Unseasoning a sheet pan??

[Cooking4Fun]

I used a cookie sheet to cook little pizzas and I put olive oil down on it to prevent sticking. Now I have orange/yellow stains. How do I remove it without going all steel wool?

 

[pictonguy]

Try heating the pan with some water in it, that normally works pretty good. vinegar and baking soda also works then use some course salt and scrub.

 

[Cooking4Fun]

Like get it wet and put in 500F oven?

 

[pictonguy]

No not just wet but add water enough for at least 1/4" water, then just bring it to a boil in the oven, or on the stove if you feel comfortable doing that for about 10 minutes, remove or turn the oven off and wait until you can handle it comfortably and scrub like hell. Should work.

 

[taxlady]

I would use baking soda. I take a sponge or cloth and wet that a little and then squeeze as much water out of it as I can. I sprinkle the surface that needs cleaning with a bit of baking soda and then rub like heck. It tends to take a lot of elbow grease, but once the top surface of that baked on oil is breached, it goes quicker. I mostly use this method on things I don't want to scratch. It can be done completely dry on the outside of a toaster and it doesn't damage the chrome. It has been know to take of paint, but not reliably.

 

[blissful]

What kind of pan is it? Stainless steel? Aluminum? What is the finish on it? A non stick surface?

If you use anything abrasive on a stainless steel or aluminum pan, it'll be fine. Abrasives on non stick surfaces usually will show.

If you heat polymerized oil to a high heat it will blacken the same way oil polymerizes and blackens when seasoning a cast iron pan.

If you want something that lasts, use stainless steel, aluminum, or cast iron. If you use a metal pan with a coating, then use parchment instead of oil, it will protect the food and the pan.

 

[Cooking4Fun]

No not just wet but add water enough for at least 1/4" water, then just bring it to a boil in the oven, or on the stove if you feel comfortable doing that for about 10 minutes, remove or turn the oven off and wait until you can handle it comfortably and scrub like hell. Should work.

It's a cookie sheet. There are no edges to hold liquid on pan.

 

[Cooking4Fun]

What kind of pan is it? Stainless steel? Aluminum? What is the finish on it? A non stick surface?

If you use anything abrasive on a stainless steel or aluminum pan, it'll be fine. Abrasives on non stick surfaces usually will show.

If you heat polymerized oil to a high heat it will blacken the same way oil polymerizes and blackens when seasoning a cast iron pan.

If you want something that lasts, use stainless steel, aluminum, or cast iron. If you use a metal pan with a coating, then use parchment instead of oil, it will protect the food and the pan.

Not sure the material. Just a standard cookie sheet. Looks aluminum. I scrubbed it with a degreaser. That helped a lot, but I fear I left behind green material from the scrub sponge. Will run pan through dishwasher to see what that does.

 

[Andy M.]

If the pan is shiny aluminum, the DW will turn it all a dark grey.

 

[blissful]

Aluminum, got it. Some bakers recommend letting your aluminum baking sheets get black over time. They say it bakes a nicer crust on whatever they are baking because it is black. Some bakers use combinations of vinegar, baking soda, to clean them up. Some use oven cleaner but don't leave it on a long time because it strips the sheet of everything and then starts to eat into the aluminum.

My personal experience because I use aluminum loaf pans and 1/2 sheet pans is that letting them get black is difficult and takes time. I use parchment over aluminum for baking, then a wet sponge takes off anything under the parchment and they stay silvery colored. The inside corners don't come clean anymore but I'm happy with them. I've had them for 20 years. When I visit others and use their baking sheets, if they are black I'm fine with that.