How do I clean a burnt pan?

Burnt-on food is carbonised and bonded to the metal. Soaking softens it, and simmering with an alkali softens it much faster. Force is the wrong tool — it damages the pan and barely touches the deposit.

What you'll need

• Bicarbonate of soda
• Wooden spoon or plastic scraper
• White vinegar (optional)
• Dishwasher tablet (optional)

Step by step

1. Let the pan cool before adding anything.Cold water into a hot pan can warp it permanently, particularly stainless steel and cast aluminium.
2. Cover the burnt area with water and add two tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda.Enough water to cover the deposit by a centimetre or so.
3. Bring it to a simmer and hold it for ten to fifteen minutes.The heat plus the alkali lifts the carbonised layer off the metal. This does the work that scrubbing cannot.
4. Scrape gently with a wooden spoon while it is still warm.Most of it should release in sheets. If it resists, simmer longer rather than scraping harder.
5. For stainless steel with remaining marks, make a bicarbonate paste and leave it an hour.Then scrub with a nylon pad. Stainless tolerates this; non-stick does not.
6. For non-stick, use only a plastic scraper and a soft sponge.A single pass with a metal scourer destroys the coating permanently and the pan is then worse than useless.
7. For enamel, avoid abrasives entirely and repeat the simmer instead.Enamel chips and scratches easily, and damaged enamel is not repairable.
8. For a badly burnt pan, a dishwasher tablet simmered in water is unusually effective.Ventilate the room and rinse thoroughly afterwards.

Tips

• A burnt pan left to soak overnight with washing-up liquid handles a lot of cases with no effort at all.
• Simmering with white vinegar works well on limescale and mineral marks, but bicarbonate is better on burnt food.
• If a pan burns repeatedly in the same place, the base may be warped or the hob has a hot spot.

Common mistakes

• Plunging a hot pan into cold water — Thermal shock warps the base permanently, after which it never sits flat on a hob.
• Using a metal scourer on non-stick — It destroys the coating in one pass, and a damaged non-stick pan should be replaced.
• Scrubbing before soaking — Carbonised deposit needs softening. Force damages the pan and achieves very little.

Questions people ask