Baking Soda for Burnt Pots

I had burnt a pan cooking kashi. The entire bottom was soot covered and would not come off at all with ordinary rinsing. I poured bleach used for laundry whitening and kept it standing for several hours. It removed 95% of the soot very easily and I could see the shining surface of the pan bottom once again !

Susan Sanders-Kinzel
Diamond Feedback Medal for All Time! 1,023 Feedbacks

January 15, 20050 found this helpful

Put a used fabric softener dryer sheet in the pan filled with water.
Let sit overnight. It will soften and release burned gunk.

By Kim

Suzanne Spencer

January 15, 20050 found this helpful

I'm not trying to sound like a smarty (which is actually a first in my case ;) but isn't it dangerous to put bleach or the cleaner chemicals from dryer sheets onto a surface you place your food on? Wouldn't they transfer to whatever you cook in there next? You figure they would have to penetrate a pourous surface in order to release the burnt material and therefore would have permeated the remaining underlayers.

Laine Butterworth

January 16, 20050 found this helpful

I have used the trick of putting dish washer detergent in the pot or pan with hot water and letting it sit in the sink overnight. If it's not too badly burned, this works. If it's very badly burned...a second time and some steel wool usually brings it back to almost new looking. Since you wash your dishes in this detergent, it is completely safe.

Susan Sanders-Kinzel
Diamond Feedback Medal for All Time! 1,023 Feedbacks

January 22, 20050 found this helpful

Place water in pot or pan that has the burned on food stuck to it. Use enough water to cover the food, bring to a rapid boil, scrape food off easily with a spatula. Job done.

By Daisy

Skip the vinegar! Try boiling dishwashing detergent with water. That worked wonders for me.

Skip the vinegar! Try boiling dishwashing detergent with water. That worked wonders for me.

Clynn Altemus

February 22, 20100 found this helpful

Rather than adding water to the baking soda, use white vinegar. It works much faster. It also polishes the pan.

Brenda J. Moore

June 26, 20130 found this helpful

There shouldn't be any concerns for "chemical" transfer to dishes, pots & pans etc., that are intact, without chips in them etc. Other than that - why worry about bleach or fabric softeners etc...