It’s everyone’s least favourite job – washing a charred or burned pot or pan after you left dinner simmering on the heat for too long.
But burned food and stained saucepans don’t have to be your new norm. Here are some tips and tricks on how to clean a burnt pot to make it look like new.
Here’s four ways to clean a burnt pot.
1. Use hot water
The faster you act, the easier removing burnt food from a pot will be. A really simple way to try and clean a burnt pot is to use hot water. If you have a stainless steel or enamel pain, pop it on your stove and turn on the heat. Once the pan is hot, our in a cup of water and let it simmer for a bit. you can add lemon or bi-carb soda if you like. Scrape away the area to loosen the muck.
2. Clean a burnt pot with baking soda
According to the Queen of homemaking, Martha Stewart, the best way to clean the burnt stuff off the bottom of a pot is “patience and persistence”.
- Dislodge as much of the food as you can with a sponge or kitchen brush. “Removing as many stuck-on bits as possible from the start makes the rest of your cleaning work less challenging,” Ms Stewart said.
- “Then, consider the material of your cookware. If the pan or pot is cast iron (but not if it’s enamelled cast iron), cover the burnt areas in coarse salt and scrub with a dishcloth. Otherwise, fill the pot with water and add 1/4 cup baking soda.”
- Bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and let the pot soak for an hour.
- Spill out the liquid, scrape off any remaining food bits with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Avoid metal utensils, which can permanently scratch the surface. If food or discolouration remains, repeat the process.
3. How to clean a burnt pot with a dishwasher tablet
While the above above is the natural way to fix a burnt pot, you could also do so with chemicals.
- Allow the pan to cool.
- Fill it with water, a dishwasher tablet and a tablespoon of biological washing powder.
- Bring it to the boil, simmering for around 10 minutes on the hob.
- The burnt-on grime should melt away – though for really bad burns you might need to repeat the process more than once.
4. How to clean a burnt pot with dirt
An alternative cleaning method was also recently posted by Italian chef and Youtuber Pasquale Sciarappa.
Sharing a video of the hack called “Cleaning my pot with dirt” on his Youtube channel OrsaraRecipes, Pasquale uses dirt from the garden mixed with a little water to scrub his burnt and stained steel pot. After a few seconds of scrubbing, he rinses the pot with water and it comes up sparkling clean, looking like new.
In the video, the Italian chef explain that he was taught the cleaning technique in Orsara di Puglia, and explained that it is much more effective than using products such as “Ajax”.
Since posting the video it has gone viral, racking up 42,000 views, but it’s not a method for everyone.
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