How to clean a burned pot

Jan 01, 2012 11:09 AM by Laura Williams, M.S.Ed.

Posted in How-To / Food & Kitchen How-tos

How To...Make 'em
Shine Like New!

We’ve all done it -- left a pot on the stove too long or let a sauce boil over. The result is a badly burned pot that seems impossible to clean. You don’t have to give it a single worry as long as you follow these quick steps to clean a burned pot or pan.

Woman cleaning pot

Step 1: Gather up the goods

It doesn't take much to clean a burned pot. Grab a cup of white vinegar, a couple tablespoons of baking soda and make sure you have access to water. The only other thing you'll need is a double-sided sponge to help you wipe down the surface. Also, in an ironic twist, you'll need to use the same culprit that helped create the stain to remove the burn from the pot's surface -- make sure your stove is ready to go.

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Step 2: Get the cleaning started

Fill the pot or pan with a layer of water. The amount of water you use will vary based on the deepness of the pot and the area of the stain. You want the water level to be at or near the height of the stain, while still providing enough room for the addition of vinegar and baking soda.

Add the cup of vinegar to the pot, again adjusting the amount of vinegar based on the deepness of the pot and the area of the stain. For very large burns, add more vinegar. For smaller burns or shallower pans, add less.

Place the pot or pan on the stove and bring the mixture to a boil. It shouldn't take long before you start noticing a difference in the stain's appearance.

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Step 3: Create some chemistry

Take the pot or pan off the burner and turn off the stove. Add two to three tablespoons of baking soda to the mix and watch the bubbles form! Allow the fizz to do its work for a few minutes before emptying the mixture from the pot.

Step 4: Rub it down

Scrub the pot with the abrasive side of your sponge. You may need to scrub for 30 to 45 seconds, but the burned spots should come up fairly easily. If the spots are especially stubborn, sprinkle a little dry baking soda on top of them to help abrade the burn marks away. When you're satisfied that the pot is clean, rinse it thoroughly - it should look as good as new!

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Watch: How to clean burned-on food off a pot

Getting caked-on food off your pots is possible. All you need is a little time and elbow grease.

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Tags: kitchen cleaning tips

Comments

Comments on "How to clean a burned pot"

Wow! Worked for me, and I was skeptical. I used steel wool after soaking with the baking soda. Pan looks better, actually, than it has in years.

This worked great for me! If you tried this with no result, let the vinegar and water boil a bit longer and it should help. But if there is loose bits of food that you can scrape off, get rid of those first (use a wooden spoon or something soft to scrape to avoid damaging the pan.) Basically this is for burnt on food that will not soften or come off with a 3 day soak (the black charred rim on stainless steel pans and pots). Hope this helps some of you! Thanks for the post.

I had heard somewhere, to use either baking soda, or white vinegar, to soak and remove scorch marks - but not to use both together, as the "fizzing" does absolutely nothing to loosen the scorching. Singly, though, either one item is supposed to work..

Worked for me. Does take a little extra baking soda and some elbow grease though.

Did not work at all. U should b more specific and not recommend this for every case. My pot was burned with oat meal and your tips did not even tickle... sorry for my English......

Thank you! Worked for me!

Nice read. Just finished these steps and no results. Consider this an urban legend and save the vinegar.Don't bother.

We don't buy a lot of expensive things. So I felt really bad when I charred the bottom of my wife's Le Creuset sauce pan. This tip worked like a charm. Thanks!

Great tips!! I normally just soak in water and scrub and scrub until it comes off. I'm definitely going to try the vinegar and baking soda trick next time!

YEAH! It worked! Thank you!