How to Clean a Burnt Pot (Without Scrubbing Endlessly)

Nobody looks forward to doing the dishes. But when it comes to dealing with a scorched pot—like, food-seems-permanently-fused-to-the-pan charred—it’s all too tempting to toss the pot entirely, rather than deal with the disaster. Of course, that’s not exactly an environmentally or budget-friendly option, so what do you do? Soak it overnight (or indefinitely) and pray that glommed-on grease starts to lift? Scrub until your arms ache worse than after an hourlong kettlebell workout? No and no. Here’s how to clean a burnt pot without losing your mind—or evening. We’ve broken it down into the most effective methods we’ve seen, so you can choose the process that works best for you, based on what you have on hand at home.

Best for Removing Stains on Pans

If you don’t have baked-on food so much as a stain from last night’s spaghetti sauce, bust out the baking soda. Sprinkle it all over the bottom of the pan, pour boiling water on top, let it cool, and wash that pan as you typically would with dish soap and water, writes My Boyfriend Barfed in My Handbag…And Other Things You Can’t Ask Martha author Jolie Kerr.

If it’s a stubborn stain, you can take Heloise’s approach, coating the bottom of the pan in baking soda, sprinkling on just enough water to moisten it, then wait a few hours before scrubbing off the mixture.

Easiest Method to Try

When life hands you a scorched pan…bust out the lemons it gave you last week. Seriously—after testing five techniques for cleaning a burnt pan, the Kitchn found this to be one of the most effective methods, and it involves hardly any actual scrubbing on your part. You simply quarter a few lemons, toss them in the pot and cover ‘em with water. Bring it all to a boil, and keep things bubbling for up to ten minutes, or until you see bits of food float to the surface of the water.

After that, you can dump the water and lemons, rinse out the pan and give it a quick scrub clean. Lazy cooks, rejoice! It’s truly that simple.

Best If You’re Already Doing Dishes

Just because your pan isn’t dishwasher-safe doesn’t mean it can’t benefit from the very same detergent you use to scrub your plates and silverware. Pour hot water and a little dishwashing detergent into the pan, stirring it until it dissolves. Let it soak overnight before washing it as you normally would, writes Heloise in Kitchen Hints from Heloise. She also warns not to use this on aluminum pans, since the bleach in the detergent can discolor them. (To that end, you should avoid cleaning aluminum with any acids, like the lemon and vinegar methods above, as it could cause pitting in the metal.)

Best for Baked on Grime

When you start a new recipe, you feel like the next Julia Child. Yet, it isn’t until your fire alarms are blaring with smoke coming from every direction that you realize you’d be better off sticking to boxed mac and cheese. The best way to salvage your pots and pans from a burnt-food mishap? Lauren Habermehl of Taste of Home suggests using a dishwasher tablet. All you have to do is cover your pot with boiling hot water or let your dirty pan sit under hot water for a few minutes. Then, grab a dishwasher tablet and gently scrub the food debris under warm water until it begins to lift.

With this method, you make a paste of three parts cream of tartar to one part water, using it to scrub the pan. However, people’s results seem to vary, and it usually involves a ton of scrubbing. Plus, cream of tartar is much pricier than baking soda, so why not go with the cheaper, more effective option?

Yes, people continually rave about how well this internet hack works, but with so many other cleaning techniques out there, soaking a dryer sheet in your pan with warm water doesn’t seem worth it. While nearly all of the chemicals in dryer sheets are recognized as safe by the Food and Drug Administration, the verdict is still out on the fragrances some brands include, plus, the single-use product isn’t that environmentally friendly.

If you’re not in the position to invest in a brand new cookware set, we get it. The next best thing to consider before you start cooking is to research what type of pots and pans you’re using. For example, aluminum conducts heat very well, but if your flame is too high, you risk super-heating (AKA burning) your dish, while barely cooking the other parts. Or, you might have a cast iron pan, which heats very slowly but holds onto it for a while—even after you take your pan off the flame. That means if you’re not careful, you can burn your food without even realizing it. Do some homework on the type of metal you’re working with beforehand so you can adjust your meal prep accordingly.

Overall, the baking soda method is pretty foolproof and tends to work with all kinds of cookware, from enamel-coated Dutch ovens to sauté pans. (Plus, you likely have a box on hand, sparing you a trip to the store.) If you absolutely hate scrubbing, try the lemons technique. And if you tend to scorch pans, uh, more often than you’d like to admit, make Barkeeper’s Friend your new BFF.