Most of our nonstick pans have a slightly greasy residue in the bottom, even after they’ve been cleaned with hot water and detergent. It’s not enough oil to rub off on anything, but if you swirl your finger around the bottom of the pan, you can see the pattern, so it’s not just the feel of the nonstick surface.
Is this a common problem? Is there any way to get rid of these last traces of oil or grease or whatever it is?
Lemme use my one bump: no one has any ideas? Am I simply not washing well enough?
My seasoned pans have a residue, but I’ve always thought it was supposed to be there. I do not “wash” them, I just wipe them with a towel when they are hot.
By a “seasoned pan” do you mean cast iron? That’s a bit different from a frying pan with a non-stick coating.
Yes, I know. Just thought maybe “seasoning” a non-stick pan was possible…
I believe it is. The last non-stick pans I bought came with instructions which said to season them with oil before first use.
Color me informed. I’ve only ever heard of seasoning used on cast iron; I figured temperatures hot enough to season a pan would be hot enough to damage the teflon.
Nope I heard this too, though I don’t think it’s as importaint for non-stick surfaces - well for the non-stick aspect. Perhaps there is a longevity issue, or not getting teflon in your food. IIRC the seasoning is at a lower tempature for a longer time as not to burn the teflon.
As for the residue, I’m not sure what it is but some things come to mind, it could be that your water is not hot enough to disolve the fats and oils in the dishwasher, or the pots are just not positioned well enough in the dishwasher.
The last set of non-stick pans I used said to NEVER use any oil in them; they said it tended to slowly build up a layer in teh pan which wouldinterfere with the non-stickness.
I’m not sure I beleive it 100%, and I use a little oil to improve heat transfer, but i do know I’ve had older non-stick pans that began sticking even though th enon-stick appeared intact excet forthe gummy oil residue.
As to how to clean it? Long soaks with a very strong soap solution (ie lots of dishsoap & a little water rather than vice versa) would be my first cut. Let soak for 12 hours, rinse, scrub & repeat. Another approach would be to repeatedly boil straight water in the pan; very hot water is an amazing solvent. Eihter of these approaches is unlikely to do damage.
I’ll have to try boiling water in the pan. We don’t clean the nonstick in the dishwasher – Calphalon said not to.
It’s not enough oil/grease to be disgusting, it’s just kind of odd.
How are you cleaning them? I have Calphalon non sticks and have had good luck with paper towels and dish soap. If there is some carbon sticking to the inside of the pan boiling water will usually lift it.
Do you have hard water? A lot of times that will lend the gross residue to the pans. There is not much you can do about that except hand dry immediately after cleaning.
Definitely do not put it in the dishwasher. First the nonstick would disappear, then the pan. After a while all that would be left is the steel handle.