Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Butter warmer cleaning

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-20-2006, 08:47 PM:

Can anyone recommend a procedure to remove baked-on crud (dried up Odells Superkist, actually) from the inside of a butter warmer? Not the kettle itself, the outside can the holds the water....apparently the concession crew overfilled the Superkist container, it got into the water, then the water evaporated over time, baking the brown stuff onto the heater can.

I've tried every cleaning solution I've got here and nothing will budge that stuff. Before I get out the chisel or the battery acid, any other solutions?

Posted by Floyd Justin Newton (Member # 1316) on 10-20-2006, 08:59 PM:

Mike--

You might try contacting Odell's. They may have the info you
need. [Wink]

Posted by Robert Minichino (Member # 3495) on 10-20-2006, 09:02 PM:

If you're absolutely sure it's not Aluminum, try an oven cleaner or straight-up lye (with rubber gloves and eye protection, of course).

EDIT: I've heard good things about the supposedly less-nasty Dawn Power Dissolver, but I haven't tried it myself.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-20-2006, 09:05 PM:

Actually I'm pretty sure it's stainless steel.

It's a Gold Medal warmer.

Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 10-20-2006, 10:36 PM:

There is only one product I know of that will take the crud off without using a paint stripping utensile on a drill. It's called Diablo Carbon Kleen. Safe on aluminum and you can let it sit all night long without harming any metal. You will, however, want to cover whatever you are cleaning with a towel as the odor is STRONG. It contains ammonia and there are enough skull-and-crossbones on the can to let you know it's good. Wear gloves, as any drops on your skin will begin burning shortly. I put it on with a pastry brush and let it sit for as long as needed. It will do the trick.

Posted by Mike Spaeth (Member # 524) on 10-21-2006, 09:52 AM:

We've always used Oven Cleaner

Posted by Matt Fields (Member # 3211) on 10-21-2006, 11:23 AM:

Gold Medal has a cleaner called "Kleen Sweep" that is for cleaning kettles, ect. that is very good. You can order it from their catalog.

It is also very strong. When ever I use it, I take what ever I'm cleaning outside and I wear rubber gloves.

Just spray it on, let it eat at the mess for 15 min or so, then the baked on butter will just wipe off.

Posted by Charles Greenlee (Member # 3856) on 10-21-2006, 10:24 PM:

quote: Chad Souder
It contains ammonia and there are enough skull-and-crossbones on the can to let you know it's good.

Yeah, Ol' Mr. Nasty being on it, and several times, tells you that this has got to be the right stuff. To be honest, I do kind of use that as a measure of potence. If it's "natural" or "organic" or safe or non-toxic, I usually avoid it because it often works less effectively than water. I just be sure to keep it safe, and rewash with a dish safe detergent to make sure there's no residue. Mr. Nasty = potent, but also use extreme caution.

Posted by Edwin Sheldon (Member # 4001) on 10-21-2006, 11:38 PM:

For anything you DO use to clean it, be sure you have an MSDS for it, and keep it well out of the reach of your employees.

Posted by Charles Greenlee (Member # 3856) on 10-22-2006, 12:41 PM:

quote: Edwin Sheldon
be sure you have an MSDS for it, and keep it well out of the reach of your employees.

That'll teach them to test for themselves. :-) Sorry, just how I read it initally. I knew what you meant after rereading it.

Posted by Kara Tillotson (Member # 3899) on 10-22-2006, 02:28 PM:

When we reopened the Vogue after 17mos or so of inactivity,we had to clean out out butter machine...I am not sre what is was but it might have been that DAWN power dissolver...it was yellow and looked sort of like butter/vanilla pudding itself...it took 3-4 days to get it to loosen....but we did eventually get it to loosen. We used a combination of sandpaper, a putty knife and a flat head screwdriver to get it off.
We achieved nothing with actual oven cleaner or SOS pads, the oven cleaner just gassed us and made the butter goo stickier.(perhaps it was slowly working but too slow for us) The SOS pads just made the gunk blue.

Posted by Chad Souder (Member # 343) on 11-22-2006, 07:37 PM:

Did you find something that worked? I have the same warmers and the same Superkist 2 topping so I'm always looking for options.

Posted by Mike Croaro (Member # 3123) on 11-23-2006, 11:56 AM:

Brake and parts cleaner (no kidding) will clean it up in seconds. Most are formulated to evaporate as opposed to "drying" on the surface.

Mike

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-23-2006, 09:31 PM:

I'm sad to say, I have yet to try any of these solutions. The concession crew deep-cleans the butter pump on Monday nights which is my major bookkeeping night, so it's a matter of carving out some extra time to fool with that thing, or assigning the crew to wield the toxic chemicals. I'd rather do it myself so it'll just stay on the waiting list for now. But I'll post what does work when I get to it!

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 11-25-2006, 01:19 PM:

Once it's clean simple-green works fantastically well for disolving the butter topping. Rinse clean with hot water and you'll never again have baked-on brown crud...
Now the warmer bay inside the machine is another story....We're still chisling that crap out!

Posted by Steve Scott (Member # 630) on 11-26-2006, 12:13 PM:

Try heating it up & cleaning it.

Makes the job easier.