FWIW, burned-on oil is probably similar to the brown/black crud that
gets burned onto roasting pans. Since it's an organic material, plain
old sodium hydroxide (lye) will soften it and often dissolve it.

WARNING! Stainless steel only!

Really cruddy stainless steel pot bottoms clean up easily after an
overnight soak in a plate or dish of lye in water.

Lye is corrosive stuff and can be dangerous to living things (like
children.) Be very careful how you use it. But, if you're comfortable
with such things and know how to use it, lye is cheap and very
effective.

Pixmaker


On Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:31:53 -0600, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>In article >,
> enigma > wrote:
>
>>i have a new stainless
>> steel pot with burnt on oil. is there a way to remove it & will the
>> pot be forever burning stuff now?
>
>> lee
>
>If it's got a decent bottom to it, Lee, I think you should be okay. The
>only time I had trouble with a hot spot on stainless was with a thin
>bottom.