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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

WFMW: Cleaning Scorched Pans

A few months ago, when we were still adjusting to life with a preschooler and a newborn, I made a mistake. One I wasn't sure I could correct.

I scorched an entire saucepan full of white sauce. Scorched it badly, too - the layer of black on the bottom of the pan was nearly 1/4" thick in spots. (Aside: women who are caring for a newborn and a 3 year old, and running on very little sleep, should not attempt to multi-task when it comes to cooking.)

I soaked. I scrubbed. I soaked more. I Googled. I tried baking soda. Soaking with baking soda. Boiling the baking soda. Mixing the baking soda with vinegar and soaking. Boiling vinegar. All of those methods were successful - if you measure success a few molecules at a time.

I mentioned my problem to my mother, and she said, "Don't you have any oven cleaner?"

"Oven cleaner?" I replied. "I haven't bought oven cleaner in years and years, not since we got our first self-cleaning oven."

She suggested that I give it a try, and it worked WONDERS. Wonders, I tell you. I followed the directions on the can, and it took two applications, but the scorched-on food came right off. The saucepan has never looked better! I have since used the oven cleaner on some cookie sheets, and they look brand new!

Oven cleaner works for me! For more tips and ideas, visit Works-For-Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

11 comments:

Kelly Miller said...

What a smart idea! I'm going to try it on the baking sheets and griddle that I just can't get clean. How do moms always know?

(Also, you might like the kids' music CD I'm giving away on my blog.)

Meghan said...

I'm filing this tip.

Kara said...

Great tip! Filing this one away but hoping I never need it, LOL.

Sherri said...

I have yucky cookie pans! Thanks for the tip!

Kaye said...

Awesome tip! Thanks!

It Feels Like Chaos said...

Great tip! I am going to try it with my favorite cookie sheet!

Moore Minutes said...

Thank you! I needed this tip! Also, I love your blog background!

Bailey's Leaf said...

I'm going to go digging under my sink. I think that I have a can of it under there somewhere. (We've since replaced the old oven.) I have a cookie sheet that fell victim to an apple pie and one pan that was scorched when I was simmering cinnamon sticks to make the house smell good. And to think, I've figured that they were both dead! Thank you for the tip! Makes perfect sense!

Amanda said...

Oh what a wonderful idea! I never would have thought of that, and I just scorched a pan last week!!! Thanks!

Jenny said...

Great idea!

Amy Divine said...

Awesome tip! I will definitely try that. Thanks!

I was the sponsor for the MicrodermaMitt giveaway on Chic Critique. Sorry you didn't win, but if you are interested in more information, I'd be happy to email you some info.