The following example is a way of cleaning burnt on food from pots and saucepans without scrubbing. Works on majority of burnt foods and oil, I've used it to clean burnt oil from a fondue bowl too.

Burnt food stuck to a saucepan

We've all done it, turned our backs for just a second and then forgotten about the saucepan on the stove. Before it's remembered it's too late, the food is ruined and so is the saucepan. The usual idea is to soak the pan in washing up liquid and water then scrub as hard as possible, but there is another solution. The solution is to use biological clothes washing powder.

For stainless steel saucepans not non-stick

Non-stick pans have a special coating, this can be sensitive to heavy cleaning. If the saucepan has a non-stick coating it would be best to consult the user manual or manufacturers website for details on how to remove the burnt on food safely. Do not use this method.

How to remove the burnt food from the saucepan

I use about 1 teaspoon of biological clothes washing powder for this medium sized saucepan, half filled with water. I then gently bring the water to the boil, simmer for a few minutes by which time the burnt food should have come away from the bottom of the pan.

Strain the dirty water to stop the solids entering the drain. In most cases I would now be able to wash the saucepan as normal. If it was particularly bad, such as a fondue bowl I once had, I repeated the bio-powder cleaning process.

Remember to wash normally after the burnt food cleaning is complete, there will still be residue from the burnt solids and the washing powder. It needs to be thoroughly clean before being used again.

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