How to Restore Calphalon Pots and Pans – The Ultimate Guide
Calphalon has been a leading US-based kitchenware brand for ages now. It is downright impossible to find a professional kitchen that doesn’t showcase this brands’ high-quality utensils and cookware.
The introduction of non-stick pans made of hard-anodized aluminum has brought about a revolution in the cooking industry. But even then, everything needs maintenance, and these non-stick Calphalon pots and pans aren’t any different.
Unfortunately, not many people know how to restore Calphalon pots and pans, thus rendering the once beautiful, non-stick utensils completely useless.
However, on the bright side, you’ve got us! In this article, we’ll guide you through restoring different types of Calphalon pots and pans, just to relate to a wider audience here.
Contents
How to Restore Stainless Steel Utensils?
Generally, stainless steel Calphalon pots and pans are super durable for cooking purposes and don’t require much looking after.
However, just don’t let the grease sit on the pan for a long time to dries up and sticks to the surface. Clean after yourself instantly, and you’ll have a shiny stainless steel pan ready to go at all times.
Normal Clean-Up
You can use regular dish soaps and scrubbing pads with stainless steel pots and pans- shouldn’t be any problem there. However, do make sure that the soap or detergent is capable of clearing out deep grease, oily bits, and scraps.
If your pan needs a quick clean-up, you can just put it in the dishwasher. Or, give a mild scrub with dish soap and wash it off under running water. Make sure to stick with mildly warm water and not go for water that’s overly hot or too cold.
Deep-Clean
If there’s heavy grease build-up on the surface, you’ll need to take some time apart to clean it thoroughly.
At first, soak the entire pan or pot in lukewarm water and soap mixture. You should keep it submerged for at least half an hour, if not more.
This will greatly help the grease to be dissociated and loosen up. After a while, just scrub off with the scrubbing pad, and the grease layer will easily come off. Wash it off completely, pat the water dry, and it will be good as new.
Burnt Grease Clean-Up
However, if the bottom of your pan gets burnt, the grease layer can get rock solid due to the heat. And that might be a little tough to get rid of, but not impossible.
Start by making a mixture of water and vinegar in your pan. You can also use a bit of lemon juice if you want to. Give the mixture a quick stir and directly put it on the stove on moderate heat.
Vinegar is great for grease dissociation, and we place it on the stove-top so that the increasing temperature can fast forward the reactivity. Once you let it boil for a while, you will start to see chunks of burnt grease scums float on the top.
If the grease layer is too thick and hard, you might need multiple rounds of this step. Just keep removing the dirty water and put in a new vinegar solution. Once all the layers are dissociated enough, you should be able to easily clean off the rest with a scrubbing pad and dish soap.
Do remember to dry off the water by patting the surface with a soft cloth. Residual moisture can often create water spots in stainless steel pots and pans.
Quick Summary of Restoring Stainless Steel Kitchenware
If all that went over your head, here’s a quick summary you can check out to sum things up;
- Use only soft scrubbers with regular detergent for an easy cleanup
- You can also throw in your Calphalon pots and pans in the dishwasher if there’s slight greasing
- For deep-cleanse, soak the utensils in warm water and detergent
- Clean burnt grease build-up with a concoction of water and vinegar. Place the utensil on the stove-top for this, and let the mixture boil
- Dry off moisture with a soft cloth in the end.
How to Restore Hard-Anodized Utensils?
Hard-anodized aluminum pots and pans are significantly more durable than stainless steel ones. Even then, their restoration preps go about pretty similar to each other.
Easy Clean-Up
Most grease will easily slide off due to the non-stick lubricant on the pan surface. Use a scrubbing pad or a soft bristle brush to scrub off the residues. Afterward, just wash off the greasy mixture in the sink.
You could also use a dishwasher for this. But we would highly recommend doing it on your own. Because if you aren’t careful about what you’re putting in your dishwasher, your kitchenware can get scratches all over them.
Deep-Cleaning
Again, the same procedure as that of stainless steel pots and pans clean-up apply here as well. Aluminum crockeries can withstand high-temperature, so it’s completely okay if you put it on the stove-top with the cleaning mixture to soften the grease.
Once the grease layers break down, scrub it off under the running water. And that’s pretty much it. Easy, right?
Do remember to scrub gently, though. Aggressive scrubbing will result in several scratches on the aluminum surface. Now that is something you should completely avoid doing on Calphalon products!
Quick Summary Restoring Hard-Anodized Utensils
Similar to our previous section, let’s summarize this part as well, in order to save you from getting confused unnecessarily;
- Use a soft-bristled brush to get rid of soft grease build-up during an easy cleanse
- Similarly, you can opt for a dishwasher to sum things up here, but we suggest going for a bare-handed washing
- You can also use the vinegar-water mixture here and set it to boil on high heat
- Scrub away gently after running the utensil underwater.
