Taking Care Of Your Copper: Tips For Cleaning And Preserving Your Copper Pans And Cookware
Posted on: 4 March 2016
There is something vintage and cool about the look of copper cookware. The problem is that it can become tarnished and less than appealing without routine cleaning and some simple maintenance. There are some easy and clever ways to keep your copper pans sparkling like a brand-new penny!
Tips for cleaning and preserving your copper cookware include these suggestions:
Salt and vinegar strategy.
For super-shiny copper, try using a little salt and white vinegar. First, put your copper pot or pan in a sink and saturate it with salt. Pour white vinegar over the salt, and then add additional salt on top of the vinegar. Give it a minute, and use a sponge saturated with white vinegar to wipe the pot clean. For stubborn spots, add more salt and scrub vigorously until shiny and clean.
A little lemon.
Household guru Martha Stewart has her own idea of the best way to clean copper; it involves a couple things that you likely have in your pantry already. Cut a fresh lemon in half, and generously sprinkle each cut side with coarse kosher salt. Rub the lemon halves over the copper; the copper will shine and sparkle as if it were brand-new!
The ketchup trick.
The acid in tomatoes makes ketchup another effective way to clean your copper pots, pans, and cookware. Use a soft cloth and add several squirts of ketchup to it; gently wipe the areas of tarnish until clean. Be sure to rinse the copper item with warm water and dry thoroughly after.
Heat it up with some soda.
Add a heaping tablespoon of baking soda per quart of water to a large pot. The pot needs to be large enough to submerge your copper item, yet also needs to be heat-safe as you will be heating this on the stove. Bring to a boil, adding more water as needed during the process, and remove from the heat. Use a scrub brush to remove the lacquer or tarnish that accumulates on the copper.
Keeping your copper clean and shiny will make it look as new as the day you bought it. Try these tactics to maintain and preserve your copper cookware, pans, and crockery, and display them proudly in the home for others to admire. Copper is something that never really loses its value, as long as you keep it clean and tarnish-free; give these suggestions a try make your pans appear as though they belong in a fancy restaurant!
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