Melted plastic?

B

Bonnie Scott

Active member
I have a Griswold small logo pan that has been in the lye bath for 4 or 5 days. It's really clean except for an area on the bottom of the pan. I am beginning to think that at some time this pan was set down hot on something plastic. Can I just scrape that off with a putty knife? I don't want to scratch it.
 
Perhaps first try heating it up to the point the plastic, if that's what it is, will melt again and can be wiped off or scraped off with something non-scratching. There are techniques to safely scraping off hardened residues, but the tool used, typically a putty knife, must not have sharp corners, and the working edge must always be kept flat against the piece. I have a 1" putty knife I have rounded off the corners of the blade with a file. I usually only use it on already machine polished surfaces like the insides of skillets, though. Also note that some residual build-up consists of carbon only that has no grease content left in it; lye will not dissolve it, and it must be removed with electrolysis or manually.
 
Thanks Doug, I put it back in the lye bath for now but I will try this tomorrow. I may have a plastic putty knife around here somewhere. I will start with that and see if it comes off.
 
Not so long ago, I made the bonehead move of using a plastic spatula in my favorite #10 skillet while said skillet was hotter than the plastic could stand. I wound up up with an almost instant pink smear melted into the center of the cooking surface. Not a lot, but enough to know what had happened.

After some rather colorful language and steam venting from my ears, I cooled the pan, carefully chipped out as much as I could with a piece of oak (to avoid any damage). I then proceeded to the lye bath and vinegar solutions ... repeatedly. Neither did much good. I didn't have an electrolysis tank at the time so I don't know if that would have worked or not.

Finally, inspiration struck and I simply heated the skillet, gradually, until the remaining plastic melted and began to gently smoke. I left it that way until the plastic actually burned off. Not a pleasant odor and it took maybe 30 minutes, but after another lye bath and re-seasoning, my baby was back to her former glory.

All the plastic untensils are now out of reach from where I cook.
 
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