# Ahh! I've burnt my pan...help!



## Anonymous

I was trying to make pop-corn tonight and managed to burn my favorite pan really badly. I've already soaked it in soapy water and scrub it hard but the black burns will not shift! Does anyone have any good ideas on cleaning the bottom of a burnt pan? I also put the pan on the carpet during my panic - but that is a different problem completely


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## kitchenelf

*Ouch - for the pan AND the carpet*

Well, in the past when I've done this I will fill the bottom only with water and fill with rock salt.  When this boils you will notice little black bits of "stuff" that the rock salt has scrubbed loose.  I've just kept doing this (it has taken days and weeks before!! ) but eventually it was useable again.  One time I burned green beans so bad it took a couple years  - BUT, I now can use the pan!!!

Once it has boiled enough and the water is about to disappear, I have also added more rock salt and scrubbed.


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## gduncann

Oh dear, a burnt pan, frightful nusence.

I always make kettle soup when I burn, scorch or even just have something particularly stickey and messy.  Put water and strong detergent in the pot and biring to a boil.  Now, because of the detergent, the pot may boil over, so don't fill it very full, and after it comes to the boil, turn it down to the point where it won't boil over.  

My mother always just burned it out.  She would put the pot on the stove dry and let the burned spots burn further until they were just a bit of ash at the bottom which she then wiped out.  Don't try this one with an lectric stove or a non stick pan.  (non stick my euphamisum.  even non sticks stick under some conditions)

With eather of the above methods you will probably want to remove the battery from your smoke alarm until you are finished.

On the carpet!!!  What are you doing with carpet in the kitchen.  I have a friend with carpet in the kitchen.  It is a desaster, even though she doesn't cook much.


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## lindaTn

*burnt pans*

I have always poured vinegar in the pot. then sprinkle old fashion cleanser (such as ajax) all over the inside of the pot...let it sit overnight  and wash as usual the next day...this has always cleaned my burnt pots.....
I always burn eggs and pork and beans......don't know why...so now i turn my timer on.....


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## kitchenelf

hi lindaTn,

Welcome to discusscooking.  Never thought of vinegar but it's on my list now!!!!!  I always burn green beans and rice.  Next time I'll give this a go.  Thanks for the suggestions and will be looking forward to seeing more of you!

kitchenelf


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## BradTheDog

however if you can not remove a discoloration on your pan there are far worse things than cosmeticly imperfect pans, even if it is all-clad.


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## maws

*burnt saucepan*

Oh dear! This can be a mess - especially the carpet. I have also had success with boiling water with dishwashing liquid added, as well as vinegar. For really sad/bad cases, I followed a tip, using the soap powder for dishwashers. You sprinkle this on the base of the saucepan and add a few tablespoons of water, just enough to form a kind of paste. Leave overnight. It always worked until I tried it on a look-alike "Calphalon" saucepan which ended up with the black ionised covering on the base removed. No other saucepan was damaged. Now I follow one tip: always, always use your nose as guide while cooking!!
Good luck and let us know what really worked.
Maws


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## leigh

I don't remember where I found out about this, but BOY am I glad I did!  All you have to do is put a couple of inches of water in your pan, then sprinkle in baking soda to completely cover the bottom of the pan - actually, "dump" is a better word than "sprinkle" because it really takes quite a bit of soda - then cover the pan and set it over the lowest possible heat.  Then just walk off and leave it overnight (or longer), turn off the heat and allow the pan to cool.  The burned-on gunk will come right out of there with no more than a spoon and a plastic scrubber.  If there are a couple of spots left and you are feeling ambitious, use an SOS pad on them; otherwise--and by "otherwise", I mean if that stuff does not come RIGHT OFF, repeat the water-and-soda routine.   I vary the amount of soda according to how deep the burned gunk is on the bottom of my pan . . .  and btw, don't feel bad: I am intimately acquainted with a person who let a pot of beans boil dry and then put water in the pan before it had a chance to cool.  Which wouldn't have been so bad except that the pan was an enameled cast iron Dutch oven, and when that water hit those beans, they popped right out of there, along with the enamel they were stuck to . . .


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## pgladden

Welcome to the "I burned a pot club!!" I think that you can't claim any kitchen expertise until you kill off at least one pot. I still get reminded by family about the time I left a whole big pot full of baby bottles and pacifiers on the stove and came back to a clump of melted plastic. That one was beyond salvaging.

Being an ole southern gal I LUV my cast iron skillets.  They are truely indestructable. And IMHO it ain't corn bread unless its cooked in cast iron.


