[NiteNicole]

I got a major deal on a totally unblemished Le Creuset enamled iron dutch oven from Tuesday Morning. I've used it a few times and it's been excellent. This morning I was making the no kneed bread recipe that calls for preheating the pot in the oven. When I pulled the pot out, some kind of gooey red/brown stuff had dripped all over the walls of the pot and a little of it had covered the bottom. It was kind of sticky.

I managed to soak the stuff out of the bottom, but it's not coming off the sides.

HELP!

First, WHAT is it?
Second, how do I get rid of it?

Even though it was a major good deal, it was still FAR more than I would normally spend on a pot but I have had my eyes open for one of these at Tuesday Morning for AGES and couldn't pass it up. I hope I haven't ruined it somehow.

 

[rhiandmoi]

I did the same thing to mine, I just scrubbed it of with a plastic scrubby. The color doesn't come out but the sticky goo does. I have all sorts of baked in stains in my enamel anyway, and it hasn't affected how it cooks at all.

 

[NiteNicole]

Thank you so much. I'll keep scrubbing! Any idea what the goo IS?

 

[rhiandmoi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiteNicole Thank you so much. I'll keep scrubbing! Any idea what the goo IS?

I think it is gluten that steamed out of the bread.

 

[KaraBoo]

but it sounds like the OP was preheating an emtpy pot...is that right?

 

[NiteNicole]

Yes, it was an empty pot.

 

[rhiandmoi]

Hmm, what was the last thing you cooked in there? I might be some residual oil or dish soap.

 

[NiteNicole]

I keep trying to remember what I might have cooked in there last. I can't come up with anything. At first I thought I'd used it for some asparagus and new potatoes but I'm pretty sure I used something flatter for that.

I just keep soaking and scrubbing and a little more comes off every time.

I hope this isn't going to be some kind of ongoing issue. The reason I went with this kind of pot is because I have been a crashing failure in taking care of cast iron skillets (my mother has had to rescue more than a few from my inept treatment). I have even watched youtube videos on how I should care for them and either they end up sticky with oil or rusting. I'm in the south and I swear my failure with cook pots is going to make me some kind of social outcast.

 

[NiteNicole]

After further scrubbing, it kind of reminds me of what happens when you spray Pam on a cookie sheet...it leaves those weird brown splotches. I can't imagine I sprayed Pam in this thing (and then didn't clean it out? That makes no sense) but that's what it looks like.

 

[rhiandmoi]

I thought I posted this last night, but I have been using mine at least 3 times a week for over 2 years and the goo has only happened twice. Once from the no-knead bread, and once because I cooked something greasy and either didn't wash it well enough or didn't rinse the soap off well enough. So I don't think this will be a recurring thing for you.

 

[NiteNicole]

Thanks!

I've nearly got all of it off so yay!

 

[FernG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NiteNicole After further scrubbing, it kind of reminds me of what happens when you spray Pam on a cookie sheet...it leaves those weird brown splotches. I can't imagine I sprayed Pam in this thing (and then didn't clean it out? That makes no sense) but that's what it looks like.

I have never used Pam, but I have gotten that on cookie sheets from cookies made with butter or lard. I also don't have enamel ware, but I have gotten the goo off of cookie sheets by sprinkling Borax on the cookie sheets and moistening it with water. If the water dries, the Borax gets really hard. I let the water soak for a few hours, and then the goo scrubs off with a sponge.

Good luck with your cookware issues!

 

[NiteNicole]

Thank you so much!

 

[laura-belle]

Did you grease the pot before you preheated it? Because that sounds like burned cooking oil to me. (And yes, it is a real pain in the butt to remove; I've had some luck with boiling water and dish soap in the pot to loosen it up.)

 

[NiteNicole]

I didn't oil it but I have remembered the last thing I did with it before the preheat - I roasted come artichokes. There was a lot of olive oil involved. I wonder if I just didn't get it ALL out? I am pretty thorough about cleaning things but brown goo didn't just come from nowhere, ya know?

 

[laura-belle]

Yeah, that sounds like it. Hope you got it mostly off.