If there’s one question that people ask me more than just about any other, it’s this one: how to wash stainless steel cookware? I think a lot of people get confused by this because most stainless steel cookware is labeled as “dishwasher safe” but then in a footnote somewhere in the manual it says something like; “well….you CAN wash them in the dishwasher, but you should really do it by hand”!
Another point of confusion that most people get hung up on is rust. People hear the word stainless and they think that it means they won’t rust, but that’s not really what it means at all and in fact, there’s a pretty good chance that you’re stainless steel will rust over time – at least in small spots here and there, but I’ll get into that below.
So how do you care for stainless steel cookware?
First, forget about the dishwasher! You’re going to always want to wash your stainless steel by hand using hot soapy water. If the food has baked onto the pot or pan or skillet or whatever, your best bet is to soak it until the food can be rubbed off with a dish towel or soft scrubbing tool of some sort.
The reason why you don’t want to put these things in the dishwasher is because the detergent may or may not have an effect on the stainless steel, you may be okay but why chance it? Plus there is an issue with drying in the dishwasher.
When you wash your steel cookware by hand, you should immediately dry it with a wash towel. The reason why is because if you let it air dry it can rust and that’s one of the reasons why you should use the dishwasher because all dishwashers air dry the dishes. Some people wash them in the dishwasher and then take them out at the last cycle and dry them by hand and you might be able to get away with that if you’re careful.
No matter how careful you are washing them by hand, even if you dry them by hand, you’re still going to see stains and rust spots over time. It can happen for a number of reasons. Some people have high calcium levels in their tap water which can lead to these stains, for instance.
So how do you remove stains and rust?
One method is to fill your pot or pan with one part vinegar and three parts water and then bring that to a boil. Once it starts boiling, take it off the oven and let cool until it’s cool enough to touch. Then just wash it like you normally would with hot water and soap, and dry by hand. That should handle any staining that you encounter.
It may take a little bit longer to wash and care for Stainless Steel Cookware as opposed to, say, hard anodized aluminum cookware but the extra effort is really worth it over the life of your cookware. If you do a lot of cooking then you can’t go wrong with 18/10 stainless steel even with the extra hassle of caring for it.
