Dishwasher guide: salt will harm the stainless steel lining. What about salt water in stainless steel pots?

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨plantteacher@mander.xyz⁩ to ⁨chemistry@mander.xyz⁩

The manual for my dishwasher says to refill salt just before running a wash cycle, because if any grains of salt spill onto the stainless steel interior it will corrode. If it runs right away, no issue because the salt is quickly dissolved, diluted, and flushed.

So then I realized when I cook pasta I heavily salt the water (following the advice that pasta water should taste as salty as the ocean). But what happens when I leave that highly salty brine in a pot, sometimes for a couple days to reuse it? Does that risk corroding the pots?

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rImITywR@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
You reuse pasta water? That’s kind of gross. Starchy water sitting around is a breading ground for bacteria. Don’t do that.

Also, dishwashers don’t clean with salt water. They use the salt to reset their internal water softener.

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- plantteacher@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  Starchy water sitting around is a breading ground for bacteria. Don’t do that.
  
  That water is brine, if you do it right. Salt is a good preservative. I’ve tested it with up to 2 reuses.
  
  Also, dishwashers don’t clean with salt water. They use the salt to reset their internal water softener.
  
  Not sure why you thought I thought dishwashers clean with salt water. The manual’s advice was to mitigate salt grains that did not get into the salt reservoir that would sit on the stainless steel potentially for days.
  
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  - rImITywR@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Brine is the exact condition that life needs/thrives in. “About as salty as the ocean” is really good at supporting microbial growth. Source
    
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wrenchmonkey@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
the main concern from the manufacturer is likely something like salt water sitting on the surface for days at a time over and over while the machine sits unused. any reasonable cook time is unlikely to begin harming the surface of any moderately high grade stainless.

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Nawor3565@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Even stainless steel will corrode, and salt especially will speed up the process. Solid salt is much worse than salt water, because the concentration of solid salt is 100% vs a fraction of a percent for pasta water. Regardless, leaving salt water sitting in your pot for days on end is definitely going to make corrosion occur faster, although by how much I can’t say.

Although, I will say that needing to buy even one additional pot might offset any environmental benefit from reusing your pasta water. Industrial manufacturing uses a ton of water, so if your goal is to preserve it, you’re likely better off just washing & drying your pot out between uses so that it lasts longer.

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- plantteacher@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I could always transfer it to glass or plastic to protect the pot but I guess laziness was a component to this. Salt is cheap enough that I’ll probably just toss it going forward.
  
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ProfessorOwl_PhD@hexbear.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Yeah. Not immediately, the chromium in stainless steel gives it a good amount of resistance, but if you’re leaving it for days at a time you’ll find the surface becoming pitted as the chlorine reacts with the protective layer.

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themeatbridge@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Refill the salt? Like the shakers?

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- plantteacher@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Ah, I wondered if I needed to explain that, since dishwashers in N.America do not take salt. European dishwashers tend to have built-in water softeners (because it’s somewhat uncommon to have whole house water softeners). So we periodically have to fill a salt reservoir in the dishwasher to feed the water softener.
  
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  - themeatbridge@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Ah, ok. I was familiar with water softeners needed for homes with well water, but it didn’t occur to me that soft water would be a problem for dishwashers. Thanks!
    
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knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I can’t imagine it’s particularly food safe to leave your starchy pasta water out for a few days and then reuse it.

In any case it’s far less salty than what could potentially happen in the dishwasher with a relatively large amount of the decalcifying salt and a couple drops of water.

Worst case you can polish and re-passivate your stainless steel cookware, but it shouldn’t come to that.

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- plantteacher@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  I can’t imagine it’s particularly food safe to leave your starchy pasta water out for a few days and then reuse it.
  
  I haven’t tested a few days of non-use. It’s usually if I happen to make pasta two days in a row, and (more rare) three days in a row (where it still boils daily).
  
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plinky@hexbear.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Grains of salt can likely scratch the surface, which speeds up process considerably.

But generally, i believe, salt water speeds up corrosion due to micro structures in any steel (also aren’t you afraid something will come to live in 2 days in warm salty water 😱)

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- plantteacher@mander.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  
  Also aren’t you afraid something will come to live in 2 days in warm salty water
  
  Wasn’t salt the most popular preservative in the days before refrigeration existed? The stuff boils with heavy salt, so starts off semi-sterile. Then I don’t imagine many things looking for a home in brine, which then boils again the next day.
  
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  - plinky@hexbear.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Ocean water is self evidently friendly for microorganisms. I was thinking that brine was saltier than ocean tbh (and long term salt was used dry (?) for fish and meat), but this is more my half memories, if stuff doesn’t grow for you, then its probably fine
    
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  - simply_surprise@lemmygrad.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    
    This water is saltier than foods that rely on salt for preservation.
    
    Pickling brine is salty to create an environment that’s more friendly to lactobacillus (and other friends!).
    
    It helps to advantage the bacteria we want to grow to preserve things, not stop all growth.
    
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  - lonewolfhashashinOKEPICMODE@hexbear.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    bruh you’re gonna have vinegar scented pasta water lmaoo
    
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