Cooking boo-boo (baking, boil, cooker, pot)

[nuts2uiam]

I was distracted yesterday with a house full of company and left a pot simmering on the stove. The contents were scalded to the bottom of the pan about 1/8 - 1/4 of an inch thick. I thought for sure that the pot was a goner, and from the back of my mind came a tip my grandmother used to use of she had anything stuck on a pan. Put a few heaping spoons of baking soda in the pan and let it boil gently for about 5 minutes, then take a spoon and stir. The entire pan of burnt mess simply lifts up and off. You need to keep an eye on it particularly if it is a roasting pan as they are shallow and the solution can bubble over.

All I had to do was a light scour with a sponge scrubby and it was perfect. Thought it was a good time to post, this little gem as many, many people will be cooking in the next month.

[cindersslipper]

awesome thanks for this tip, all the old fashioned ways are So good!

[Cliffie]

Baking soda is also the easiest way to clean the oven if the old ammonia-and-boiling-water trick doesn't get everything off.

[Heidi60]

When I first tried to use my pressure cooker there were a few times that the darn thing just seemed to have mind of its own resulting in a scalded bottom. I also just used the boiling water method to remove my mess and eventually came to love my pressure cooker.

Another method for bad hair days is to just toss the pot...LOL!

[Cubanchic]

Thanks for the tip since my enamel pot tends to do this often.

[House4kids]

I use Cream of Tartar when that happens - baking soda would be cheaper - will try that next time.