Help Needed: Cleanup Frustrations with New Stainless Cookware

[pcmomof2or3]

Need some insight to the new Stainless cookware that we sell. A very good customer of mine, who is very familiar with stainless is almost at a HATE relationship with our set. She says that the cleanup of this cookware is very manual and very frustrating. She wants to turn it back into PC, I asked her to hold off to let me see if anyone has any suggestions. Please help!

 

[jenm42]

Our stainless is not hard to clean, but it definitely needs more TLC than other stainess cookware out there. Here's what I do: EVERY time I wash a piece of PC stainess cookware, after it's really clean from food gunk and all, I then sprinkle a little Bar Keeper's Friend on it, and wipe it down with the damp sponge, then rinse again and dry RIGHT away. It looks beautiful every time.If your friend is still unhappy, and unwilling to deal with this type of care to keep the stainless cookware looking nice, then let her return it. You generally wouldn't lose commission on a sale even if she bought the set at full price (she probably didn't, though...). You don't want her to resent the cookware - and Pampered Chef - every time she uses it.Hope this helps...=) Jen

 

[wadesgirl]

It depends on what she's cooking in it. Things like eggs, pancakes, etc, need nonstick otherwise they will stick REALLY bad in stainless. I've used my stainless several times and it cleans up quickly and very nicely. You do also have to use more oil than normal in a nonstick (not a lot more but a little more). Stainless is designed to brown your food, causing it to stick to the pan. The leftovers are called fonde which helps create gravies and sauces when you are cooking meat. I even made a recipe that called for broiling the stuff in the pan and figured it wouldn't come clean very easily and it cleaned up like a breeze.

I think I heard it on here, but for stubborn stuff, try heating up some water in the pan then scrape it off like you do with fonde to get it up easier.

Stainless will also leave marks like in the stoneware, these can be cleaned with a non abrasive comet or bar keeper's friend.

I never thought I would say it but I LOVE our stainless cookware!

 

[RebelChef]

I wonder if you can use baking soda in it to clean it? I used to do this on my Corningware. Just boil a couple of tablespoons in enough water to cover for a couple of minutes and leave it to soak for a few hours or overnight. It cleaned up really easily.

 

[pcmomof2or3]

Thanks for the suggestions! It is the food being cooked in it that she is complaining about when it is time to clean the cookware. I will let her know to try water and heating up like you are fonding to see if that works.

 

[pamperedgirl3]

I'm going to have to try the bar keeper's friend. I have tried everything else to get my stainless clean & it still doesn't look nice. I've stopped taking it to shows because I'm so embarrassed by how it looks. I've scrubbed & scrubbed, ran them through the dishwasher & they still don't clean up very nice. (Probably doesn't help that I manage to burn whatever I'm cooking in there a little! :blushing: ) I'm just too comfortable with my nonstick!

 

[cmdtrgd]

First off, if she is having a hard time with our SS, she doesn't know how to cook with it. Since ours has great heat capacity, you don't need to put it on high. Try medium high. Add oil to the pan to cover the bottom and wait till it shimmers. Put in the food and it will stick. As soon as it releases, turn it over. As soon as side two releases (and the food is cooked through) take it out of the pan. Here's the key - DEGLAZE the pan with some sort of flavorful liquid like stock or wine. If you don't want to use that as a sauce, fine (but you're out of your mind). However, if you let it cool completely without deglazing, it will be hard to clean. SS is not going to stay shiny. Use the SS cleaner or barkeepers friend to keep it looking pretty.

 

[urbnk8]

Our stainless is not hard to clean, but it definitely needs more TLC than other stainess cookware out there. Here's what I do: EVERY time I wash a piece of PC stainess cookware, after it's really clean from food gunk and all, I then sprinkle a little Bar Keeper's Friend on it, and wipe it down with the damp sponge, then rinse again and dry RIGHT away. It looks beautiful every time.

If your friend is still unhappy, and unwilling to deal with this type of care to keep the stainless cookware looking nice, then let her return it. You generally wouldn't lose commission on a sale even if she bought the set at full price (she probably didn't, though...). You don't want her to resent the cookware - and Pampered Chef - every time she uses it.

Hope this helps...

=) Jen

This is exactly what I do too. Works great!

 

[bethsbiz]

When I sell a set of stainless, I try to remember to include a container of Bar Keeper's Friend. It really, truly works. My hubby cooked something in my brand new stainless piece and it looked horrid....he freaked out quite actually. I calmly pulled out my Bar Keeper's friend and it not only provided the cleaning I needed but left the pan looking sparkly and new.

Stainless IS different from non-stick. I doubt that our stainless is that much different from other similar stainless products...stainless is simply harder to clean.

As consultants we need to understand this and be ready to explain it. I love the non stick and that is what I sell the most of. Howver, there are folks who freak about non-stick and won't do anything in that line. So...stainless is a huge option for them.

AGain, understand that stainless is NOT an easy clean product; it has OTHER BENEFITS. Period. Watch training features that PC has to learn more.

 

[cmdtrgd]

Stainless is not really hard to clean, but it won't look shiny new without help. DEGLAZE, DEGLAZE, DEGLAZE, DEGLAZE, DEGLAZE!!!

 

[stacywhitlow]

When I sell a set of stainless, I try to remember to include a container of Bar Keeper's Friend.

I think that is a great idea. It is a very inexpensive gift for such a large purchase. I will definitely be using this.

 

[wadesgirl]

I have to ask... I looked and looked and looked for Bar Keeper's Friend at Walmart one night and couldn't find it. It's with the cleaning stuff right? What kind of a bottle does it come in? Maybe I need to go to a different store but I usually only do grocery shopping at Walmart or forget to walk down the cleaning aisles at other stores.

 

[vwpamperedchef]

It looks like the container that Comet comes in, but has a gold label and it is quite tall.

 

[wadesgirl]

Thanks, I have to remember that next time. Is it powered or gel/liquid? I have cooked several times in my 12" SS but it doesn't look that bad to me so I'm fine with it for now.

 

[chefann]

It's a powder, but I think I remember someone posting that they found a liquid version of it (like Soft Scrub). If you can't find Barkeeper's Friend, try Bon Ami - it's another mildly abrasive cleanser that's not as scratchy as scouring powder.

 

[byrd1956]

Has anyone made a sharable flyer or something for a new owner for the Stainless Cookware?