the pan.

Among the most effective means for removing burning from aluminum are:

• salt;
• ammonia;
• vinegar;
• laundry soap;
• whey;
• fresh apple juice;
• citric acid;
• black coal.

Carbon deposits that have appeared on the bottom and sides of the pans can be washed with ordinary cleaning agents. Folk recipes will help restore aluminum to its former brilliance:

• If the scale is still fresh, whey left in the bowl for a day will help to cope with it. After the procedure, it is necessary to wash the product with a synthetic sponge. Kefir and brine are suitable as cleaning agents. They are left in the pan for an hour, then the product is washed well using a sponge and gel.
• Small darkened areas on the inside and outside are easy to remove with apples. To do this, heavily rub the contaminated places with cut apples. Leave to soak, rinse with water.

• Alternatively, you can take a lemon. It is finely chopped or rubbed, put in gauze. Rub the contaminated areas and leave for 45 minutes. Then the product is thoroughly washed with dishwashing detergent.
• You can eliminate black plaque with the help of onions. Two peeled onions must be boiled in dirty dishes for 30 minutes. All the soot will come off.
• Another way to deal with local pollution is laundry soap. The bar needs to be crushed and boiled in a saucepan with water for about half an hour. After cooling the dishes, wash them with detergent.

If food gets burnt during cooking, salt will help remove it without damaging the metal. It is important to follow the sequence of actions:

• pour aluminum containers with cold water;
• drain the liquid after 10 minutes;
• pour table salt on the bottom, let stand for a couple of hours;
• remove food residue with dishwashing gel applied to a soft cloth.

A mixture of salt and water will cope with the blackness on the walls of aluminum dishes. Necessary:

• mix water and salt in equal proportions;
• apply gruel to the contaminated area with a sponge;
• rub well.

Effectively eliminate soot ammonia with the addition of soap. Necessary:

• Grind ½ soap bar;
• immerse in water;
• add 1 tbsp. l. ammonia;
• heat a quarter of an hour;
• let cool to room temperature;
• wash the pot.

A mixture of soap and PVA will help to quickly remove scale. Mix the third part of the soap bar with glue, pour into a saucepan, boil for 30 minutes. Rub the contaminated areas with a sponge. Thoroughly wash the aluminum container with the cleaning gel.

Old soot will eliminate such a mixture: laundry soap, silicate glue, soda ash. The metal surface will not be affected by this cleaning method.

In ten liters of liquid, a glass of soda, soap (crushed) and glue are diluted. The mixture is heated, stirring regularly, until a homogeneous consistency is achieved. Immerse the pots in the resulting solution, after it boils, reduce the fire. Close the container with a lid.

The deposit will disappear if you send the pan to the freezer for one hour. After this time, remove the pan, wash with a cleaning agent.

To eliminate scale, which is strongly ingrained in the metal, it is necessary to use 9% vinegar. Take 1 cup of the substance per liter of liquid and fill the pan with the resulting solution. Boil, cool, wash the pan with soapy water. During boiling it is necessary to open the window. Vapors of vinegar can harm human health.

Frequently used aluminum products are covered with limescale. In the fight against it, citric acid will come to the rescue. For this you need:

• pour water into an aluminum container and heat;
• pour 2 tablespoons of citric acid;
• boil for about 20 minutes;
• cool, wash the dishes with the addition of detergent.

Black coal will help to cope with the remnants of milk:

• 4 tablets of coal crumble;
• pour on the bottom of the pan;
• add water at room temperature. Leave for 25 minutes;
• Wash aluminum utensils carefully.

Before use, new products must be thoroughly washed to eliminate factory oil mixtures. For this procedure, you will need a soft cloth and a regular detergent. Finally, rinse the pan with water at room temperature.

In order to keep the attractive appearance of the pan as long as possible, and the quality of service does not fall, the following recommendations must be followed:

• Wash the pan only when it is cold.
• Dishes with burnt food residues, such as jam, must be soaked immediately and a cleaning agent added. Let stand for a few hours and then wash.
• It is recommended to wash aluminum cookware by hand.
• The sponge should be soft so as not to damage the metal surface.
• The cleaning agents used must be thoroughly washed off from all sides of the pan, external and internal.

• Specialty chemical cleaners purchased from the supermarket should be labeled "for aluminum products" or "for cleaning metals". It is better to choose products with a neutral PH value. Special cleaners effectively cope with strong pollution (thanks to the multi-component composition). After their use, the dishes must be washed well.
• Aluminum pans are not recommended for washing under running hot water. Products may warp due to high temperatures.
• In order not to rub off dark spots, but to prevent their appearance, it is necessary to carry out weekly prophylaxis: clean aluminum utensils with baking soda applied to a synthetic sponge.

Calcined aluminum products as follows:

• first, the pan is washed well, left to dry;
• pour vegetable oil into it;
• add 1 tbsp. l. table salt;
• kept on high heat for 5 minutes;
• cool and wash with soapy water.

You can extend the life of aluminum pans if you follow simple rules:

• Do not cook sour soups and dishes containing dairy products in aluminum cookware.
• Cooked food, after it has cooled, must be transferred from the pan to a plastic container. Long contact with food leads to the formation of browning on the bottom and walls of the pan, and the taste of metal penetrates into the food.

• Aluminum pans are not suitable for salting. When in contact with an acidic environment, the metal releases compounds that are harmful to human health.
• To avoid the formation of soot, all dishes must be cooked over low heat.
• Stir food during cooking should not be an iron spoon, but a plastic, silicone or wooden one. So the coating of the dishes will not be damaged.
• In order for the food in the pan not to burn, it must be constantly stirred.

In order to use any of the above cleaning agents for aluminum pans, it will take some time and careful observance of safety precautions. The choice of recipes for returning shine to dishes is so wide that each housewife will choose the most optimal one for herself.

The question of choosing improvised means or multi-component store analogues depends on the degree of contamination of the pan. If you treat pots carefully from the moment you buy them, then they will look neat for a long time, and their functionality will allow you to cook more than one masterpiece of culinary art.

For information on how to wash an aluminum pan from burning and fat, see the following video.