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## BeeGold422

*Burnt Pan*

Whenever I have burned a pot or pan, I just fill it with water, place on burner on high, and let in boil until all the burnt material is loosened.  I then clean the pan according to manufacturers directions.  Hope this helps!!


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## Regina

I also use baking soda.  However I don't leave the pan on the burner over night.  Too easy to ruin a good pan.  What I do is dump some baking soda in the pan and fill it up with water.  Then I bring it to a rolling boil and let it boil for a while.  I add more baking soda and water as needed.  I let it boil until all or most of the gunk is off the pan.   Then I usually let it soak for a while.


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## oldcoot

*Pot scrubbing...*

When stuff is burnt onto the bottom of a pot, first try simmple deglazing:  hot pot, atdd water.  Steam will blast much of it loose.

Then go the baking soda route.  It works well for moderately serious burns.

Don't forget oven cleaner (lye) (EZOff or ...?)  But DO NOT use it on aluminum!  Do that outside and out of the reach of kids and pets.

Aluminum:  Scrape of the worst with a metal spatula or knfe, avoiding scratching deeply.  Then SOS pad.

Repolish steel with SOS pads and a circular motion to imitate the original polish marks.  If seriously burned, the metal itself will be discolored, and there's nothng much you can do about that.

Copper bottoms  respond well to SOS pads, cleanser, and/or  lemon juice and salt.  Real bad?  EZOff.

Enamel?  Cleanser or EZOff.  SOS will scratch.  Probably permanently discolored. (Bleach may help)

Cast iron?  If you have a modern self-cleaning oven (the kind that lock when you're  cleaning it and won't unlock until cool), put you cast iron in during a cleaning cycle.  Works great, requiring washing and reseasoning afterward.

EZOff if not too seriously crudded up.   Wash and reseason.

or, if terribly encrusted inside and out, use this last resort.  Be careful: this is dangerous!  Fill a PLASTC 5 gal bucket about 3//4 ful of water and SLOWLY  add a can of LYE.  (Best to wear rubber gloves and a face shield or at least goggles when working with lye.)  Stir GENTLY until dissolved.  Immerse the pot or skillet in the lye soluttion and leave it for 24 hours.  RInse it thoroughly (you're doing this outdoors, so use the garden hose to rinse it on the lawn. )  Empty the bucket into the toilet - lifting it up to the kitchen sink might cause you to spill it..

Now wash and reseason that nice clean, gray cast iron skillet.  Heat is good and hot on the stove, then turn off the heat and add a few tablespponfuls of vegetable oit (peanut's best).  With a folded paper towel on a fork, wiipe the oil carefully over every bit of the inside of the skillet up to the rim.  Let it cool completely, then wipe clean with a paper towel.

Done properly, you have a non-stick skillet.  DO NOT ever wash it with soap or detergent:  hot water and a sponge, followed by drying with a paper towel.  (If you use  soap, cleanser, or and SOS pad, you must reseason as above.


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## Regina

You must have had some interesting mishaps if you're familiar with such good cleaning advice.  By the way you can make that reconditioning more permanant if you heat the pan in the oven for an hour after applying the oil or unsalted shortening and putting in a 350 degree oven for about 2 hour and thenletting it cool in the oven over night.  I've tried it and it really works.


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## oldcoot

I have burned my share of pots, pans, and skillets, Regina -  And my poor Mother burnrned almost everything she cooked, so I've had some experience - starting early, in cleaning stuff.  but my "expertise"  actually comes more from my familarity with metals, etc.., through my enginerring background.

I like the baking/slow cooling idea for enhancing the effect of seasoning.  Sounds like a logical result.


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## Regina

> I like the baking/slow cooling idea for enhancing the effect of seasoning. Sounds like a logical result.
> 
> It also makes it possible to wash your pans.  That way you won't run the risk of the oil going rancid. Yuck! :roll:


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## oldcoot

*Wash a seasoned cast iron skillet?????*

Whoops - now that's a new one on me.  I'm having a bit of trouble with the idea.  Soap  or detergent should, I beleve, remove the oil, even from the  pores of the cast iron.  That will, of course, prevent the oil from becoming rancid, but I would expect it to also elimenate the non-stick effect.

So, while I am normally not open-minded about much of anything, I shall test this method within the nxt couple of days and get back to you.  If it works, I'm going to have to research the whole concept until I fully understand it.  Being a slow-study, that may take years!


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## kris

kitchenelf said:
			
		

> I always burn green beans and rice.



