Fill it with water and allow it to simmer for a while. It may help to loosen the char.

Whenever I experience that problem, I let the pan soak with baking soda in the water with a bit of soap- works like a charm!

John, everyone has done this one time or another.

If it's a light burn, I do as ks suggests, put in some water and let it simmer for a bit.

If the food is really burned on and thick, I do as bluejean suggested, baking soda, a small amount of dish soap and let it sit. Make sure you let it sit long enough to work, like 24 hours or so and keep it moist.

Michelle

Do both.... simmer water with the baking soda.

Is Calphalon stainless steel inside ? If so, spray with oven cleaner. The stuff will come right off after it sits for a while.

Thanks, guys!

I'm simmering in soapy water now. Just went to their website a few min ago and lucky I didn't use oven cleaner which was my first thought.

jt

Here is a link that might be useful: Calphalon

I haven't tried this on SS, but I got pretty badly burnt stuff out of my enameled pan by soaking in straight bleach overnight...prolly wanna check that website for any warnings against it first.

Deanna

I'm a HUGE fan of Dawn Power Dissolver! It really works dissolving burnt-on fruit fillings that tend to spill over when I bake pies each week.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lindsey's Luscious

Calaphon is anodized aluminum.

Jim

Don't feel so bad now. My biggest stanles steel pot with heavy clad bottom had some tomatoe seeds and skins left in it to cook down. I fell asleep while it was simmering and woke up to an awful smell. The pot had burned the tomatoes to a hard black crust. The heat was so prolonged and intense, the pot warped and the rolled bead at the top, had cracked in two places. It was totally destroyed.

I did the same thing last year while making pear honey. I thought the pot was ruined.

I put an inch of water in the pot, added baking soda and let it sit for a day. Scrubbed it, then repeated the process. It took a couple of days of soaking, but the pot came clean.

I soaked overnight with layer of Soft Scrub with bleach. Still looks terrible. Have to go to town from drs apt anyways later today so will buy some Barkeepers Friend and the green ScotchBrite pads. The pads I have now are the ones that don't scratch.

jt

I'm new here and registered just to give you an idea (came across this forum while looking for info on making pickles)... I did something similar a few weeks ago making applesauce in my stainless steel stockpot. I had a thick layer of black and nothing I tried would touch it, not even baking soda/ dawn simmering... that just made a huge mess. What I finally tried was simmering for about 15 minutes in water w/ a little bit of Downy fabric softener and a dryer sheet. I read online it would change the ph of the stuck on stuff and make it easier to remove. I tried it and the stuff LITERALLY wiped right out!! I couldn't believe it... maybe you could try that... Good luck!

oh yeah, now that I think about it I have heard about using fabric softner sheets before too- never tried it, but it would be worth a shot!

This reminds me of the time, in the dead of winter, I was showing my Daughter the joys of making yogurt. Balanced a couple quarts of bacteria and milk on top of an upturned mixing bowl on top of the wood stove; perfect temperature. Next morning, came out at 5:30 and opened the stove to put more wood in, and the whole thing came tumbling down. Yogurt on a hot wood stove at 5:30 am, burning milk aroma, steam, and it was 5º F outside.

I still haven't got all that burned milk off.

I fell asleep while canning too. It must happen frequently. It's a long procedure and, at the end, when you are done with the strenuous part, it may be late and you need to take a load off your feet.

Mine wasn't exactly a disaster or destruction of cookware. It was just a very overprocessed batch of chow chow. Pretty mushy.

Set a loud timer next to the recliner is my suggestion.

Jim

Using anything to scour the anodized aluminium will damage its finish. Soft scrub is just that, it needs to be rubbed into the surface as it will not loosen anything if it just sits there. Bar Keepers is a bit more abrasive, and is just like Comet Cleanser without the bleach. Scotch Bright pads (regular type) will also damage the anodized surface. Suggest just a long soak and a few simmers with a bit of baking soda. If it doesn't get rid of the burned stuff, the pan will need to be replaced. Even for that, if you do use anodized aluminium for cooking tomatoes or other acidic foods, it can still leech out some aluminium, which is not good for home canning..

Then I've got the same kind of pot ;)

I always wash mine in bar keepers friend!

