6 Ways to Clean a Burnt Pan Without Too Much Effort

You must have experienced this situation: you start to smell a burning smell and wonder if someone in the neighborhood has forgotten a pan on the fire…

Until, suddenly, you realize that you were the one who forgot the pot on the fire and that it is your kitchen that is in danger of being blown up.

Then, it’s that rush to turn off the fire, open the windows and put the pot outside the house until the smoke stops coming out.

When things are calmer and the pan has cooled down, you will realize that, in addition to losing the food, you will have a lot of work to wash the pan, because it has the bottom all burnt.

But calm down! Before throwing your pan away, try these 6 tricks to clean burnt pans easily and lessen your damage.

1. Detergent

Cover the bottom of the pan with water and add a little detergent. Put the pan on the fire and wait for it to boil. With the pan cold, rub the burnt bottom with a brush or steel wool.

2. Water and salt

If the damage isn’t too big, you can try cleaning it with water and salt. First, get as much food out as possible. Wash with very hot water, detergent and sponge.

Then cover the bottom with hot water and mix in two tablespoons of salt. Wait at least 15 minutes and scrub the pan with a brush and steel wool.

If there are still remnants of the burn, add more water and salt and bring to a boil. Wait for it to cool before rubbing again.

3. White vinegar

Cover the burned part with white vinegar and let it boil for about 5 minutes. Allow to cool and rub with a sponge. This trick is especially recommended for stainless steel pans.

4. Tomato sauce

It sounds crazy, but tomato sauce is a good agent for removing leftover burnt sugar from the bottom of the pan.

First, put water in the pan until it covers the burnt part. Then add two tablespoons of tomato sauce and bring the pan to a boil. The burn should come off during boiling.

5. Sodium bicarbonate

Sprinkle baking soda on the bottom of the pan and add a tablespoon of water. Let it boil for 5 minutes, remove the mixture and wait to cool to clean.

The baking soda method is not recommended for aluminum and Teflon-coated pans, as it can damage the material.

6. Bleach water

If nothing you’ve done before has helped, let’s turn to a more cumbersome method. Cover the burnt bottom with water and add bleach. Put the pan to boil for 5 minutes.

Open the windows wide and try not to inhale the vapors of this mixture, as they are toxic. When the pan cools, protect your hands with latex gloves and scrub the pan with a sponge.

These tricks can help you clean a burnt pan, but depending on the material it’s made of, the result could be a pan damaged by the abrasiveness of the products. So, only resort to the most aggressive methods if the options are to risk cleaning or throw the pan away, okay?