Hey guys! I have a quick post for you today, but hopefully this will be a really helpful one.
Today we are talking about how to remove burnt on food from pots, cookie sheets, and other bakeware. My culinary skills are not my strong point and I have been known to burn a thing or two in the past {darn multi-tasking!}. Unfortunately, I don’t actually have a true “before” picture of my pot as I was already half way through cleaning it when I realized that I had never blogged about this before, but you can still get the idea. This was a flour and milk mixture that I was using for a soup that I totally forgot about and there was about a 1 cm layer of burned on mess completely covering the bottom. Whoops!
The quickest and easiest way that I usually remove burned on messes, is by placing some vinegar in the bottom of the pot and then heating it over medium heat until the burnt food starts to come off. It generally gets it pretty clean {and will then just easily scrub clean afterwards}; however, this was a particularly bad pot, and this is what it looked like afterwards.
To really get at those stubborn burned on messes, here are my secret weapons – dish soap {this J.R. Watkins coconut dish soap smells AWESOME by the way!!}, cream of tartar, baking soda, and an old credit card or rewards card {yay! You finally have a use for that collection of reward cards!}. This method also works great on cookie sheets and other baking items as well. All you need to do is combine equal parts cream of tartar and baking soda in the bottom of your pan, add a drop or two of dish soap, and add just enough hot water to make a runny paste that completely covers your burned areas. Let soak for a few minutes and then scrub off with the credit card. You can always use a Brillo pad or other scrub brush as well but I always find the credit card works best for me! 😉
So clean and shiny!
If you are cleaning areas like the bottom of a pot or top of a muffin tin, just make your paste a little thicker so you can still let it sit over your burnt areas. Now hopefully that will save you a pot or two! 😉
For more cleaning tips, check out these posts…
How to Clean Your Washing Machine
How to Create a Cleaning Binder
Using cream of tarter is a new one for me! Thanks for that tip. Linda
I wasn’t aware of these things to clean pots so thank you very much! I love hearing about ingredients that are natural and not full of chemicals.
That is great because sometimes I forget things on the stove or in the oven.
Ketchup heated works too. Chefs use it.
Wow, really? I’ve never heard of that one!
Yes, esp on copper pots & pans!!
Holy crap, never heard of heated ketchup! Didn’t have any cream and tartar but had ketchup. My house ALWAYS has ALWAYS will have kettchup!☺
However, I think I will but store brand and not use Heinz!
Have you ever tried using plain old liquid dish soap? I find this the all time easiest method and the bonus of not making the house reek of hot vinegar for days. Put the burned on mess on the stove and turn on the burner to high, coat the bottom of the pot with liquid dish soap and stir with a flat spatula until it all lifts off. The soap will bubble and boil as the burned layer peels off. When you are done just rinse out the burned bits and the pot is clean. Plus you have a soap scent rather than a pickle factory stench.
Thank you both for the wonderful tips! A combination of these methods saved my favorite pan… And my kitchen smells fresh and clean 🙂
Awesome!!
Spray oven cleaner in the pot and put the lid on. Leave it overnight or even for a couple of days and it rinses off!
For cookie sheets spray and put it in a plastic bag.
I don’t use oven cleaner but a great tip for those that do!
One way s not to use stainless steel and instead use aluminum pans which conduct heat better and stuff doesn’t usually stick to the bottom. Your idea is very useful, however even for aluminum. Not meant as sarcastic… :->
Patti,
Most cookware has an Aluminum core inbetween the stainless cookware,or in any type of cookware as it does conduct heat very well.
That said, Nobody should be cooking directly in Aluminum cookware cause its NOT Healthy.
Coated pans aren’t healthy for you. The coating has chemicals in it that gets into your food.
Will this work on burnt Pyrex? I made a prime rib roast for Christmas and I couldn’t get the pan clean.
Yes, it should work on Pyrex too! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
I always use Easy Off on my Pyres & Corning Ware. I have not heard of this method before when I had bought some very grubby Corning Ware in a junk store. Used Easy Off and they looked new. Of course, this had to be done outside because of the fumes.