I rememember when I first got it, I looked up how to clean them. The website said abrasive cleaners or pads were best...non bleach abrasives that is (which kinda sucks since most abrasives like comet have bleach in them now).

You can also go to sears or someplace that sells the pans - they will have a special cleaner for them. It looks like sand mixed with some thick cream.

(this is from my memory about 6 yr ago when I got my pots)....They have a "lifetime" warrenty so if you do for some reason scratch the anodization off, they will re-anodize it for you...so long as you clean it correctly (otherwise you get to pay for it).

But...I would be careful about high acid foods. It will eat thru every layer of anodization *and* some of the aluminum if you arn't careful. I havn't wanted to cook down tomatoes in there since they are in the pot so long. I've been really nervous about putting acidic stuff in there for too long....after a friend of mine put his paper soda cup from some random fast food joint in one of my pots one time...it still had soda that seeped out of the cup...and ate thru the pan it was sitting in. It was only there for about 2 days I think. While, obviously, I'm not going to be cooking down stuff that long, the thought of repeated "acid baths" makes my skin crawl...especially since those pots arn't cheap!!!

Anyway...that's it :) Hope I helped a little

Laura

P.S. - Lucky dog! I got the commercial hard annodized...it was before they came out with the "One" series. Mine are great, but I still lust after the new stuff!

I hope your pot comes clean again!

I've heard that simmering coca-cola will take the burnt crust right off pots. I've never tried it myself.

Still stained, but can live with it. Now is pitted too. Bright colored little pits. So be it & I've voided the warranty. I have another slightly large stainless steel stock pot that I will use next time.

A stockpot that I can't cook tomatoes in is pretty much worthless to me anyways. Can always use for BWB as I have a rack that fits perfectly inside.

Thanks for the suggestions. Not going to worry abt it anymore.

jt

john ... using it for BWB is certainly an example of "when life gives you lemons ... make lemonade."

John, if you are looking for a new stock pot, I just love my Anolon.

There many styles/makes of stock pots on Ebay too.

Michelle

I have used a combination of salt and baking soda to get the burnt crusty stuff off.

You pour a 1/4 cup salt and a tbls baking soda.
get it damp and then rub around with your hands on the burnt stuff.

In case you have another similar experience, I learned that a bit of Oxyclean and hot water left to soak will take off burned on residue and stuck on egg guck that other things leave behind (baking soda, simmering, barkepper's friend, etc). Works in stainless pans. I don't know if I've tried it with Calphalon.

I don't think the Power dissolver is safe on that finish.

I had not heard the fabric softener one. Ever wonder how folks come up with these? LOL

OxiClean! That's something I'll try. It sure works wonders on my hot pepper stained dish towels and t-shirts (don't ask)

Thanks!

Those are "Cooking Clothes".
I have several outfits myself! LOL

Love my OxyClean!!

Deanna (off to see if they're publicly traded....)

"off to see if they're publicly traded...."

You think the way I do!

Jim

This happened to me with my brand new stock pot I had just bought that morning. I thought it was ruined but then I washed it as best I could with soapy water, dried it. Then I put about 1.5 cups of lemon juice in the bottom of it and boiled it for a few minutes.

Washed it in soapy water and it looks like it was never a victim of my canning LOL Took the white circular boil marks right out of it:)

cooking clothes! A wonderful theory.

In theory I also have "gardening clothes." In reality it seems I"m always popping out to the garden "just to see how things are," maybe to pick a few things. Then I pull a weed here or there, tie up a stray tomato vine, use the bottom of my t-shirt to make a "basket" to pile produce into... an hour later I am still out there and my clothes are a mess! I have lost more decent t-shirts that way....

Zabby, whose clothes from yesterday are spattered with tomato-canning splats from head to toe... badges of honour, I say!

All of my stockpots are stainless steel. I soak them 24 hrs in sodium hydroxide (lye available as drain cleaner). The burnt stuff then comes off without scrubbing.

DO NOT do this with aluminum.

Zeuspaul

I'm laughing Zabby..........
I do the T-shirt for a basket thing...........
Usually my "Cooking" outfit is the same as my "Gardening" outfit. Only my Gardening outfit includes flip flops and my Cooking outfit is more barefoot attire!!

