How to clean a burnt pan: stainless steel, enamel, cast iron

Cookware covered with enamel can be soaked in salt water overnight – the bottom can be easily washed off in the morning. If urgent cleaning is required, proceed as follows:

• Throw away the remains of spoiled food. Scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon as much as possible.
• Pour 2 tbsp into a saucepan. l. baking soda.
• Pour in so much water that the burnt part is covered by 3 cm. Stir until the water becomes cloudy.
• Put on gas, boil, then reduce the heat to medium.
• Boil for 15 minutes, remove from heat, drain the water.
• Scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon.
• If there are separate burnt particles left, pour in a little soda, dilute it with water to make a thick paste.
• Rub with a non-abrasive sponge until clean.

In this method, the main thing is not to use hard, sharp objects for cleaning, so as not to spoil the enamel.

Clean shiny stainless dishes like this:

• Remove food debris with a wooden or plastic spoon.
• A mixture is made of 200 g of mildly hot water and 200 g of white table vinegar. This amount is enough to cover the burnt bottom.
• Pour 3 tbsp into a saucepan. l. baking soda. The mixture will fizzle, and as a result of a chemical reaction, pieces of burnt food will begin to lag behind.
• Leave until the mixture cools inside. As soon as the hissing stops, the liquid is drained along with the deposited carbon deposits, clean hot water is poured and wiped off with a non-abrasive sponge.
• Wash the dishes clean with any kind of detergent.

This method helps even if a fatty meat dish is burnt.

Cast-iron cauldrons and ducklings forgotten on the fire burn very strongly. But cast iron is able to withstand very high temperatures, and this property is used for cleaning. The cauldron is placed inside the oven, preheated to maximum. Leftover food will burn to the ground. Then the dishes are cooled and scrubbed with coarse salt, water and a hard washcloth.

This type of scorching fills the kitchen with pungent smoke, so it’s best to do it outdoors. To do this, use a brazier or burn out cast iron in the old way – over a fire.