Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I have several heavy-duty nonstick rimmed baking sheets and use them all the time and keep them in good shape. A few weeks ago I let a couple of friends each take one home when I did a mini royal icing decorating "class" and their cookies were still wet. One of the pans that came back to me yesterday had obviously been used after that and has a layer of golden gunk stuck to the surface. Sort of like she used Pam or something on it and baked it to a crisp

So I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for getting it off. I tried one thing last night -- baking bacon on it -- because once before when I did that I was amazed at how the baking sheet looked brand new when I realized the next day I had accidentally left it in the oven and still had the grease on it. But this time that didn't work as well (see pic). There are a few places where the original finish is peeking through, but not many. (Although it's not sticky like it was at first when I got it back.)

So I'd sure love any ideas to get it relatively clean again!

Emilie

I've tried the pinterest trick of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide and it didn't work at all. I find that the only thing that works for me is Dawn Power Disolver. I'm sure it removes a layer of my lungs too but it works well on the sheets, you need to coat them liberally though and wait and then scrub. I find those plastic scrapers made for cleaning baking stones really help.
My husband used Bar Keepers Friend and elbow grease and removed the finish along with the grease.

This was online:

The column Heloise Hints from home magazine Good Housekeeping offers two solutions for cleaning pans of stuck-on food particles:

To clean residue from non-stick pans, boil a half cup of vinegar with water to bring the particles up. Use a towel to clean them out and then wash out the pan with soapy water.

Add a tablespoon of powdered dishwasher detergent mixed with water and bring to a boil with the stovetop fan running. Wash residue off non-stick pans after they have been simmering for ten minutes, but do not let the mixture dry in the pans. This solution works well for spray residue.

That's very upsetting. I can't imagine returning a pan like that.

I'm with Carey. I can't imagine returning someone's pan with gunk on it.

No secrets, just wanted to express my amazement that someone brought you back your baking sheet like that!! If you can't get it clean, I would explain that to the person and ask for a replacement. Did she not even offer one????

Mary

If I had done that to someone's pan I'd immediately offer to replace it.

I use Dawn Power Dissolver, but if that doesn't work, I graduate to Carbon Off.

Amy

Thanks so much for the suggestions and astonished empathy! I was definitely shocked to get it back in that condition. But I'm giving her a pass because she's a sweet 30-something mom who's currently taking care of 3 young foster children in addition to her toddler. So I'm going with the assumption that she somehow didn't realize what it looked like before. She's definitely scattered in general and has way more on her plate than I ever could/would. Although, still....!

And it's also a good reminder that I shouldn't lend my stuff out to anyone, because people can just be so clueless sometimes when you'd never expect it. It brought back to mind a time that I lent a pristine cookbook to a friend and when she gave it back to me, she had turned down several corners of recipes when she was looking through it. Now that really astonished me. How in the world could someone think that's acceptable? I ended up giving her that book for the next Christmas because it annoyed me so much every time I opened it.

So I guess the moral of the story is don't be generous when it comes to sharing anything but food from one's kitchen, and always have some Dawn Powerdissolver under the sink. I'm picking some up today and will report back

Yes, Jean, my husband often washes the pots/pans with Barkeepers and he assumed it was good for anything (even though I know I'd said before it was only for the pans that are "silver on both sides." I barely caught him in time recently when he was getting ready to scrub my expensive nonstick saute pan with it. I think I raised my voice just a tad

Emilie,
I'll be very interested to hear how you make out trying to clean your pan. I have a very nice/high quality half-sheet pan that's been used many, many times. There's stuff baked on that doesn't seem like it will ever come off.
It happens often with well-used non-stick items.
I do hear that the 'new' Pam doesn't leave that awful residue.
I'll try the Powerscrub if you end up recommending it.

That's not an awful residue, that's seasoning! She says defensively of her truly terrible-looking pans.

But, yeah, you don't do that to somebody else's pan. I'd try Krud Kutter.