Not a Recipe, But Need Help With Burned Pot
 

HELP! I burned my good stew pot making beef stew earlier this week. I've tried plain water, water with dish liquid, boiled water with dish liquid, hoping to loosen the burned on mess. Using brillo pads didn't take it off and manually scraping only took off the "top" layer of burnt food, not what's stuck to the bottom of the pot. I don't want to toss the pot so I need suggestions. (Pot is stainless steel, no special finishes like Teflon, Silverstone, etc.).

Thanks for your help!

Anita

Try covering the burned on food with a layer of powdered dishwasher detergent, add about an inch of water and let soak. Let it soak for many hours. May need to repeat a few times but I've had great success with this method.

Hope it works for you. I hate it when a favorite pot/implement gets ruined!

Try putting back on the stove with baking soda and water and cook at low heat for a bit and it should loosen the gunk !! You should be able to clean the pan right up. My student often do this at school and this is the fix I use. Good luck!!

the baking soda trick should work , after you remove from heat let the pot sit til it cools down , usually will loosen right up. good luck

I have taken dishwasher soap, powdered or liquid and poured a big lot of it in the pan and then added some water to it, enough so that you can boil it for a while. Then let it cool in the solution and you should be able to get it off with a scratcher without much effort. I always cleaned my stove burner pans like this before I had the flat top. You may have to do this a couple of times, but don't be stingy with the dishwasher soap. You probably will think you have added way to much, but then add some more. Good luck

The baking soda treatment works well. Also courtesy of my son-in-law a used fabric softner sheet that was used in dryer works. Use hot water and let set over night

I used apple vinegar once that worked, I put a lot in, added as much water then brought it to a rolling boil, turned it off and let it cool. Came upon the process by accident, I had been boiling apples to grind down for apple sauce, after I was cleaning up for the day I saw the large pot I used to boil the apples was cleaner than when I started. It was a very old pot with lots of stains, after that day it looked almost brand new.

I have had that happen so many times (you know the thing about not watching a pot). All I do is put the pot/pan on the stove on burner with water. Bring it to very warm or almost boil and just use a metal spatula and just start working it up. The hot water opens the pores enough for you to start scraping. Always after using the pot while it's still hot and after emptying, I put enough water in it (couple cups will do). I never let the pot cool down before I do this. The best preventative is to spray the pot with a vegetable cooking spray. I use it on all my cookware. I also spray the lids.

Another thing that works is to use fabric softener diluted with water, let it soak overnight. It has worked really well for me.

I have used this also, I put a dryer sheet (or 2) in the pot and just cover with water. Best thing I have found for
burned pots.