I’m doing a whole mess of dishes while my kid is asleep and i just finished washing pots and pans. I scrub the heck out of them but there’s always some black and brown coloration on the bottom of it. am I using too much heat so there’s something happening to the metal? if it’s not happening to the metal itself what is it and why does it seem like it refuses every effort I make to clean it?
edit: since it seems i wasn’t clear enough initially, but bottom of the pan i did indeed mean the underside that is in contact with the burner, not the interior bottom of the pan!
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Oxidation (aka rusting) happens more quickly at high temperatures. It could be that the metal has oxidized slightly, or undergone other chemical reactions that caused it to turn a color.
More likely, the bottom of the pan was not completely clean when it was used. Whatever trace of stuff was on the bottom of the pan got burnt on to the bottom of the pan, and it’s not coming off.
If you have a gas stove, it could be residue left by the flame itself. This could be some combination of the other two causes above.
Little bits of food get on the bottom of the pan. Then you put it over heat/flame. Then the stuff gets cooked to the bottom. Then it turns to carbon and become very hard to get off without chemicals but white vinegar and backing soda can sometimes take it off. Or barkeepers friend.
Maybe add a photo. Sometimes the oils used can cook onto / cure onto the pan. It can be a good thing tbh. It can help the surface be more anti stick. Mostly happens on stainless steel pans
I call it seasoning. It’s what keeps food from sticking. Go into any restaurant and you will find a pan or two that they use in high heat that is pure black.
Edit. Scrubbing will only make it worse by scratching the metal and making it harder to clean. Enjoy the black pans as a sign of a good cook.
Also be aware: nonstick pans have a coating in them. If you scrub too hard or they get old, this nonstick can come off and you can see where it has left. Note that nonstick that has become free of the pan may not be as safe to eat so you should discontinue use of failed non stick pans.
it’s polymerized oil, mostly.
When you heat some kinds of cooking oil they harden. the oil molecules link together into long chains, and become a polymer, like plastic, but very heat resistant. It’s basically the same chemical reaction that causes oil paint to dry, but it happens almost instantly at high temperatures. It’s also the same reaction that we use to season cast-iron pans.
Get some Barkeepers Friend. Follow the instructions, problem solved.
But to answer your question, yes, there is something happening. Usually it’s the pan being too hot. Assuming you have stainless pans, if food is sticking, it’s probably lack of oil/butter or failure to preheat prior to lubricant. Do water tests for balling (leidenfrost effect) before placing protein rich foods.
If it’s black and you use a gas stove, it’s leaking carbon monoxide due to incomplete combustion.
If you mean the off-color rainbowish hue staining on stainless steel, that is often a result of chromium in the steel oxidizing due to heat. Completely harmless and normal.
I can tell you from experience the most simplest answer here. It’s food or most probably oil that ends up down there, then you continue cooking and with the high heat, it turns to carbon as such.
Usually when you pour some food off the pans or pots – especially the pans – onto a plate or something, a bit of oil trickles down the side and ends up down there.
What I usually do is keep a wet towel close by and just wipe the side and bottom side just after I pour something off of the pan. That helps get rid of the oil and prolongs the life of the pan’s underpart.
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