In my case bleach did the trick
After reading these posts my first try was Mr. Clean magic eraser. It seemed to be effective but I didn’t immediately have the time to persist with it.
Phase two: Try the bleach method prescribed by Cooks Country.
Success!
I thought the grunge at the bottom of the pot was food residue. Correct me if I am wrong but it was basically discoloration? Must have been since bleach resolved the issue and I saw no dissolved residue floating in the pot.
I did try coating the pot with paper towels to wick-up the bleach solution so the inner sides of the pot would be bleached. However, the store was out of Bounty and I used the generic paper towels for this task. They essentially dissolved. Oh well.
However, we were bad and our initial effort to clean this pot involved using a very aggressive scouring pad. We may have made this pot very susceptible to sticking and staining in the future. Drat. However we have gotten many years of use so even if we degraded it somewhat we will just deal with that.
Ultimately, I will print out this stream. Lots of good ideas. I remember at an estate sale one young lady buying a crapload of LeCreuset (that we were ogling over). We knew she held the secret to restoring this stuff as she was all smiles as she was leaving the sale. I hope she had enough air in her tires to drive this stuff home.
Chachp’s pictures are impressive. And additionally I didn’t know you could use oven cleaner to clean engine blocks and transmissions. Makes sense. Never thought of it.
Much obliged for letting me learn something new.
