# Is My Favorite Pot Ruined?



## SeanCan'tCook (Nov 11, 2011)

So, my favorite stainless steel pot has been AWOL for about a month.  Turns out my son the genius had cooked rice in it for a cookout, then left it out in the garage. 

Now the rice has turned to lots and lots of mold.

I was thinking of thoroughly cleaning it, and soaking it in bleach.

Will that make it usable again?

If not, is there a way that will?

Thanks,


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## no mayonnaise (Nov 11, 2011)

It's not ruined at all; it's a piece of metal.  A dilution of about 1:4 bleach to water will be fine to sterilize the pot after you get the moldy rice out.  If you're still worried boil some water in it after you soak in bleach.  The bleach solution will sterilize the pot, the boiling water should pull out any residues or starch left in the pot.


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## DaveSoMD (Nov 11, 2011)

Also, since it is SS, once you get the rice out give it a good cleaning with Bar Keepers Friend and it should be good as new.


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## buckytom (Nov 11, 2011)

no, it's not ruined. 

iwould scrape out as much crud as you can, then soak it in hot water for a few hours, and scrub it well. 

fill with water, bring to a boil for a few minutes dump, and scrub again.

finally, scrub it one more time with barkeeper's friend, or another ss cleaner.


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## Addie (Nov 11, 2011)

A thick paste of baking soda will remove any residue food. Apply liberally an let dry for 24 hours. It should loosen all residue.


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## spork (Nov 11, 2011)

Once you've decided on a course of recovery for the pot, make your son do all the work, Sean!


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## Hammster (Nov 11, 2011)

spork said:


> Once you've decided on a course of recovery for the pot, make your son do all the work, Sean!


 
I agree with your son doing the work. 

As others have said, the pot will be fine. Definitely use the bleach solution to kill the mold and then clean the pot like you would any pot with something stuck to it.
The Barkeeper's friend is a nice touch at the end to polish up the inside of the pot.


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## Bolas De Fraile (Nov 11, 2011)

buckytom said:


> no, it's not ruined.
> 
> iwould scrape out as much crud as you can, then soak it in hot water for a few hours, and scrub it well.
> 
> ...


Tom mate I have this strange picture in my head of you with the pot.........


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## Andy M. (Nov 11, 2011)

All of the above shows stainless steel is the best choice for cookware.  It's tough, and difficult to damage permanently.

I am not affiliated with the stainless steel cookware industry.


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## buckytom (Nov 11, 2011)

Hammster said:


> I agree with your son doing the work.
> 
> As others have said, the pot will be fine. Definitely use the bleach solution to kill the mold and then clean the pot like you would any pot with something stuck to it.
> The Barkeeper's friend is a nice touch at the end to polish up the inside of the pot.





Bolas De Fraile said:


> Tom mate I have this strange picture in my head of you with the pot.........



i will not wear heels when i do the dishes no matter how many times you ask...


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## Addie (Nov 11, 2011)

Kill the mold first with straight bleach before you even attempt to clean the pot. There are some good molds (pencillin) and some bad ones. (Katrina and N.O.) So unless you know for sure that the mold is of the pencillin family, why take chances. Molds love to turn into powder and float through the air. (Wear a mask) Is this one pan worth all this labor? Wouldn't you rather be out shopping for a new pan?


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## Zereh (Nov 11, 2011)

Addie said:


> Is this one pan worth all this labor? Wouldn't you rather be out shopping for a new pan?



Good stainless steel pans are an investment. I'd be doing everything I could to salvage the pan. It makes no sense to throw out a perfectly good pan and purchase another when some cleaning will fix up the original into a good-as-new state. It would be a waste of money and add unnecessary waste to a landfill. No one is telling him to lick the pan clean. ~.~ Germs and mold will not survive their trip to the bleach spa.


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## GLC (Nov 11, 2011)

Take care when scraping. No steel wool or 3M type pads. (Some don't worry about scratches. I try to keep the surface perfect to keep it as non-sticking as possible.) A good, long soak will lift most crud. Then, ditto on Barkeeper's Friend. It's non-abrasive and perfect for stainless steel. 

Hopefully the surface is okay. An important property of stainless steel is it's ability to self-heal minor surface damage. This self-healing is a reaction between chromium and oxygen, and when foods or other material blocks oxygen from the surface there can be corrosion. For the same reason, do not allow bleach to stand in the pot for a long time. A short exposure to a mild bleach solution will kill whatever is growing.


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## bakechef (Nov 11, 2011)

Zereh said:


> Good stainless steel pans are an investment. I'd be doing everything I could to salvage the pan. It makes no sense to throw out a perfectly good pan and purchase another when some cleaning will fix up the original into a good-as-new state. It would be a waste of money and add unnecessary waste to a landfill. No one is telling him to lick the pan clean. ~.~ Germs and mold will not survive their trip to the bleach spa.



I second that, I would do just about anything needed to salvage one of my stainless pans.  I shopped and put a lot of time in choosing my pots and pans and I hope to have them for a good long time.  I bought them with the hope to have them for years and years!


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## Roll_Bones (Oct 19, 2013)

Bleach? Stainless steel?

Just fill it with water and put it on the stove until the stuff comes loose.

I am no metallurgist, but it seems like bleach would do more harm than good and its not needed for this.
It would be like burning down your house because you saw a roach.


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## Zhizara (Oct 19, 2013)

Fill the pot with water, add a fabric softener sheet (or even liquid fabric softener) and leave it overnight.  Work on cleaning the pot the next morning.  It make take a couple of tries before the pot is truly clean, but it really does work.


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## Mad Cook (Nov 17, 2013)

Strong solution of biological laundry washing powder in warm water soaked over night. Rinse. Wash with hot soapy water and a non-scratch scourer. That should remove the mould. If not, do it again as often as needed (probably twice at most). A touch of Bar Keepers Friend will take away any staining after washing.


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