How do I get the discoloration off my All Clad LTD cookware?

[Pate]

Since the first time I used my beautiful All Clad LTD cookware, and inceasingly so, I get ugly brown, distorded, greasy-looking brown streaks on the outside of my pans. Nothing I've tried will take them off. I even bought some miserable excuse for a cleaner off the internet that says it was created specifically for this type of stain and cookware and it was worthless.

Has anyone else had this problem and were you able to solve it? I still ove my pans but they certainly aren't as pretty as they used to be.

[MakingSense]

CAUTION:
Barkeepers Friend's website says NOT to use their product on anodized aluminum.
http://www.barkeepersfriend.com/Clean...

The streaks you see are from grease that has built up and been cooked on, just like that which builds up in a dirty oven. You could try Calphalon cleaner or a ordinary cleanser, like Comet, which Calphalon says is OK for its anodized pots.

If your pots are really nasty try regular Easy-Off oven cleaner as your last resort.
Take them outside, place them on newspaper and spray the outsides, Put them in plastic bags for an hour or so. Wearing gloves, scrub the gunk off with fine steel wool or a plastic scrubby - it should come off pretty easily. Wash the pots well with soap and water.
Vow to wash the outsides as well as the insides every time you use them in the future so they'll never get horrible again. A good workman takes care of his tools.

[farmersdaughter]

I tried Easy-Off oven cleaner on one of my All-Clad LTDs and it completely ruined the outside. It bubbled up strangely and left a rough finish that looked and felt like barnacles, so I wouldn't recommend using it.

[MakingSense]

Then it's down to regular cleanser and elbow grease. And remembering to clean the outsides of pots everytime we use them.
The manufacturer of Easy-Off says that it can cause pitting of aluminum. I've used it on copper, glass and stainless steel before with no problems.
I wonder if any of the Oxi-Clean products would work?

[flipkeat]

What about Dawn Power Disolver? I use it all the time on hard to get off stuff..Like my BBQ Grills even..works great. Love it!! Perhaps give that a try???

[MakingSense]

That stuff is terrific. It's mild enough to use without gloves so maybe it would be OK.

[Pate]

Thank you flipkeat for the Dawn Power Dissolver recommendation! I used the spray on the bottom of my stained All-Clad LTD and waited the recommended 30 min. and voila', just like new. No scrubbing and no ill effects whatsoever. The stains literally just wiped away. I also used it on my really stained and crud encrusted oven racks and WOW, a little more elbow grease, but they are now clean and shiny.

DPD was hard to find in my local grocery stores. I finally found it at Walmart. I think they sell two types, a pellet that disolves in water and the sprat type, which I purchased.

I am so happy to have my pretty pans back. It's a miracle.

[flipkeat]

Aha glad it worked!! I love it..Living in Ontario I always stock up on it on my trips to Buffalo as sadly it isn't available here LOL..Happy you found it!! I love the stuff myself!!

[farmersdaughter]

Yeah, I'm good about cleaning the outside each time I use them, but my husband who is generally assigned KP duty doesn't always remember to get the outside . . . a big problem especially for sear-roasting and finishing things in the oven, unfortunately.

[goodfellow]

The All-Clad website states the following:
• The Bar Keeper's Friend can also be used on the exterior of the All-Clad Stainless collection, LTD collection, and MC2 collection.

It may be that you should not use the liquid version of Bar Keepers Friend on the LTD collection, which contains citric acid.

[drobbia]

Make a paste of Bakins Soda, Liquid Kitchen soap and very hot water - apply thickly onto stain and leave overnight , scrub with a plastic dcrubber- Works everytime --- I use alot of olive oil in my cooking and I have a flat glass top range - this combo equals a lot of staining - I got the combo from All Clad customer service.

[B747crew]

I had just about decided to purchase the LTD set but now I'm wondering again if the work in keeping it clean isn't worth just going the extra and getting the SS. Yet in the posts I see that the core of AC SS is not near as thick as the LTD or the MC . I don't want MC as I dont like the extreme commercial look of them. I wonder if there is really any ONE product that truly has ALL the charastics that I need and want in cookware. Sitram wont work for me for reasons Ive posted in the past. Even the AC copper core which is considered by many the best has issues according to some in that the copper core isn't in reality doing that much more than an all aluminum core. I think if it wouldn't freek my wife out too badly Id just get Copper cookware use it and forget about it looking like hell if I dont keep after it......You'd think that buying pots and pans would be a no brainer ....I'm not putting men into space just cooking. I'm at a complete loss!

[Cinnamon]

More and more I'm tempted to use cast iron. Cookware should be able to go through the fire, literally.

[Kagey]

Barkeeper's Friend is great, as someone else suggested, and Brillo will remove just about anything. I've also found that a paste of baking soda and water, when left on for a while, softens even surprisingly tough stains. But to be quite honest, I've been a lot happier, and my hands have been in much better condition, since I stopped worrying about these types of stains. Now, I couldn't really care less about how the pans look. They work. That's what counts. Polish my copper-coated pots regularly? Ha. No way.

[wak]

I'm with you Kagey. My LTD are stained and I just consider it evidence of an active cook, just like all the knife marks on my cutting boards.

[Megiac]

I've had luck with a Brillo pad on my All Clad MC2. I'm not sure if it would scratch the LTD or not, but you may want to test a spot on the bottom to see how it reacts.

[HarHarHar]

Is it OK to Brillo the inside of All Clad Ltd cookware? My husband brillo'ed two pans and I am not sure if they are damaged now.

[Megiac]

I Brillo the inside of my All-Clad with no ill effects.

[Buckethead]

I have read that it is possible to scratch the bottom of a stainless pan so microscopically that food particles get in there and can't be cleaned out with normal dishwashing. It probably depends on the pan.

[farmersdaughter]

Whatever you do, don't use oven cleaner spray. Too harsh and it ruins the outside finish. Try 409 diluted with a little water, plus a lot of elbow grease with a green scrubbie. That's the best I've been able to accomplish with the same kind of stains, unfortunately.

[nyfoodjoe]

Try barkeepers friend...a cleanser

[Pate]

That works great on the inside SS part, but does absolutely nothing to the stains on the outside. Thanks though. BKF is a great cleanser.

[chocofan]

It sounds like it is grease/oil/or pan spray on the outside. Do you have a gas stove? That bakes the grease on the outside pretty well. I use a stainless steel scrubbie for all of my all-clad. Salt or baking soda help as well. Also, you have to get the streaks off every time, otherwise they bake on and on and on and on each time you use your pans.