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What the &*$#@% happened to my pot? (pics)

17 years ago

I bought this loverly, large Wear-Ever pot last weekend for canning. My old pot was due to retire, so I saw this beauty at The Restaurant Store in Key West when we were visiting DH's family.

I only intended to use this for canning and all I did was fill it up with water for a BWB! I made a couple of batches of salsa and this is what happened! The only thing I can think of is maybe I had a little leakage from one of the jars and the acidity made this happen.

Is this safe to use? Can I fix it?

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Comments (7)

lindac
17 years ago
The pot is aluminum....that often happens to aluminum when boiling water....have no idea why.
I KNOW that cooking tomatoes...or a cheap can of tomato juice, will fix it....but seems I also hear something about cream of tartar and water will do it too.
Yes...it's safe to use....think of it as sort of "anodized"..LOL!!...Sort of!
Linda C
gardengrl
Original Author
17 years ago
Yeah Linda, I told my husband, "Well, at least it matches the kitchen!" (our kitchen appliances are black and stainless steel).
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pkguy
17 years ago
Had that before.. if you ever get it back to it's original look lemme know. I think I remember trying Cream of Tartar to no avail besides enough of it was cost prohibitive. LOL
arlinek
17 years ago
If I remember correctly, using metal, not plastic, SOS-type pads will remove the black stuff.

arline
diinohio
17 years ago
The manual for my canner recommends "adding 1 tablespoon vinegar or 1 tablespoon cream of tartar to help prevent water stains in canner". I haven't done this so the inside of my canner looks like yours. It doesn't bother me.
Di
lindac
17 years ago
Metal SOS soap filled pads will remove the black....and also your nail polish...
A can of tomato juice and water to fill to the "water line" will brighten it up.
But if you are only going to use it as a canner, why bother? It will get black again the next time you use it.
Linda C
pranjal
17 years ago
Folks back home always put half a lemon in the water in the pressure cooker (aluminum) to prevent the inside getting black. No idea if that would work once it's already black, though. I find the tomato juice idea interesting, worth a try.

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