Fill it all the way up with water and a squirt of dish soap, soak it overnight and use a barely damp sponge with a lot of baking soda on it.

This will take off any baked on residual on St. Steel:

1. Brush on drain opener (Liguid Plumber type).

2. Cover with plastic sheet (plastic produce bag) overnight.

3. simple wash off residual. No need to scrub.

Wear gloves and eye protection.

dcarch

P.S. This method should not be used on aluminum.

Rather than the nylon scrubby sponge, perhaps try the barkeepers with a washcloth. I've done this myself on my Cuisinart and found barely dampening the bottom (after a good soaking is dish detergent), sprinkling a generous amount of barkeepers, then using a barely damp warm cloth gives perfect results. Those nylon scrubs seem to leave a lot behind for me. Not diluting the barkeepers seems to be the trick for me, also.

Yeah, I don't know why the Barkeeper's friend didn't work, it's what I use to scrub the baked on grease on SS.

The stainless steel scrubbers seem to work much better than the nylon ones.

Use the powdered Bar Keeper's, not the liquid, with a damp paper towel. It takes everything off my stainless steel. Rinse and repeat until it's all gone. When clean, rinse well and wash with dish soap.

First of all....and it's probably not necessary now....warn her never to use that spray on anything that will be used over the stove on high heat.
I wonder if acetone fingernail polish remover would take it?

I have a Cuisinart wok - a gift. It does this all the time. It used to come off when I would cook tomato sauce (the acid). Now it's just there. It doesn't hurt anything.

For some reason my All-Clad doesn't stain like this.

I picked up 3 skillets from Freecycle a few years ago. They were well used and had cooked-on gunk and grease. Only when they were cleaned did I realize how good they were. One was Kirkland, and the other a Paderno.

I used Barkeepers Friend.

Dawn Power Dissolver will remove any cooked-on oil/grease will very little effort. Spray the Power Dissolver onto the pan, cover with a lid, and let it sit undisturbed overnight. Then simply wipe off with a damp sponge while wearing gloves. You may not need to cover the pan, but I always do.

I had heard that this product was being discontinued, but I think you can still find it. When I heard that, I immediately bought an emergency supply. No scrubbing is necessary.

The nylon scrubby sponge may be the issue here. I'm thinking you mean something like a Dobie pad (sponge covered with nylon netting). The nylon may not make full contact with the BKF and you've got poor performance. Use a regular sponge or other items as previously mentioned. I use the blue sponges with the blue scrubbing side with BKF all the time with great results!

And thirding the suggesting to not use those sprays.....

I use Bar Keeper's Friend w/ the scrubby side of a sponge, but I see that's been tried - or was it 1 of those nylon puffy things?

I also keep citric acid crystals on hand & use to scour my stainless steel pans when they have cooked-on buildup. Sometimes I've soaked overnight w/ citric acid or BKF to loosen really bad char. Did she let it soak for awhile first?

She could also try simmering some tomato sauce in the pan.

FWIW, I believe citric acid is the active ingredient in BKF.

These are the kind of sponges I'm talking about:

HTH

Wow, thanks for all the good advice! The sponge was blue— normal on one side, scrubby on the reverse. I tried too and it did nothing.

Will the metal/copper scrubbers scratch the pans? She didn’t want to do that. I have some lemon shine for the dishwasher. That’s citric acid, isn’t it? We could try some of that first.

Tell her to use a paper towel. It won't scratch the pan, but it will scrub better than the plastic thingie. I use Bounty Select-a-Size.

She can also wet the sides and just sprinkle dishwasher detergent over the stain and let it set, maybe smear it around with a scrubby when it's dissolved a bit. I just put my stainless in the dishwasher a few times and it seems to come off.

Yes, Compumom, scouring pads like Brillo will scratch her Cuisinart - they do mine. 3M makes one that isn't supposed to (link on3M), it's made from SS also. But I've also got some scratches from wire whisks too (I prefer wire whisks to those with silicone coating). Good Luck!

ETA: the link is for Amazon, but you can buy them at Walmart I think... most reviews say it doesn't scratch their SS pans.

Borax and a washcloth or scrubby sponge will cut through cooked on grease. If that's not enough, Easy Off is a good next stop. It takes off everything.

Lots of hints in the archives here...cleaning ss pots

Absolutely no need to bring out anything toxic. ONLY as a last resort. I don't even stock that stuff.

Also no elbow grease needed. Heat/soak combinations using very mild cleaners will work 99% of the time. Barkeepers, mild dish washer soap, boraxo, etc. Soak, then onto low heat. Soaking using warm water should work. I randomly need to 'freshen' a pot or two....rarely let something burn.

Also if you can find a container big enough to immerse the pan in, pour ammonia in it, put in the pan, enclose all in a big plastic bag with a twist-tie. Put outside due to the fumes overnight. The fumes will loosen grease. I've done it but it is cumbersome to find something that is big enough to put the pan in. Wow, that last photo is amazing how well it worked. Once I was making jam in an enameled pot and it burned on the bottom. I was so devastated as this was a large Le Creuset stockpot. I did everything and thought it was going to have to be scrapped. Finally I read where you can put white vinegar in it to cover the burned part, put it on the stove and bring to a boil. Then I used a very hard plastic spoon to scrape the bottom while it was boiling. It came out beautifully.

After you get the gunk out and/or If you have pans that have lost their shine try using Bon-Ami powder to polish them. It is a non-abrasive powder that can't scratch (but is similar to Ajax and Comet powdered cleansers that do scratch!). I use it on my chrome toaster, white Corning Ware, white plastic/vinyl, enamel, porcelain bathtubs and sinks, glass shower doors, even my everyday SS silverware and knives. It shines up all sides of my cooking pots and pans and takes off that black stuff on the bottoms without gouging.

Ingredients: feldspar, limestone, water, baking soda, citric acid, corn alcohol, epsom salts, essential oils, xanthan gum.

Biodegradable non-toxic and made in the USA. Buy at Wal-mart or Ace Hardware.

BKF, a green scratchie, and elbow grease removes even the worst burnt on oil deposits for me. And leaves the pan shiny and smooth inside and out!

Bon Ami is a staple in my kitchen. Perfect for Le Creuset and my fireclay sink!

Bon Ami is abrasive....albeit a very fine abrasive....that's why it removes scratches...
If you continue to use on your Le Cruset on a regular basis it will eventually wear away the enamel.