Thursday, April 21, 2011

Simple Kitchen Shortcut: Cleaning A Burnt Pot

Every now and then, I burn a pot while cooking. It doesn't happen too often and usually, with a bit of elbow grease I can scrub it off. However, one time I made a very large pot of soup in my biggest and nicest stock pot. I had it on low to keep it warm during a party and unfortunately burned the whole batch. The bottom of the pot was badly burned. It had a very thick, black and incredibly hard layer of burnt soup on the bottom! I tried everything I could think of to get my pot clean. I boiled water in it, cleaned it with tough scrubbers and cleaners, soaked it for a couple days. Although the burnt residue came off a little, I still had a very burnt layer on the pan that I was unable to remove. I even boiled tin foil in the pot because I heard that worked...it didn't. If it had been one of my cheaper pans/pots I probably would have just thrown it away. However, I wanted to keep this pot and wanted to get it clean.

I asked people for advice and someone (maybe my sister?) suggested boiling a dryer sheet in the pot. Since I don't have any dryer sheets (I use dryer balls) I finally asked my friend for one and tried it out. Boiling the dryer sheet made my house smell very strongly of dryer sheet but it totally worked! I was elated. I had no problem scrubbing out ALL of the remaining residue after using the dryer sheet. It still took a little bit of elbow grease but I could immediately tell a difference and it actually was able to come off this time. So, if you have a pot or pan you need to salvage, try a dryer sheet. You might also try soaking it in water without boiling it. There's a chance that might work without having to breathe in all the dryer sheet fumes.

Do you have any other tips for cleaning difficult pots and pans?

5 comments:

  1. thanks for this. i do have a pot with some burnt black on the bottom that won't come off. i'll track down a dryer sheet. :) i have still used the pot - mostly for thawing meat & stock (soaking them in water). but i'd love to cook with it again, thanks!

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  2. I've done this with vinegar in water as well, and it works too. The house does smell like vinegar, but at least it's natural! Hope you are enjoying settling in to Durango!

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  3. Megan, that was your wise sister that told you about the dryer sheet trick. You can also just leave the dryer sheet in the pot with water overnight. I love quick and easy ways to clean.

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  4. Megan I have a question. I have a lot of blogs and pages that I'm following and was wondering if there is any way of subscribing to your page to have it emailed to me? That way I won't forget to check it...

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