Cookaholics Bulletin Board

I'm eyeing the stand mixer bowl that my wife got me,
and I'm noticing the exterior is nicely polished, nearly mirror finish. Neat.

BUT -- The inside of the bowl has a rough circular grain texture.



Question: would it hurt to polish the interior?
Is there a functional reason why the inner surface is left rough?
I have some metal bowls that are polished inside and out, what makes this one so special?
Only thing I could think of is asthetics. A polished bowl that will get a couple of scrapes or dings will be like a fly in the milk - where a rough surface will mask any blemishes.

So before I get out my 600 to 2000 grit wet sand paper, my gritted rubbing compound and polishing compounds with my cotton buffing wheels, . . . I thought I'd ask. "Is there a reason that I should leave this well alone, or should I go for it and make the insides as glorious as the outside?"

Sample of my work, BEFORE:


AFTER:

BEAUTIFUL work Unfortunately, I cannot provide you with an answer. I shan't show this to my winter wheels...

Your tire looks great. As for the bowl, I wouldn't bother.

Leave it alone. It's made that way for a reason.
fitzie

I'm with the others who vote to leave it alone.

Amy

I'm agree with everyone: leave it alone. I will even give an example although my science may be off, but this is what came to mind. Food sticks more to something that is really smooth. If you are making bread dough, for example, I think it would stick/drag more on a super smooth surface than on the "rough" surface. The smooth surface will also be more difficult to clean, and then if you use an abrasive cleaner/pad it won't be smooth any more.

PS Nice job on the wheels. My husband is currently cleaning a set of wheels for his vintage BSA WM-20 motorcycle (but they are painted wheels so he's not making them as polished as yours).

The inside of the bowl is for workin', not lookin'. If you do like I do and store the paddle, etc. in there, it'll just get scratched back up, anyway. Also, if you keep the lid on, you'll never see it.

Take that with a grain of salt. I'm firmly in the non-shiny, "brushed" camp here.

Ditto. I got a brushed aluminum sink and it looks like new. Find something more worthy of your advanced polishing skills. Or use the time to mix up something tasty.

Mary

Yeah, polishing the bowl was a fleeting thought that got squashed with this inquiry.
It may have been a waste of time.

Occasionally at some of the car shows we see these old bikes. They are a real treat.
My favorites are the ones with strategically placed splashes of mud and twigs.
And nope, polishing does not apply to these creatures; better to have painted camo.



PM me with a link when he's done -- I'd like to see it.

FWIW, I believe that the reason the texture is left on the work bowls is to show the purchaser that they're getting a spun steel bowl, which is superior to a stamped one, rather than any work benefit the texture offers.

That being said, if you did polish the interior bowl, I'm pretty sure it would get marked up with use pretty quickly, and a single mark on a polished surface looks worse than several on a brushed surface.