Burned copper bottom pot

[hopkins_student]

So I f*cked up. My wife bought me a Mauviel copper bottom, stainless lined pot this summer. After cleaning it the other day I put it on the stove on high heat to dry it off. I intended to take it off the heat after twenty or thirty seconds, but I left it for forty five minutes. When she found it the copper bottom was a smoky black color and the stainless lining was a gold/bronze color.

With the help of some barkeeper's friend, Mauviel Copperbrill cleaner, and sliced lemon+salt I've gotten the stainless back to looking essentially new and almost the entire copper bottom back to the normal copper color, but it has a very dull finish compared to the mirrored finish that it started with (and that the lid still has). Does anyone have any advice on how to return it to the mirror finish it started with? Obviously this has been a learning experience and I'm not going to be lazy when it comes to drying my nice cookware again.

Thanks, h_s.

 

[commanderdean]

Try to use some vinegar. Put a lit on the pot and let it cook for 10-15 Mins. But observe it while you do it.
Another hint some people use washing powder with water and boil it for a while.

 

[braised]

You can buff it out with a mechanical buffer (better), use a paste to polish (barely good) or just let it be (best). The mirror polish is not tenable to maintain, nearly any abrasive necessary to cutting grease and buildup on the copper when washing will dull the finish. Just let it be. The copper is there because it is very conductive, not because it has a shiny gold appearance.

 

[Joffrey]



So I f*cked up. My wife bought me a Mauviel copper bottom, stainless lined pot this summer. After cleaning it the other day I put it on the stove on high heat to dry it off. I intended to take it off the heat after twenty or thirty seconds, but I left it for forty five minutes. When she found it the copper bottom was a smoky black color and the stainless lining was a gold/bronze color.

With the help of some barkeeper's friend, Mauviel Copperbrill cleaner, and sliced lemon+salt I've gotten the stainless back to looking essentially new and almost the entire copper bottom back to the normal copper color, but it has a very dull finish compared to the mirrored finish that it started with (and that the lid still has). Does anyone have any advice on how to return it to the mirror finish it started with? Obviously this has been a learning experience and I'm not going to be lazy when it comes to drying my nice cookware again.

Thanks, h_s.

Correction, your wife fucked up by not handling the cooking herself.

 

[SkinnyGoomba]

Using an abrasive cleaner is what dulled the copper. It's likely that you will get it back to being a mirror without some serious effort. Unless it's truly offensive I would leave it alone.

Those are likely buffed to that finish with industrial buffing machines before the handles are attached.

 

[Numbernine]

Maintaining an unoxidized finish on copper is an exercise in frustration