How to Treat Burned Pots and Pans

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

Rate: (56 Ratings)

The risotto is nearly done, then the phone rings and the next thing you know, you've got a mess to clean. Scorched foods can leave stubborn spots in pots and pans that no amount of elbow grease can remove. But just a few essentials in your pantry will help restore your pans to practically new.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Step1

Wash away as much of the food as possible, using cold water for eggs, chocolate and starch-based foods.

Step2

Fill the pot with water. Add 1 to 2 tsp. dishwashing liquid and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes, then cover the pot, turn off the heat and leave the pot to soak for 30 minutes.

Step3

With a wooden spoon, scrape away as much of the burned food as possible. Rinse well.

Step4

If burned areas still remain, cover them completely with a generous amount of baking soda. Drizzle in just enough water to create a thick paste, smearing the paste up the sides of the pot if needed. Set aside for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

Step5

Without rinsing the pot, add 3 parts water to 1 part distilled vinegar to cover the burned food by at least 2 inches (5 cm). Boil for 10 minutes and then leave overnight.

Step6

Repeat steps 2 through 5 as needed.

Tips & Warnings

Avoid using steel wool or abrasive cleansers on polished metal. They can create scratches that will allow food to stick and burn even more easily.
Leaving baking soda on aluminum pans for longer than 1 hour can cause pitting, or dark spots where the alkaline compounds react with the aluminum surface.

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Comments

lizrae said

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on 5/1/2008 From lizrae. I recently burned stew in my pressure cooker. I cleaned it successfully but could not get rid of the smell of burned food, which seemed to be in the metal. I tried everything,soaks, sprays, traditional tips and leaving it with the lid off for days. Nothing worked and I had to throw it out and buy a new one. Any ideas in case it happens again?

MrsBuckeye said

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on 3/9/2008 This is the way my mom always did it - and I had to go into my memory bank today as "yep" I burnt not just one but 2 pans earlier. Put some pastina in a small pan to cook up so that when the tomato soup was done, I would add that and I forgot until I could smell the pasta burning (sigh). So much for a good hot lunch !!!

queenofburn said

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on 1/31/2008 I am the queen of burn, I seem to always have something stuck to my pots & pans, I did see a new product & ordered a box, IT WORKS, I found this product called Magic Sheets it is made just for me the queen of burn, I couldnt believe how fast I get my pots & pans clean without scrubbing it is great. The best thing is it is nontoxic unlike my cooking or I should say burning.

jackwalduck said

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on 9/7/2007 I'm lucky I didn't start a kitchen fire. I had the rice on high and then got a phonecall. Anyway the pan was crusted with black. I got it all of the charred rice remains off with 2 treatments of oven cleaning spray and a SOS pad. Yeah for chemicals!