I recently came home from out of town to discover that my roommate, encouraged no doubt by a dim-witted friend and the influence of mind-altering substances, attempted to heat up milk for hot chocolate in my electric kettle. It is one of those hard-to-come-by-in-America Chinese stainless steel kettles with a base and a nice long spout.
The milk, which apparently had burned onto the element, left a nauseatingly bad smell in the kettle which I was initially convinced was beyond reconciliation. Determined not to have to buy me a new one (assuming I could find another one to buy) my roommate spent a few hours taking it apart and reportedly scrubbing off "black sh_t" that had collected on the element-- probably the burnt milk and source of the smell. I was a little nervous at his description of getting down to some of the copper wire on the element, but upon inspection by the tea snob yours truly, I found the smell (and taste in the water) greatly reduced...but still annoyingly there.
I doubt that anyone has ever faced such horrors but if so: Would you recommend trying to clean it out somehow using either a. a vinegar solution b.soap or c. just throwing some tea in there and letting it boil for a while?
Or is this, as I feared, an entirely lost cause?
Sorry to hear about your kettle! Usually it is not recommended to use soap with electric kettles but they do recommend to remove calcium deposits every now and then with vinegar or commercially available "calcium remover solutions/powders". Those solutions usually contain phosphoric acid and/or citric acid. They are sold for cleaning coffee makers and/or electric kettles. Since your kettle is stainless steel it should be safe to use vinegar or those mild acids. I would start with them. Soak for several hours, rinse well and maybe repeat the procedure. It cant do any harm, anyway.
Nov 11th, '08, 08:23
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Nov 11th, '08, 08:37
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Nov 11th, '08, 09:10
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Zojirushi recommends that if you can't buy their special decalicification powder to use lemon juice. It's a little different I'm sure since the element isn't exposed but here's what you do for a Zoj:
1. Fill a glass with warm water and add 1/2 cup of lemon juice from concentrate. If using freshly squeezed lemon juice, please be sure to strain first, so the pulp does not get caught in the pump and damage the pot.
2. Fill the zojirushi with water and pour the lemon juice mixture into the pot. Boil the water.
3. After the water is boiled, let it sit for approximately 2 to 3 hours. If necessary, you can let it sit for 6 to 12 hours.
4. Empty the pot by pouring out the water and wipe the inside of the pot using a clean towel. If the pot is still dirty, repeat steps 1 through 3.
5. Fill the pot with clean water and set to boil. After the water is boiled, dispense the water to flush out any lemon juice mixture that may be trapped in the water gauge tube.
I think that could be adapted to help your cause. Good luck!
1. Fill a glass with warm water and add 1/2 cup of lemon juice from concentrate. If using freshly squeezed lemon juice, please be sure to strain first, so the pulp does not get caught in the pump and damage the pot.
2. Fill the zojirushi with water and pour the lemon juice mixture into the pot. Boil the water.
3. After the water is boiled, let it sit for approximately 2 to 3 hours. If necessary, you can let it sit for 6 to 12 hours.
4. Empty the pot by pouring out the water and wipe the inside of the pot using a clean towel. If the pot is still dirty, repeat steps 1 through 3.
5. Fill the pot with clean water and set to boil. After the water is boiled, dispense the water to flush out any lemon juice mixture that may be trapped in the water gauge tube.
I think that could be adapted to help your cause. Good luck!
Nov 11th, '08, 09:48
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Vinegar and baking soda used together sometimes can make miracle. If other things (or using them individually) don't work, definitely try them together (and wear protective gloves)!Chip wrote:That is a bummer. Maybe add something acidic (as already mentioned) like vinegar and let it sit for a bit. Maybe a couple tries. Warmer vinegar might be more reactive.
Baking soda?
I feel for you! But young man, that's what roommates normally are (along with other good things). When I had a roommate, I was put in much deeper horror than this
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Nov 11th, '08, 09:51
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Worst thing I had my roomate do was fill the brita filter pitcher with juce thinking it was fine as long as he didn't put it though the filter. Exept for the fact that the filter is submerged in the liquid... and a new filter later it was back to normal.gingko wrote:I feel for you! But young man, that's what roommates normally are (along with other good things). When I had a roommate, I was put in much deeper horror than this
If you're desperate(And in the US) , there is a product you could try...
In the housewares and cleaning area of the grocery or hardware store you can find a product called 'CLR'- Calcium, lime and rust remover.
It is sold for cleaning lime scale of bathroom fixtures but also includes instructions for using it to descale coffeemakers.
It works better than anything I've used except for the commercial 'lime-a-way' product available to the foodservice industry.
This is pretty brutal, acid based stuff, but its very good for removing burnt on build up.
Oven cleaner is better for burnt on dairy, but it is an absolute no-no on aluminum and copper. If the element is aluminum housed, they these recipes-
"Discolored Aluminum: Heat a solution of 1 tbs. vinegar per qt of water or 2 tsp. cream of tartar per qt of water in each pan until discoloration disappears.
Vinegar: To clean an aluminum coffeepot and remove lime deposits, boil equal pans of water and white vinegar. Boiling time depends upon how heavy deposits are." (from http://www.doityourself.com/stry/aluminum)
Whatever cleaning method you use, be sure to boil and discard several pots full of water to get rid of chemical residue.
In the housewares and cleaning area of the grocery or hardware store you can find a product called 'CLR'- Calcium, lime and rust remover.
It is sold for cleaning lime scale of bathroom fixtures but also includes instructions for using it to descale coffeemakers.
It works better than anything I've used except for the commercial 'lime-a-way' product available to the foodservice industry.
This is pretty brutal, acid based stuff, but its very good for removing burnt on build up.
Oven cleaner is better for burnt on dairy, but it is an absolute no-no on aluminum and copper. If the element is aluminum housed, they these recipes-
"Discolored Aluminum: Heat a solution of 1 tbs. vinegar per qt of water or 2 tsp. cream of tartar per qt of water in each pan until discoloration disappears.
Vinegar: To clean an aluminum coffeepot and remove lime deposits, boil equal pans of water and white vinegar. Boiling time depends upon how heavy deposits are." (from http://www.doityourself.com/stry/aluminum)
Whatever cleaning method you use, be sure to boil and discard several pots full of water to get rid of chemical residue.
Nov 11th, '08, 10:23
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I agree, and don't worry...the same exact thing happened to me too, unfortunately. Warm vinegar took out the nastiness. I first scrubbed it vigorously to remove most of the black gunk first thoughChip wrote:That is a bummer. Maybe add something acidic (as already mentioned) like vinegar and let it sit for a bit. Maybe a couple tries. Warmer vinegar might be more reactive.
Baking soda?