I Thought I'd Ruined My Stainless Steel Pan Until Le Creuset’s Top Chefs Taught Me This 60-Second Lemon Trick

A stainless steel pan filled with broccoli and chickpeas, on a wooden table with a matching lid beside it on a dish towel. A wooden spoon inside the pot. .

While cooking with stainless steel is now second nature, there was a time when nearly everything ended up seared to the pan. The result was stubborn discoloration that left my cookware looking worse for wear, and actually made cooking more difficult.

No amount of scrubbing seemed to help, so you can imagine my delight when I spent an evening with Le Creuset’s development chef, and she revealed her secret for restoring even the best non-toxic cookware that is in the worst condition.