apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

As a waitress, one of my duties was removing coffee burned into the bottom of coffee pots. Once your dish/pan is cool, put ice and salt into the pot and swirl. The more salt the better. If necessary, scrub. Salt works wonders! :)

I have found that baking soda works well. Put enough water in the pot to cover the bottom and then sprinkle the bad area with enough baking soda so that you can't see it. Let it sit for a while (the longer the better). Scrub it off. If it is really bad it may take a couple of tries.

i am always burning things to the bottom of the pan. mr.clean magic erasers do away with the worst w little to no elbow grease and no detergents. they make vintage pots and pans like new again too, especially enamelware.
i sound like i work for mr. clean! but seriously, they are the best thing to happen to cleaning in a long long time.

I usually boil some water, cut it off, and add one of those electrosol dishwasher tablets. let it sit overnight and then wash in the morning. It usually cleans up with no effort then.

One of the tricks the restaurant I used to work for used. I don't have a dishwasher now, but I still keep those tablets around for this purpose.

Barkeeper's Friend! It's great on our all-clad and le creuset pans - and on the sink itself.
I'd never thought of using the Magic Eraser on pots and pans! It's amazing on walls, though - I wonder what the hell is in that thing that it works so well?!?

boil it with salt water

Martha Stewart's Housekeeping Handbook says to boil salt water and then let it sit. I've done that method and it works pretty well.

Second the Barkeepers' Friend. Works wonders!

Letting a paste of baking soda and water sit for about 30 minutes really helps!

Place one dryer sheet of Bounce and put hot water over it overnight Burnt parts will completely lift it easily, I have found.

Baking soda paste and a lot of elbow grease.

Bring some plain old vinegar to boil in the pot -- everything will scrape off easily after that.

Yuck! I would never use a Mr. Clean eraser in my pots! (or anywhere else for that matter). They are super toxic. I know for certain they contain formaldehyde, which is classified as carcinogenic by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Plus who knows what else.

I found Barkeeper's friend is great for stainless steel, but not so great for my enameled pots. I also have had limited success with the boiling salt method. For enameled pots I make a paste of baking soda and salt and soak it overnight. I find this works best.

A tip from Martha was to fill the pot, add baking soda, and boil. It usually comes off. Either that or barkeeepers friend.

Can't imagine using a Mr. Clean eraser on a surface that you cook on! Talk about toxic! It would get absorbed into enamelware like Le Creuset, especially if it is an older piece with crazing or a dull finish. Bad, bad idea.

I had this exact problem with a Le Creuset pot after a failed jam making session and the bottom looked far worse than your story's photo. I tried your suggested steps 1-3 (which usually work for me) and the burned-on crust didn't budge. I resorted to dishwasher detergent and hot water - left overnight. Everything came off like a dream. Plus, the enamel finish wasn't etched or marred. It makes me a bit concerned about what the heck is in dishwashing detergent, but it saved a beloved pan that was otherwise destroyed.

For all those who think that the Mr. Clean erasers contain formaldehyde and are therefore toxic, please read this snopes site: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/eraser.asp. They do NOT contain formaldehyde and are non-toxic!

I boiled tomatoes and water the last time I had this problem and it was like magic.

I had tried to make a balsamic vinegar reduction and ended up with a solid layer of hardened vinegar instead. After adding water and heating most of the plastic-like vinegar had dissolved and I was able to dump it down the drain, but the sides and bottom of the pan were still coated.

After the tomatoes I didn't even have to scrub. Amazing trick.

I've used dryer sheets on baking pans before with some success, too, but it doesn't compare to tomato magic.

I usually use a combo of all three -- and have tried simmering barkeeper's friend water on the stove. That usually does the trick.

I knew there was a reason I bought barkeepers friend (to not only use it for my sink, that is), thanks for the suggestions.