What works the best for removing burnt $#!T

[Craig5_12]

I've finally got the gumption to post a new thread but not to go into detail about the horribly noobish brewday I had on Sunday.....

We'll leave it at the fact that my boil was about 5 hours long and when all is said and done, I found the bottom of my kettle scorched (I believe burnt pellet hops). So, whats the best formula for removing the burntness? PBW, B-Brite, Oxyclean, Barkeepers Friend...etc....

 

[Brewtopia]

IMO Barkeeper's Friend is a miracle cleaner for stainless steel.

 

[Buford]

I second the Barkeeper's Friend recommendation. Use it with one of those blue Scotchbrite pads and the gunk on stainless just comes right off.

 

[Glibbidy]

Scotchbrite, stainless steel scrubbies (provided your kettle is stainless) and lots and lots, and lots of elbow grease!

 

[Craig5_12]

Thanks for the input guys. I'll pick some up on the way home from work.

 

[EdWort]

Add me to the list for BKF. That stuff rocks on stainless. Your local grocery store should have it.

 

[kvh]

Soak it in hot vinegar for a while (cook it even if you like) and then go at it with the abrasives.

If you can't get through it with that, hit it with a wire-brush attachment on your power drill or steel wool under a power sander.

kvh

 

[homebrewer_99]

try boiling some water on top of the scorched area. Sometimes when I brew (a mead) the pot bottom is clear of any scorches/brown spots.

You could always try the scrubbie pads attached to a palm sander.

 

[Lil' Sparky]

The best thing I found was just using a palm sander with med sand paper after my ordeal, but I had 2" of burnt **** on the bottom of mine. Easy off oven cleaner really didn't do much, but the sander worked pretty fast. If those other ideas don't seem to do much, try a sander. It won't really remove much material.

Curious, did you taste the wort? I hope it doesn't taste like a cigar - mine sure did.

 

[Craig5_12]

Woo Hoo, palm sander. If the BKF doesn't do the trick I think this will be my next route. If I would've left the kettle (Sanke btw) I woulda tried the boiling water/vinnegar method...now I'll be too lazy and want to give the other stuff a try. I don't think I can go wrong with the sander if it comes to that.

It was a pretty big Barleywine so the OG wort was really sweet, although there was maybe a hint of a burnt flavor in there. After the fermentation slows a little I'll pull a sample and see how it tastes without all the sugar. Hopefully any burnt flavor will add to the overall character and not subdue the other flavors.....I'll let you know in a month or so!

 

[Short Drive]

At work we used to get that a lot when we made the pasta sauce. I bought a Red Devil 5n1 tool. I made sure it was good and sharp. Then use it to scrape the bottom. The bulk of it should come off. The rest should come off with an oven cleaner, or an abrasive cleaner.

Al

 

[Craig5_12]

Well, as I assumed, I had a harder time than expected....but I did get most of it off.... first I started with the BKF, then went to the sander....I only had 220grit so it didn't work well and really just sanded the carbon down and made it smooth...argh....so then I put the kettle on the burner and added just enough water to cover the burn....didn't work.....so then I added some BKF to the boil to see if it would help and it did, a little....so then I added some vinnegar....but I ran out....but it did work better than the other methods.
In the future I think I'll just use the straight vinegar and maybe some BKF to the boil...it smells like hell and I'm not sure if the fumes are any good to breathe though....I've also heard the adding a little hydrogen peroxide may help too.....I guess we'll have to wait for the next "I burnt my _____ thread" and use that for an experiment because I certainly don't plan on doing this again!

 

[WhatsOnTap]

If U ran out of vinegar you can use lemon juice or white wine to "de-glaze" the pot.

 

[lostnfoam]

yeah watch the fumes. BKF is good, but dont go to crazy with the sander you dont want to have another problem on your hands. when you get most of it gone if you have some star san around make a consintrated mix and that works for me.

 

[Craig5_12]

yet more sound advice, thanks guys.
Why use Star-San though...isn't that just a sanitizer and not a cleaner? Wouldn't B-Brite, Oxyclean, PBW work better? Not that I have any of this on hand either but, just wondering...

 

[kvh]

yet more sound advice, thanks guys.
Why use Star-San though...isn't that just a sanitizer and not a cleaner? Wouldn't B-Brite, Oxyclean, PBW work better? Not that I have any of this on hand either but, just wondering...

StarSan is mostly phosphoric acid. Vinegar is acetic acid... related somewhat I suppose. I don't think the fumes from cooked vinegar have much in them to hurt you... just strong odors.

kvh

 

[Tophe]

Chalk another one up for BKF and blue scotch brite pads. I just bought that stuff yesterday and cleaned my pot today and it looks like new!