Cleaning Tin Lining of Copper cookweare?

Jerome Weiss
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  • 5 Comments

5 Comments

bigpan July 2, 2014
The baking soda paste should help. My best cleaning friend is a toothbrush! Gets into corners nicely.
I've been cooking with copper for about 50 years - but none of my collection is tin lined. If you have copper showing through after cleaning consider the pot only for "display", or, re-tin.
Good luck ... nothing is nicer than copper in the kitchen.
 
trampledbygeese July 1, 2014
Ah, an old pot. Sounds like a fun challenge.

Mineral deposits are usually alkaloid so if I was doing it, I would do a few vinegar boils with a light scrub with a damp cloth in between. Actually, I often alternate vinegar boil with a water boil - still scrubbing in between.

A baking soda paste is also a good idea, I often use baking soda and water to gently polish the inside of stainless steel pots. I don't know how PH sensitive tin is, so maybe test it on a small area before going all out.

If neither is working particularly well, I might do a b-soda vinegar froth scrub. Wet down the surface with the backing soda/water paste, then splash a small amount of white vin on top and scrub while it foams - keep in mind that this may damage the pan if it's a PH sensitive metal, so I usually save it for a last resort.

There is an old wives tale out there that sourdough starter works well for scrubbing out pots, just don't let it dry on. Haven't tried it yet myself.

Let us know what works and how it goes.
 
trampledbygeese July 1, 2014
Carefully without scratching - I would use a wooden scraper and a cloth, nothing abrasive. Regular dish detergent should be fine.

Though the scraping probably (emphasis on probably) won't do much harm, it will make the food stick to the cookware. Having a smooth surface inside the cookware makes less food stick, which makes cleaning easier, which makes less chances to make scratches which would make food stick. For that reason, I never use metal tools in my metal pans (except cast iron which can take just about anything).
 
Jerome W. July 1, 2014
Thanks very much, got it, but let me add a wrinkle. Am working on an antique tea kettle with heavy scale inside. Filled it with vinegar and that dissolved some, but heavy plaque remains in some hard-to-reach spots. Almost certainly mineral deposits from water, not food residue. How about boiling vinegar in second go-round? Or use your suggested technique as least likely to damage? Try it with baking soda? Thanks again, have been puzzling this for a while.
 
Jerome W. July 1, 2014
Thanks very much, got it, but let me add a wrinkle. Am working on an antique tea kettle with heavy scale inside. Filled it with vinegar and that dissolved some, but heavy plaque remains in some hard-to-reach spots. Almost certainly mineral deposits from water, not food residue. How about boiling vinegar in second go-round? Or use your suggested technique as least likely to damage? Try it with baking soda? Thanks again, have been puzzling this for a while.
 
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