May 9, 2010 - 6:11pm
Sourdough and metal-
Just a word of advice. Don't keep starter in anything with a reactive metal. That includes aluminum foil. My CROB (cinnamon raisin oatmeal bread blob) ate holes in the aluminum foil while retarding in the fridge during a long rest this week.
The stainless steel bowl (I'm pretty sure stainless is safe) is sure shiney now!
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I discovered 15 years ago that if a stainless steel pot had charcoal"ish" burned on food that would take lots of time to remove manually, coat it with sourdough starter and leave overnight. Voila! A clean and shiny pan:>) I believe it worked on copper too. If your pots are expensive, experiment with a cheap one first. Now, I wonder if anyone has tried this with sterling silver flatware?
EvaGal
I'll have to give the copper bottom pots a workout with some starter now. I never would have thought it could eat through aluminum foil, but I've got to admit, I've never used it with my sourdough breads.
Let's start with rye. Vinegar cleans lots of things. OH, a test for pH! To the Question: Is my starter sour enough? The silver spoon has been coated for 5 minutes and so far nothing.
Hey wasn't that a crude Chem 101 experiment with aluminum stripes dissolved in acid? I remember I caught hell for it. I wouldn't want the changed metal in my dough, Tracy!
Mini
I can't tell if you are joking or really looking for an easy way to clean your silver. If it's the latter, try this:
Choose a disposable aluminum pan of the appropriate size (or line your plugged sink with aluminum foil) and in it mix 1 TB salt + 1 TB water softener (eg. Calgon) per qt of hot water. Dip the tarnished items. Rinse and dry.
If you are joking, forgive me. I'm a bit dense when it comes to humor.
Hi cyalexa,
I was half-joking:>) Thanks for the formula! I'll have to investigate the cost of Calgon and aluminum disposable pans, roll up my sleeves and get to work. I agree that detecting humor online is a perpetual problem.
EvaGal
The cost of the water softener/salt/aluminum technique may be more that the traditional silver polishing paste, I'm not sure. To me, the ease and speed of just dipping, rinsing, and drying makes it worth it. It also seems to be easier on the skin, I don't even wear gloves. When I make a batch I also use a cotton swab dipped in the solution to clean jewelery that contains stones set in silver - works great.
I've learned a lot from this site and am so pleased to be able to share something helpful!
I have 7 odd silver spoons, each darker than the first. I got them gratis so I really don't care but I threw them into the dishwasher a couple of times and nothing. I know about the alu & Tide trick. No Tide. (I also know how to polish silver but I also love to experiment.) Water softener huh..! Thanks! I will line a small icecream plastic dish with alufoil and throw in a tablet Calgon for the washing machine and pour on some hot water. Later: It's not working so I add a heaping teaspoon of table salt, now it is working.
Mini
When I was a little girl, my aunt taught me the trick on the copper bottom pans with salt and vinegar. If you have a nice patina, this method is brutal! (and the solution coming off is poisonous) I also clean calcium deposites with vinegar and salt solution, stronger and faster.
Which does come around to a reminder for mixing salad dressing, one should dilute the vinegar first before adding salt or risk too much "bite" in the dressing. Use wood, plastic, or glass, not metal bowls for salad (or sourdough.)
Alex, I do believe they are actually serious about this. Removing tarnish makes sense, because starters get their sour flavour from a more acidic Ph level.
If anyone is desperate enough to clean rust and such, using a splash of coke is a quickie way of cleaning things.