How to Restore Premium-Quality Non-stick Utensils?
Unlike the previous two, don’t stick your premium non-stick pots and pans in the dishwasher here. They have multiple layers of coating materials that might get damaged under poor supervision.
Every kitchenware that you buy should come with a separate guide. That guide will tell you whether your pan is microwavable or dishwasher friendly. It will also let you know how much heat that certain utensils can withstand.
You can also check out the official Calphalon website to get the detailed specifications of all their products.
It specifies which product is compatible with what kind of activity. So if you want longevity for your cookware, do glance at this part before using them.
Cleaning Non-stick Surfaces
If you don’t know how to restore Calphalon pots and pans when it comes to the premium product line, just follow the standard procedure of scrubbing and washing in a sink.
This will get rid of the excess food particles as well. Simply start by soaking the sponge in liquid soap and scrub away. That should be enough for the general restoration of your cookware.
Do not use cold water for washing by any means, though. Cold temperature can cause the surface material to shrink and warp. Therefore it’s best to use lukewarm water while cleaning any type of kitchenware.
Needs Deep-Cleaning?
Even though non-stick pots and pans are famous for their, well, ‘non-stickiness, there can still be heavy grease build-up. It’s not that uncommon, and it certainly happens all the time— yup, even with Calphon products.
The usual reasons for multiple layers of grease build-up are inconsistent cleaning and burnt residues on the surface. Always clean up after yourself and keep an eye on the stove-top to avoid these types of situations.
Also, non-stick pans and pots don’t do well at all in extreme temperatures. So it’s best not to clean it on the stove-top in high heat. Multiple layers of Teflon can get damaged that way if you aren’t on alert.
However, do use equal parts of vinegar and water mixture as the cleaning solution. You can also drop in some lemon juice or lemon skin if you want to. Use warm water and let it soak.
Once the first layer of grease is dissolved, get rid of the old mixture and put in a fresh one. Keep doing this until you start to see some significant results.
Quick Summary of Restoring Premium-Quality Non-stick Utensils
Lastly, let’s round things up here again with our quick summary of the premium-quality utensil restoration process:
- Use warm water to soak utensils with a mild detergent to clean non-stick utensils
- Scrub away with a very soft cloth, as you don’t want to create abrasion
- For deep cleaning, don’t use high heat to restore premium-quality non-stick Calphalon utensils
- Opt for an equal parts vinegar-water mixture, with drops of lemon
- Dissolve all the grease, but continue doing so until results show.
An Alternative Concoction to Use
If the vinegar and lemon juice mixture doesn’t work as expected, add two tablespoons of baking soda to the liquid. It should provide you with the extra boost that you might need to finish off the cleaning session.
The rest will be the same as before. Once the grease layers have softened, scrub and wash it off with clean water. Do remember to dry off the surface once you’re done with the cleaning part.
What’s Seasoning, and Should You Be Doing It?
Firstly, know that this doesn’t refer to those spicy curry seasonings. In non-stick terms, seasoning is the procedure of preparing the non-stick surface with the necessary lubricants.
This procedure is why Calphalon pots and pans are less likely to get grease stains than the other branded ones.
And yes, you can definitely do some homemade seasoning on your non-stick cookware if you feel like it. At first, use a concoction of baking soda and vinegar to clean off the grease residues completely.
After that, dry it off properly and make sure that there’s no moisture at all. Finally, take some vegetable oil and apply it lightly all over the surface. You can use a muslin cloth or just your hands for this step.
The coating of vegetable oil will give the surface a protective layer. Furthermore, it will help you to get the grease off the pan much easier.
Social Media Restoration Hacks — Facts or Fiction?
Look, we know it can be visually pleasing to see hacks like that. But do they work? Not really. It’s best to stick to the official ways if you want to know how to restore Calphalon pots and pans.
For example, using broken eggshells to scrub off greasy layers seems pretty fascinating at first glance. However, materials like that can be pretty abrasive for non-stick surfaces. The grease might get out, but your pans and pots will be full of scratches as well.
There’s also the possibility of small cracks. Non-stick pots and pans use Teflon as a protective layer. If there are way too many scratches, this layer will fall weak, and chemicals might leech into your foods.
Chemicals like Teflon, chromium, and nickel aren’t even that harmful to most people, especially in small quantities. Even then, it’s certainly not a wise decision to let the situation get too far.
Final Words
Calphalon pots and pans are awesome. These products are easy to use, simple to clean, and most importantly, save so much time!
They are, however, considerably pricey (this mainly depends on your region). So if you are an avid fan of them, it’s in your best interest to maintain their longevity.
However, even if you buy amazing cookware like the Calphalon Premier, you probably will need to restore it someday. But that’s not going to be a problem, though, since you know how to restore Calphalon pots and pans.