Yes, I try to stay away from that if I can because of the fumes! 😉 This is a much greener option!
I used the vinger 0ne, left over night. Didn’t do anything in my pyrex
Vinegar on its own won’t really do anything. For minor burned on foods, you can heat the vinegar over medium heat to loosen it and then scrub. For more major burned on messes, you really need to do the full tutorial. Hope it helps!
Have you ever tried boiling the hot water with the baking soda in it? The caked on black crud will lift off the pan into the boiling water 🙂
No, I haven’t tried that. Thanks for the tip!
I put dishwasher granules in the pan with some water to just cover, let it sit overnight/day or two – rinse . . . . . Comes right off.
I haven’t tried that one. Thanks for the tip!
Place a scoop of laundry washing powder into the saucepan and fill with very hot water from the tap.
Leave to soak overnite and burnt offering will just slide off next morning.
Thanks for the idea!
What about old enamel pot. I just really burnt one–forgot on stove and the water all evaporated and massive mess. This is the thin white enamel type pot from the 30s and 40s not the newer ones.
Sorry – I don’t have any experience with those so I am not sure. Maybe one of my readers will have a tip for you though!
I have a collection of old enamel ware pans mine are the white with red rim and handles, I just pour enough dish det to cover the bottom, let sit couple days and scrub out the junk.
I use commet on my enamel pans…its cleans all the gunt without scratching like ajax or bar keepers. It will also bleach the enamel white again..
Great tip! I like getting other ideas, different points of “attack” 🙂
Always good to have more tools in the toolbox! 😉
Instead of a loyalty/credit card you can also use a plastic bottle top.
Or scrunched up aluminium foil.
I haven’t tried that before. Thanks for the tip!
Or a hard plastic egg lifter works great in stead of a credit card or other cards.
This really works on conning cook ware. Baked on tomato sauce made a paste and let set while I was out to dinner came home and it cleaned the baked on tomato sauce .
Yes! I’ve used it on our Corning ware too. Glad it worked for you!
Thanks for this post. It works so well! I was gutted when I used my new pan for the first time and burnt food to the bottom. X
Glad it helped!
Hi Jenn, I was given a set of magnalite pots, which I have enjoyed over the years, but lately, along with some other pots and three different aluminum baking pans that we run in the dishwasher, have had this ashey gray residue on them the past 1-1/2yrs. This only happens when we’ve ran them in the dish washer. Do you have any idea of why this would be happening. Thank you. Love your blog/page!!
Do you know if anything in your water quality has changed? I believe that a really alkaline product can turn them the greyish color – using some vinegar on them {which is acidic} may help to get rid of this. I know for most magnalite pots dish washer use is not recommended, but if you plan on still using your dish washer you could try giving it a really good cleaning {there’s a tutorial on the blog for that}. If it is not running efficiently, it may not be getting rid of all of the soap residue which could also be leaving the greyish residue. Have you switched dish washing detergent at all? That might be another issues. Hope that helps!
Oven cleaner on pans sounds scary (a commenter’s tip), I use Barkkepers Best Friend. It works every time.
Yes, I don’t even use oven cleaner in my oven! lol! I have heard lots of good things about Bar Keeper’s Friend.
One of the only good uses for Cola is cleaning burnt residue off of the bottom of pans,
I pour Clorox inside the bottom within minutes stains are gone been doing this for years.
Interesting. But I have to say I would definitely be leary about using bleach on cooking and baking ware.
Very cool trick. I’ve heard cream of tar tar can also be used to remove ink stains- good alternative to bleach.
I’ll have to remember that!
I cut my steel wool pad into quarters. I don’t feel so bad when it rusts and I must throw it out. It helps a bit financially.
Good idea!
I want to switch from Teflon to stainless steel, but I remember burning food last time I was using it. Now, I’m ready to try it again. Thanks to you I am ready for burned on food. Any other tips for me? Stuck with an electric stove for now too.
Don’t multi-task and use a timer! lol! Usually I end up with burned on food when I get distracted when I’m cooking, head off to do something “quickly” and totally forget about what is on the stove!
