At one point or another, we've all been there. You cook yourself some dinner and when you turn back to your pots and pans stubborn stains are clinging to the bottom of your non-stick cookware. You've tried soaking the dishes before scrubbing away, you've broken into a sweat with sponges and rags, and no soap on the market seems to be strong enough to get rid of those dinner remnants. Well, cleaning a burnt pan only takes a couple of household items and we're going to show you how to do it so you can kiss those sponges goodbye. Though, you probably shouldn't put your mouth on those...
Getting rid of stuck-on food is as easy as sprinkling baking soda onto the bottom of your pan. Baking soda has been the cure-all for years now and there doesn't seem to be a limit to what it can't do. It's time to add "cleaning pots and pans" to its endless list of magical powers because baking soda is one of the key ingredients you need to clean your cookware.
What You'll Need
- 2-3 tablespoons of baking soda
- 1-2 cups of water
- Wooden spatula/spoon
- Sponge
Steps
- Remove any remaining, loose particles of food from your pan. You should use something like a wooden spatula or spoon because you don't want to scrape the Teflon.
- Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda onto the bottom of your pan. Aim to put 2-3 tablespoons in.
- Cover the baking soda with 1-2 cups of water. You'll want to pour enough water in there to cover the baking soda without overflowing.
- Place the pan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Once the mixture boils, reduce heat and let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
- After 15-20 minutes, remove from heat and dump the water.
- Remove any remaining particles with a sponge.
Additional Methods
Though baking soda is considered to be a titan of cleaning supplies, you can also use vinegar to remove burnt food from pans. The vinegar method essentially uses the same steps as the baking soda method, but with a few alterations.
What You'll Need
- 1/2 cup of vinegar
- 1/2 cup of water
- Sponge
- Wooden spatula/spoon
Steps
- Remove any remaining, loose particles of food from your pan. Try to use something like a wooden spatula or spoon so you don't scrape the Teflon.
- Cover the bottom layer of the pan with the water. You may need to alter the amounts you add in depending on the size of your pan. Either way, use equal amounts vinegar and water.
- Add the vinegar on top of the water.
- Place the pan over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Once the mixture boils, reduce heat and let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
- After 15-20 minutes, remove from heat and dump the water.
- Remove any remaining particles with a sponge.
If your loyalty lies with baking soda, don't worry because you can use dry baking soda here too. Should your little heart desire baking soda then you can add it to the pan after you discard the dirty water. Sprinkle in a tablespoon of baking soda and remove any remaining food with
You no longer need to work out your arms by scrubbing food particles off your cookware. With these two methods, cleaning cookware will be a breeze.