Today I really messed up.
I poured 3 cups of milk into my favorite Revere Ware sauce pan, added the box of Jello chocolate pudding mix, turned on the burner, and went to check email.

"Some" time later, I thought, "something smells good!"
"Some" time after that, I more consciously thought, "hmm, smells like chocolate....OMG!"

When I got to the pot, of course, it was boiling over and the bottom was positively scorched. Had to throw the whole mess out.

My saucepan is a disaster. I want to throw it out, too, but, of course, I'll never be able to find/buy another just like it and it is my very special favorite. So, it's been soaking all day, to no effect, and I've come to ask if anyone has a sneaky, hitherto unknown tip for rescuing me and my pot.

I've got Goo Gone, Dawn, SOS pads, a scraper (which didn't help at all earlier).....can you think of anything else that won't take hours and tons of chemicals?? :cry:

Jan in VA

Try boiling baking soda in the pan. Here is a website that tells how to do that:
http://www.essortment.com/home/tipscleaningsc_slmf.htm

Try vinegar and salt, have heard that can work miracles. Sorry about the saucepan - but oh my gosh, to lose the chocolate!!!!!

When I have a pan that I have burned stuff in I dump some Baking Soda into the pan then add some water and let it boil for a few min. Then clean the pan. Use about 1/2 cup of soda to 2 cups water. Good luck.

I have done this so many times over the years it isn't funny. I swear by Bar Keeper's Friend. If you can't find it I will send you one. I get it at Walmart. It is better than anything I have ever had. I have used it for years and it takes everything off.

Pour a can of Coke into the pot and let it soak for a few hours. I use Coke to clean my burners and they come out sparkling clean!

Jan, don't feel bad. You should have seen my cast iron skillet when we went camping a couple of years ago and my daughters decided to bake a cobbler in it in the fire. Don't ever try that without foil in it. It took days to clean it and throwing it in the fire to burn it off did not work.

I have used the baking soda in the pan and then gently boil. Eventually it takes a lot out and brillo gets the rest.

http://razorfamilyfarms.com/crafts/cream-of-tartar/

When I was much younger I used Cream of Tartar. I am not sure I posted the link correctly, but I hope this helps!

The laziest way I know of to clean burnt on gunk out of a pan is hot water and Cascade. Let it sit overnight and it'll be clean or very close to it in the morning.

No need to scrub. Just fill your pan about 1/3 and add a bit of laundry detergent and bring to a boil then simmer until all the gunk comes off.
Watch carefully :wink: because it might overboil quickly with all the suds.

I hope you get your pan all cleaned up and thanks everyone for all of the cool tips

Bar Keeper's Friend! Absolutely!! Love it!

I use oven cleaner to tidy up sauce pans from time to time. I usually try to find the "no funes" and enclose items in a ziploc bag or a trash bag, making sure all areas are throughly covered and let sit over night. Things come out pretty clean.

gee i wonder what this does to the stomach?

I had to scorch some milk the other day for wheat bread, and got a little carried away. I ruined the pan, scrubbed and scrubbed, finally i just set the soapy pan on the stove and boiled. Plain old dishsoap and water boiling loosened it.

Probably don't want to know! lol

I use cream of tartar and water..boil gently..it may take a few days of soaking and gentle scrubbing..it will come out.

I forgot about my english peas and made a mess...I just used a brillo pad....it was so hard!!!

I use baking soda...Ive done that SO many times!

I just read all of the suggestions and did not see the one my mom told me about. She just puts water in the pot and lays a dryer sheet in the pan, and let it soak. Sounds weird, but it worked. Good Luck and I am sure one of the suggestions will work...

If you soak it with vinegar the burnt on stuff will just peel off. I learned this from my dmi..

Ammonia sometimes works too.

I love miracle erasers..They can get just about anything off LOL..I use it for my pots..

I use the baking soda with a dash of dish detergent and simmer then let cool down. Go at what is left in the pan and repeat as needed. Sometimes it takes multiple days of soaking and scraping the top off. Sometimes I use the edge of an old teaspoon or soup spoon to get under a particularly crusty spot and pry/pop it off. This is particularly useful, when the steel wool pad only seems to be making the top of the burn shiny.

Diana

Pour in a layer of any dishwasher soap (any kind). Add some boiling water and let sit for a few hours. It will loosen and come off. This even works for badly scortched scalloped potato pans that are really, really stuck.

Can you BELIEVE, Jan, that my husband did the EXACT SAME THING last night? :shock:

There must have been a disturbance in the pudding force. So glad to see this thread this morning, because my pot is a scorching mess this morning, too.

Put it in a trash bag pour some ammonia in it close tight and let set over night. If you try some of these things your pan should be clean or disolved. Good Luck

Jan, I too have done this but now when I make pudding I do it in the microwave... turns out perfect..

When I've burnt tomato soup on my pans, I boil baking soda and let it sit. The burnt stuff pretty much just falls off then.

That would be my suggestion. Don't know what is in the Cascade but it seems to eat anything away. In fact, it doesn't even have to be Cascade. I use the Cascade gel packs for my dishwasher. I have a box of powered dishwasher stuff but not Cascade. It's Kirkland's, which is a COSCO's brand. I don't like to use it in the dishwasher. I kept it to use when I have something stuck to the pan.

you got lots of good suggestions and i don't blame you for wanting to save your revere ware pan - i love mine and i would never have anything else!!

Ouch - I feel for you. :( I'm always doing goofy stuff like this.

I would use the dishwasher detergent soak. It gets anything clean. I hope it works on your pan.

I just LOVE you guys! Knew many someones here would have great suggestions and I can't wait to try them. Just washed my hands in the kitchen sink where the pot is sitting and it broke my heart all over again.

As I have Cascade, I'll start with that first ..... and a TIMER! Never doing anything ever again without a timer since it's obvious there was not only a disturbance in the pudding force, as Rebecca VLQ noted, but there seems to be a permanent disruption in the mental capacities as well.

And Leatherflea, about using Coke.....well, I'm going to try it, but I'm NOT going there with any other comments as I am also a 55 year Coke addict out of the closet. I do not want to know!!

Let's see, got to add baking soda (recently used up) to the grocery list, and amonia, and oven cleaner - huh, that might come in handy for the oven which itself desperately needs attention, more Mr. Clean erasers, Bar Keepers Friend-----

Now I'm wondering whether it *would* be cheaper to buy a new pot?!

Jan in VA

Someone once told me that if I have something stuck to a pan I should soak a softener sheet (like Bounce) in it overnight. They said the next day, you just wash and rinse it and it should be good. I hope this works. I know what it's like to have your favorite cooking tools and utensils.

also, try using a "magic eraser".

I spray with oven cleaner, come back the next day and it wipes right off. No elbow grease needed.

I was going to tell you to use the Cascade too! I made an apple pie and it boiled over and it was a sticky sticky mess! I but it in the sink, added the cascade with hot water and let it sit for a day or two.. and if finally came clean. It works great!

I was going to say try Cascade too. I had made an apple pie and had lots of apples and sugar in the pie pan. It boiled over when it was in the oven, what a sticky, sticky mess!
I put it in the sink and added the Cascade and hot water and let it soak a day or two.. and it came clean.

Did you get your pan clean yet?

Such a BUMMER about the chocolate!!!!!! Did you get your pan clean????