Hey Kithenelf! You need a rice cooker! Most usefull appliance in my kitchen. You can even steam your green beans on the top while the rice cooks if you've got a steaming rack. If you want to go all out, some even come with a timer feature. Big help if you're like my Philipino friend who eats rice at all meals, breakfast included.


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## Regina

Soap or detergent should, I beleve, remove the oil, even from the pores of the cast iron.

It doesn't because the heat from the oven and long slow cooling time forms a hard glossy coat over the iron.  It does have to be redone about once a year and you can't scrub the pan.


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## oldcoot

Aha, Regina

Sounds like you are describing some sort of polymerization process - quite possible considering the slow cooling.  I gotta try this.  Soon!


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## kitchenelf

kris,

I have looked at rice cookers for years LOL and keep trying to figure out where I would put yet one more kitchen appliance!!!!!  

Kitchen Aid
bread maker
pasta maker
Cuisinart
Blender/cuisinart
rotisserie
toaster
big pressure cooker
fondue
electric skillet
clay cooker
crockpot
deep fryer
and all the little common appliances
my pot rack finally fell down    but it's back up again   


I am OUT of room!!!  I have heard so many good things about the rice cookers and they have come waaaaay down in price since I first thought about buying one.  So............  you may have just pushed me into getting one - now, my husband will want to know your full name, address, day-to-day habits so he can hunt you down like a dog    LOL

Is there a particular rice cooker that you really like?


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## Regina

Something like that.  Thanks for giving me the word for it.


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## Regina

Ar there some appliances you don't use or could live with out?  If so get rid of them and you'll have the perfect reason to go out and buy a rice cooker.


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## kitchenelf

Well, I really hardly ever use the deep fryer - and when I do deep fry I prefer to do it on the cooktop anyway!  The pasta maker could go and possibly the clay cooker but I do like it.  All the others I use quite freqently.  BUT, that rice cooker sure could fit where the deep fryer is!  

Hmmmmm........  it might just work!


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## kris

Kitchenelf,
As far as what kind of rice cooker to get, I'm no expert. When I was looking, I found there were two different kinds; One looks like a slow cooker with an aluminum or nonstick coated pot insert and a glass lid. The other kind has a "hatch" at the top similar to a deep fryer. The "hatch" kind are apparently the better ones as they can keep the rice hot much longer (12 hours, I think). They also tend to have more advanced features like the timer and cost much more than the basic ones. 

The one I have is a 8 cup model made by aroma. It has a glass lid and a keep warm feature and came with a steaming attachment. It'll keep the rice warm for arond 3 hours before it starts drying it out from the heat. I assume the other ones keep the moisture in much better. I didn't find it a big deal to rehydrate slightly dry rice. I just add a little more water and put it back on cook for a bit. It has some kind of sensor to tell it when to stop. Mine cost around $75 Canadian. You can get basic 5 cup ones for around $30. Just make sure it has the keep warm feature as some of the simple ones don't. I don't find much of a problem cleaning stuck on rice from the bottom, but if you want a nonstick one, be prepared to spend around $100 Canadian.


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## kitchenelf

Thanks for the info kris.  This will at least get me looking for the right features.  I'll probably go for one with the latch lid.

Thanks again!!


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## oldcoot

O.K. - I gotta ask:  Why would anyone want to keep rice (or anything else) warm for up to 12 hours?  Yuck!  At any temperature much above room temperature, "cooking" continues.  So rice kept warm  for an excessive amount of time is going to degrade in both flavor and textue - and quite possibly in nutritional value, too, as nutrientrs may continue to  change due to accellerated chemical reactions.

When a  simple saucepan  with a lid and a cheap timer will  invairiably give excellent results, I still don't see the  point of a rice cooker!


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## kris

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one! As far as the 12 hours goes; If you eat rice 3 meals a day, it probably comes in handy. For my purposes, the cheaper rice cooker works just fine as I will only keep it hot for an hour or so.


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## kitchenelf

I don't have a problem cooking rice - it comes out perfect every time.  But a rice cooker will keep it perfectly warm and perfectly cooked (without continuing the cooking process) for a long time.  And my son would eat fried rice 3 meals a day sometimes.  It would come in handy to make rice ahead of time so as not to have to mess with it while trying to cook other things too.  A lot of restaurants use one even for their basic recipe for fried rice, before all the goodies are added to it.  That's what I can't wait to use it for!!!   8)


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## Regina

Well.  in that case have fun with your rice cooker when you get it.  What keeps your son happy keeps you happy.  Right? 8)


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