We have all had our share of burnt food stuck to the bottom of our cooking wares. There is no shame in admitting it. The crust of the black, greasy food on the bottom of a saucepan is a nightmare, not just because it is a sign of our lack of attention for a second off the pan but also because it is a pain to clean. So, how do you remove burnt food from saucepans?
We all know the pain of cleaning a pan off that layer of burnt food. It isn’t easy, and it is a task. There are no two ways about it. It has to be done the hard way. Read below to find the two best methods that help remove burnt food from the bottom of a saucepan.
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Baking Soda And Water
This one does not require many ingredients, just baking soda and water. Just follow the steps below for a clean saucepan:
- Clean the pan of any food or other substances as much as possible.
- Create a thick paste of baking soda and water with the ratio being 3:1. The quantity of the paste should be so much that it covers the entirety of the bottom portion of the pan.
- Apply the paste to the burnt bottom part of the pan judiciously.
- After this, let the pan be with the mixture for a few hours or overnight. Then, add a few more spoons of baking soda and scrub the pan nicely.
Alternate Method
If you don’t have time to let the pan be for a few hours or overnight, thin the paste with water and heat the pan till the paste boils. As soon as the paste boils, remove it from the heat and let it cool. After it has cooled down, scrub to clean the bottom.
If you are going to use the above boiling method as you do not have enough time, instead of water, you can also use vinegar for better results, but be careful with the fizzing of the baking soda in the vinegar.
Instead of making the paste, you could fill the bottom of the pan with warm water and add the paste directly to the pan while adding baking soda.
The Deglazing Technique
- Clean the pan of any food or other substances as much as possible.
- Put the dirty saucepan on the stove and start heating it until it is hot enough that drops of water sizzle on its surface. Keep adding water drops at regular intervals to check.
- Add water or a mixture of water and vinegar in the hot pan in equal proportions and let it boil. Adjust the quantity of the mix so that it is slightly above the level of the burnt layer of food.
- While the liquid is simmering, use a spatula, spoon or scraper to deglaze the bottom of the pan by loosening the food stuck to it.
- Now, kill the heat and pour the liquid into the sink, but do not try to dry, wipe or scrub the bottom of the pan.
- As the pan is cooling down, add baking soda in judicious amounts to the bottom and wait until the pan completely cools down.
- Take a wet scouring sponge or a brush and scrub the bottom of the pan with judicious strength.
- Then, wash the pan with detergent and water and let it dry.
Alternate Method
Any other deglazing techniques will also work fine. The essence of this method is first to deglaze the saucepan off the food bits, add baking soda, and then clean the pan.
Parting Thoughts
Things such as this happen in the kitchen to the best of us. Everything is fine as long as it can be cleaned, the food is great, and the family is happy.
Use this method to clean your pans if this ever happens to you again, although we hope you’ll never have to use this again.
