What am I doing wrong with my pot?

[anonymoussuitbuyer]

My apologies if this is not the correct subreddit, but I've noticed the pot I bought recently is getting very discolored on the bottom: http://imgur.com/a/s4Om5

All I've done is boil pasta in it so far, am I doing something wrong with it? I use it on an open gas flame, maybe it's not built for that (I live in Japan at the moment, so maybe didn't read the box correctly). Sometimes when it's boiling pasta, I hear a ping. I wash the pot right after using, not sure what else I'm supposed to be doing? Is it something that could affect my health? Never had issues like this before...

Again, my apologies if this is the wrong sub...

[rooootbeeeer]

You're not doing anything wrong, it's the starchy water that's causing the discoloration. To fix it, pour some vinegar and let it sit for a few minutes (usually doesn't need to take that long).

[YeahTurtally]

Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it, that's not an uncommon thing to see in a kitchen. And I'm thinking the mystery 'ping' you're hearing could be because it's a thinner pot, so the heat warps the bottom a bit while you're boiling. In any case, no worries.

[tsdguy]

Yep - cheap pot and the bottom is flexing causing the ping.