Burnt pancakes :(

July 29, 2009 11:07 AM

How should I go about cleaning this?

I was making pancakes this morning to celebrate a day off of work, but I got caught up in a website and left it to burn terribly in the pan.

Now it's completely burnt to the pan and won't come off. I've managed to scrape some off with a spoon, but it looks like I'm scratching the pan with it.

Please help!

posted by CaptKyle to Food & Drink (10 answers total)

I'd soak it in hot water and maybe a little dish soap to soften up the stuck on bits. It looks salvageable to me.
posted by geeky at 11:09 AM on July 29, 2009 [1 favorite]

Soak and/or simmer.

Also, you could soak it in vinegar to remove the parts that burned totally black.
posted by GuyZero at 11:10 AM on July 29, 2009

Scrub off any loose bits, then sprinkle the pan liberally with baking soda, add enough water to make a liquid-y paste. Let it sit, then try scrubbing it with a sponge and dish soap.

I use a lot of baking soda for baked-on or burnt food. To my knowledge (and a little googling), baking soda won't damage your cookware the way scraping with a utensil or steel wool could.
posted by Meg_Murry at 11:19 AM on July 29, 2009

If you've got a lid for the pan, throw a dryer sheet in the pan, fill it with boiling water, put the lid on, and leave it overnight.

I don't know why this works, but it was the only thing that got the three inches of carbonized forgotten-on-the-stove strawberry-rhubarb puree off the bottom of my pan last summer.
posted by burntflowers at 11:38 AM on July 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

And if all else fails. A quick shot of oven cleaner. I'd do this outdoors. Don't inhale.
posted by Muirwylde at 11:45 AM on July 29, 2009

I burnt a pan to blue-black last week, then managed to clean it back to its original state with very little effort.

0) Get rid of any loose bits, but don't kill yourself trying to make it perfect.

1) Fill it with water to the top of the burn mark.

2) Dump in a lot of baking soda.

3) WATCH as you bring it to a boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes.

4) Put the pan on the back of the stove or other safe place and LEAVE IT ALONE for 24 hours.

5) 24 hours later, wipe a green scrubbie across the burnt (and rather gross) surface and you will find it cleans with very little elbow grease.
posted by maudlin at 11:45 AM on July 29, 2009 [2 favorites]

I've been known to do worse damage to frying pans. A good soak in vinegar, followed by scrubbing, should do the trick. If you're really worried about scratching the pan, get yourself one of those sponges that's wrapped in plastic mesh - I've found that they have enough abrasive power to get off a lot of burned-on mess (with a little elbow grease, of course), without scratching anything.
posted by pemberkins at 11:47 AM on July 29, 2009

(That is, leave the water-soda solution in for 24 hours. Most of the scorch marks came off with a gentle swipe, and only the bottom/side junctions needed a little scrubbing.)
posted by maudlin at 11:48 AM on July 29, 2009

Is that stainless steel? If so, try Bar Cleaner's Friend.
posted by chalbe at 11:54 AM on July 29, 2009

Get some Dawn Power Dissolver.
posted by trip and a half at 12:14 PM on July 29, 2009