How to Clean Burnt Food from Pots and Pans the Easy Way!

Every once and awhile, I cook something and for various reasons food ends up sticking to the bottom of the pan (especially when I cook rice in the Instant Pot – whhhy?!) or lightly scorching my bake ware.

Or in this case, find the drip tray of my indoor smokeless grill (learn more about my winter grilling BFF here) looking like this - when I have little time and inclination to scrub it  like my life depends on it  to clean it. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)

Yuck!

Of course merely filling the pot with water and dish detergent and letting it soak will not do any to budge it unlike every dish washing detergent ad in the history of ever wants us to believe.

Fortunately, there is a super easy, cheap, AND nontoxic way to clean those greasy, burnt pots and pans that also deodorizes your kitchen drain – really.

The Easiest Cookware Cleaning Hack You Need to Know Right Now!

Save this easy dish washing hack to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends! 

1. Fill the pot, pan, or bake ware with enough water to fully cover the greasy, dirty or burned on food areas of the dish.

2. Sprinkle baking soda over the burnt food areas of the pot, pan, or bakeware.

It doesn't look pretty but it works!

Hint: Since I rarely keep track of when I am supposed to change the baking soda I use to deodorize my refrigerator and freezer, I use this as an opportunity to shake the baking soda from one of the deionizer jars into a burned pot with water and refill the deodorizer jar with fresh baking soda.

 

I buy baking soda in bulk here to save money and reduce waste. I keep one mason jar with a shaker lid (you can buy mason jar shaker lids here) in the freezer and refrigerator as a deodorizer. When it is time to change a jar, I pop it under the sink for cleaning and fill a third jar with fresh baking soda to replace it.

3. Allow the baking soda and water solution to soak for awhile. How long? Well it depends upon how much and how well you burned food in your pot, pan, or bakeware. I usually give it a half hour to an hour for lightly scorched cookware sometimes overnight for a bigger mess or when I am trapped under a dog for the rest of the evening.

Hi everyone, Lacey here! Lisa makes the best upcycled pillow in the evenings. She’s not the only one who does that reuse and recycle thing around here!

4. Run a pot scraper like this (the BEST clean up tool in my kitchen!) along the scorched area of the pan. The burnt mess should easily lift from the cookware. If not, you may need to use a kitchen pot scrubber (  to clean the rest of the pan. I recommend these 100% natural fiber scrub sponge dishcloths because they are made to be cleaned in the dishwasher and last forever. And trust me after cleaning burned food from a pot, you’ll want to wash or replace your dish scrubby. Ew.

5. Use dish washing detergent and water to wash the pot, pan, or bake ware per usual.

All clean!

6. Grab a book or watch a movie and spend the rest of your evening being an Upcycled Dog Pillow.

If you’d rather buy than DIY, check out the following options – and more! – below!

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