Punya and I always go back and forth about how much we love the web. Punya has his sci-po stories – and then there is the story of how Punya critiqued Cam Wilde’s periodic table of typefaces. If you read the comments, you will see Cam ended up being a guest speaker in our class this summer! (Check out the recording!) I love how the webs weave and connect us.
Well, now I have another story to add to the mix, and of course it has a cooking twist. A few weeks back, my foodie friend Kari emailed me distraught because she had a pretty bad caked-on baked-on burn on her shiny new All-Clad pan.
Kari emailed:
Hey–do you know how to get fried-on olive oil off stainless steel? I’ve tried baking soda and ketchup…. sigh.
I replied:
Bar Keeper’s Friend does a really nice job – http://www.barkeepersfriend.com/products.htm – you can get it usually at any grocery store or hardware store. Mix some into a paste and let it sit on the stain overnight – then get a scrubber and rub it off. SHOULD do the trick. In a pinch I have also used Mr. Clean Magic Erasers — I have no idea what is in those things, but dang, they really are MAGIC. I’ll tweet it out and see if I can get any other suggestions.
Of course, because I have an awesome network, the suggestions rolled in –
Via Facebook:
Bindu in Indonesia suggested – Look up Baking soda and its properties. It is supposed to be able to clean all.
Scott in Atlanta said – Ball up some aluminum foil, and scrape madly.
Brother-in-law Daryl said – We have something called dip-it and we get it from ecolab, this stuff takes everything off.
Twitter chimed in with
boil white vinegar and lemon slices (an inch or less). let sit til cool. use straight razor to peel stain. scrub w/baking soda. (via @trishlet)
Vinegar is my go-to cleaner and hasn’t failed yet. I fill with a mix of vin and h2o and boil for 20-30 min. Wipes right off.
and
a paste of vinegar and baking soda for really tough jobs. (Also great for cleaning clogged drains! VOLCANO!) (via @leynafaye)
THEN, the tweet that made me run across the hall and proclaim my love of the web to Punya.
Keep at it with Bar Keepers Friend and elbow grease! –– this tweet via, ALLCLAD. Yes, All-Clad, the maker of the pan! Color me ecstatic! Another company with their ear to the social media ground – and not in a spammy nasty auto-follow sort of way, in a genuine, how can I help sort of way. Of course, I immediately added @allclad as a friend and thanked them for the tweet.
I sent all the suggestions on to Kari and waited for the results of the experiment. The next day, another tweet showed up in my @ column –
Nice to tweet you :) Any news on your friend’s pan? (via @allclad)
They were checking back in! All-Clad, I commend you for “doing social media” the right way – you’re a #1 class act in my book. Thank you for adding to the conversation and serving as an excellent role model for tweeters everywhere!
Kari eloquently blogged about her stain removal experiment here – long story short – success the stain is gone!
I’m happy to chalk up another one in the WIN column for social media!