My favorite for cleaning metal AND glass is those Magic Eraser sponges. I was so excited to get my Pyrex baking pans shiny! They do an especially good job on the burned-on grease (like the overspray from cooking spray that cooks on and becomes little brown glazed spots). They’re not good for crusty or rough surfaces though. I have used them on enamel and they’re amazing. No scratching as far as I can tell. Now if only I hadn’t left my enamel pot on high heat and burned off the coating on the bottom…it’s crumbling away and scorching on the inside now. Ugh.
Yes, I love magic erasers too!
You may want to try another trick, leave a top on the pot, one of the that fits, with some liquid inside covering the burnt on mess. Leave a little while, sometimes this helps loosen the mess.
Thanks for the tip!
Lost my wife 2 and a half years ago. I have been cooking from around the age of 10 and last night I burned the bottom of a magnalite pot. First time I have ever burned one. Was steaming fresh broccoli and they weren’t uniform in size, so I kept cooking them in the steamer over the water in the aluminium. As you said, I forgot about it and next thing you know the bottom of the pot is burned. On the inside that is. So, tomorrow I will try one or two or however many is needed in an effort to save the pot. Those things are not cheap. I appreciate your help and the help of all the others who posted on here. Thanks and God Bless.
Best thing I have ever used to clean burned on residue on pots/bakeware etc is washing soda. It is commonly used as an additive to laundry detergent. Add 1 tablespoon to the pot, add water to cover burned area, bring to a boil, then let cool. It will literally wipe off with no scrubbing at all.
I actually have some of that that I use for a homemade laundry detergent. I’ll have to try it next time!
Loved reading about cleaning a burnt pot. I burned pinto beans in an expensive LeCreuset pot! Soooooo upset & tried everything to get it clean but still not like I want it to be. Glad to see that you used a Watkins product! Grew up with the Watkins man coming to our house in the 50’s/60’s for my Mom to buy Watkins products! Best vanilla flavoring ever along with the other cleaning items too! I’m going to try to get the dish soap! Thank you so much for the wonderful idea! Can’t wait to get my LeCreuset soup pot clean & beautiful again!
I hope it worked for you. I love LeCreuset pots!
Any suggestions for cleaning burnt sugar off a stainless steel gas stove? Especially around the burner base. Love all the suggestions.
We have a glass top stove so I’m not sure. I use a Mr. Clean magic eraser {the thicker kitchen one with Dawn, not the regular one} and a Norwex polishing microfiber cloth on mine. If I need extra cleaning on my stainless steel I use Therapy Stainless Steel Cleaner {I get it on Amazon}. If you need a little abrasive power you could add some baking soda or cream of tartar, but you’ll probably need some good ol’ elbow grease!:)
About 25 years ago, I was working as a dishwasher/night janitor at a fancy golf course.
One day, a stainless steel sauce pan showed up that had about a half inch of burnt,black crust on the bottom. I sent it through the dishwasher several times but it still had a layer on the bottom that refused to come off. I left it soak over-night and tried again the next day. Nothing. After several more days of attacking this pot, I gave up and asked if I could take it home. The thing was useless at this point, but it was a high-quality pot.
I took it home an dragged out some industrial strength acid drain cleaner – nasty stuff, they only sell it in janitorial supply stores, and the bottle is sealed inside a thick plastic bag in case it leaks.
I poured about an inch of drain cleaner into the pot and put it aside. Next day, I literally poured the burnt stuff down the drain. Every speck of it was gone. A couple of trips through the dishwasher to remove any residual drain cleaner and it was good as new.
thank you very much for the tip. it worked great..
Awesome! Glad it was helpful!
Thank you for your tips … saved my stainless steel pot with burned on maltomeal!
Awesome! Glad it helped!
Hello Jenny,
I hope you are doing well, thank you for your tip on how to clean a burnt pan, where I am I may not be able to get cream of tartar, what alternative can you give me in this case
You can try the paste just with the baking soda. If you have hydrogen peroxide you could add that to the paste for extra cleaning power.
You should be able to find cream of tartar in the baking aisle of your favorite grocery store.