# le Crueset enameled dutch oven. mine has gotten UGLY.



## boomchakabowwow (Feb 12, 2013)

mine is my kitchen work horse. i'm having my personal slow cooking movement. i've deep fried with it..i've used it as my bread baking enclosure. once i put it in my weber grill to bake the bread. yikes.

the interior of mine is down right nasty. blackened. no amount of scrubbing will ever restore this thing to its former off-white interior. 

no biggie right? any tips to keeping the next one clean? are your's destroyed from use also? i cant really see any performance downgrade from the black interior.


----------



## heirkb (Feb 12, 2013)

Fill it with water and add a good amount of baking soda, then boil for a while. Keep doing this and it should come off. I've heard that you might have to alternate between vinegar and baking soda but I've never needed to do that.


----------



## Jmadams13 (Feb 12, 2013)

The inside of mine is black as night. I'm the same as you, use it for almost everything. I don't mind the black inside, shows its not just a show peice. 

I bought a smaller one, and want to keep it looking new, but that's something I'm sure I will get over...


----------



## mhlee (Feb 12, 2013)

IIRC, Le Creuset used to have instructions to use a mixture of bleach and water to clean the inside of its dutch ovens (the website doesn't have this info). 

I've also used liquid Bar Keeper's Friend to clean stubborn stains because it seems to be less abrasive and have less of a harmful effect on the interior than powders.

My large-ish Le Creuset white Dutch Oven is kind of an off-white with scratches all over the bottom. One thing I will have to say is that I don't cook beans in them. I haven't figured out if it's the grit with the beans or what, but the interior of my Dutch Oven got rougher and seemed to degrade each time beans were cooked in it.


----------



## heirkb (Feb 12, 2013)

I'll do a before and after of the baking soda method for you guys on both the enameled pots and their line of (ceramic?) bakeware. It's pretty amazing.


----------



## DeepCSweede (Feb 12, 2013)

I would love to see it. I have one that has burnt rice that I just couldn't seem to get out and another that I make fudge in that gets a little darker with every batch. I think my wife might kiss me if I could clean it up.


----------



## Patatas Bravas (Feb 12, 2013)

I am also thinking about this. My Le Creuset does not have the enamal/coating inside. It is only cast iron. Yours are the same?


----------



## DSChief (Feb 12, 2013)

I've done the bleach thing for years. Fill the pot about 1/2 full with Hot water, add a cup to 1 & 1/2 cups Bleach. Then let sit for about an hour, be sure to rinse super well before storing.


----------



## boomchakabowwow (Feb 12, 2013)

Patatas Bravas said:


> I am also thinking about this. My Le Creuset does not have the enamal/coating inside. It is only cast iron. Yours are the same?



mine is coated with enamel. i think they all are. maybe some are coated with black enamel.

mmm..maybe not the skillets.


----------



## Mike9 (Feb 12, 2013)

Can't wait to see that - mine looks a little funky inside too.


----------



## DeepCSweede (Feb 12, 2013)

Most of our LeC is ceramic coated but we have several pieces that are not. The ones I was talking about are white ceramic.


----------



## Dave Martell (Feb 12, 2013)

http://cookware.lecreuset.com/cookware/product_Cast-Iron-Cookware-Cleaner_10151_-1_20002_10332_10025


This stuff will return your LC ovens to like new condition in seconds. Trust me this stuff kicks ass.

**Warning* - Wear gloves or you'll be sorry, your hands will turn inside out.:bigeek:


----------



## 99Limited (Feb 12, 2013)

How come a carbon knife that's seriously discolored from contact with food is said to have developed a cool patina and a LC pot with similar discoloration is said to be ugly? :dontknow:


----------



## Patatas Bravas (Feb 12, 2013)

boomchakabowwow said:


> mine is coated with enamel. i think they all are. maybe some are coated with black enamel. mmm..maybe not the skillets.





DeepCSweede said:


> Most of our LeC is ceramic coated but we have several pieces that are not. The ones I was talking about are white ceramic.



Yes, I bought mine in Spain but I preferred the non-enamel and chose these ones. However, these days in many countries I always see the enamal ones. I am still not sure which ones is the best but I am happy with my ones.


----------



## Seth (Feb 12, 2013)

Oven cleaner??


----------



## 77kath (Feb 12, 2013)

I've passed two sets on to my sister. I was never able to get the insides clean, and she can't either.


----------



## toddnmd (Feb 12, 2013)

Interesting, the Amazon reviews on the LC cleaner are really hit or miss (at least looking at the first page of most useful). People had really mixed results. Also some recs for bleach, Mon Ami, and Barkeeper's Friend. As well as laundry detergent with water. Some also recommended oven cleaner--especially for the outside/bottom.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000E5D04E/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20


----------



## Dave Martell (Feb 12, 2013)

I have an old bottle of the LC cleaner (so maybe they changed it since I bought mine) but I swear this stuff makes the enameling look and feel brand new. I bought it on a recommendation from the French factory rep who I met in a LC store years ago. I was skeptical until I used it. Like I said before though - wear gloves or you'll be VERY sorry - this stuff literally shrunk the skin on my bones.

I forgot to mention that it's not magic - you still have to use some elbow grease to get results but it works better than anything else I've ever tried.


----------



## DeepCSweede (Feb 12, 2013)

Dave Martell said:


> I have an old bottle of the LC cleaner (so maybe they changed it since I bought mine) but I swear this stuff makes the enameling look and feel brand new. I bought it on a recommendation from the French factory rep who I met in a LC store years ago. I was skeptical until I used it. Like I said before though - wear gloves or you'll be VERY sorry - this stuff literally shrunk the skin on my bones.
> 
> I forgot to mention that it's not magic - you still have to use some elbow grease to get results but it works better than anything else I've ever tried.



Dave - I have seen it, but thought it probably was a scam like so much "cleaner" is. What do/did you use to scrub with, considering it does have some acid in it do normal scrub pads work or did you use something else?

Eric


----------



## Dave Martell (Feb 12, 2013)

I use a regular soft sponge. For the worst one I had to let it soak in for a minute and then just scrub.


----------



## toddnmd (Feb 13, 2013)

I used some BKF this morning. Interior bottom still has some light brown color (I don't really mind it). Exterior bottom is mostly clean now--it had some darker brown areas from direct contact with burners.


----------



## bear1889 (Feb 13, 2013)

Uhhhh that's why I like Staub....they're already black inside. Oh don't get me wrong I purchased the LC version of the chicken fryer, which I love for making small batch soups, chili, etc.irate2:


----------



## Duckfat (Feb 13, 2013)

I just use powdered BKF and a Scotchbrite pad. No problemo.


----------



## franzb69 (Feb 13, 2013)

yeah staub for me too. if only they didn't cost twice here. lol.


----------



## heirkb (Feb 14, 2013)

So here are some pictures. You can see how clean the pie dish got. That's usually how clean my pans would get after one boiling with baking soda. This time I either didn't add enough baking soda, didn't boil long enough, need to repeat the process, or need to try vinegar. The pan this time only got a little cleaner (you can see the brown stains on the left are gone but the ones on the right are there). There was a time when that pan used to look like the pie dish did in the before picture.

Before








After


----------