I've started keeping a mid-sized basket right by my back door and I TRY to remember to take it when I go to the garden "just to check" things...LOL

Jim: HereÂs the parent company for OxyClean (grin)

Here is a link that might be useful: OxyClean

Ha! I had to laugh when I clicked on the link and the Church & Dwight screen popped up. I advise my daughter on her IRA account and I've been suggesting she swap her Clorox shares, which haven't been performing well, for Church & Dwight which is in basically the same business but is doing much better. I think it would be a good one to hold over the long term -- nice, steady growth. And the whole family are OxyClean users.

OK. Now back to stockpots.

Jim

Sheesh!
Jim, tell your daughter there's an entire forum here adding to that growth!! hee hee.
Now, that's not insider info is it? Manipulating the stock?
Not the stockpot, the stock. John is manipulating the stockpot!

Deanna

lascatx,

A 24 hour soak with OxyClean in hot water and the pot is like new!

THANKS!!

jt

OK, somewhere in the midst of this discussion I managed to scorch something in the bottom of a stainless-steel pot (NOT my fave big one, luckily, but the second-big one for single batches of salsa, etc.). I do this quite a lot (OK, so I'm a bit forgetful and sometimes trying to hurry food along), so this pot has been scrubbed in many ways before (sometimes with consultation here). Usually a soak with salt & baking soda, a simmer with some vinegar, and some elbow grease does the trick, sometimes taking 2 or 3 tries.

Reading the fabric sheet trick intriged me, however, so tonight I put about 2-3 inches of water in the pot and put in a half a fabric sofetner sheet (BOUNCE unscented) and set it to boil while I talked to my brother on the phone and chopped cherry toms in half to dry.

WELL, the chat was longer than I had planned and I forgot about the pot so when I went back into the kitchen an hour or so later the water had all boiled away. The burnt-on bits WERE gone, though there was still some black scorch staining on the bottom of the pan.

The interesting thing was that the dryer sheet was ALSO gone! Yes, it evaporated! Or maybe those "black scorch staining" that I thought was left over from the previous burnt stuff are really from it. WHo knows? VERY weird. So now the question is...

how do you get DRYER SHEET residue off of your pan??? ;-)

Z, putting the pan into the dishwashwer and going to bed --- clearly not awake enough to preserve tonight; the toms will have to finish drying in the morning....

When canning, start early in the day, and use a very LOUD timer, that you carry with you. The dryer sheets do dissolve after a lomg while in boiling water. Many are plastics and can melt then burn to black.

> When canning, start early in the day,

Not usually possible.

It's not just when canning I burn things, anyway --- any kind of cooking I'm likely to. I mean, not every time or anything, just more often than I wish. Timers, notes to myself, whatever don't make much difference. It's just one of my faults that I've learned to live with, given my many excellent qualities. ;-)

Z-

I hope you have a strategically located fire extinguisher or two.

Jim

I don't know how this would work on anodized aluminum but I know it works wonders on glass, corelle, etc... especially lasange pans, enchiladas, and anything else that sticks terribly ... put a TBS of dishwasher detergent in the pan and fill the rest of the way with water. Let soak overnight and it wipes clean. I use this all the time since everything is handy right at the kitchen sink :)

don't know if anyone will see this at this late date but when i was working as a banquet waitress, Sat hours were from 5 am to 1 am Sunday morning, other 6 days were 5 am till the very latest 10 pm, every third Monday off. i had a hard time waking up and invested in a radio alarm clock, a regular electric alarm clock, and a wind up Big Ben that clangs. no one ever complained in the apartment complex until the upstairs woman moved and the new tenent complained even when my screen door closed on it's own. now i can even vacuum at 1 am.

I am going to try that oxy clean thing right now. I've burned cracked grain I was cooking for my chickens to the bottom of my favorite dented stockpot. I'll keep you posted how it works on stainless steel. (not that the chickens care if their pot is burned, but curiosity has gotten the better of me!)

Get a good supply of steel wool pads, or the Scotch Bright scouring pads. Usually if the pot is simmered with water and a little vinegar added, it can loosen most things. You know its burned when the top rim of the pot is warped and cracked. That was the result of a way too long cooking of tomatoes, as I had fallen asleep and woke up to the smoke detector.

There is a cleaning product called Easy-Off BAM that will dissolve anything, even spilled candle wax.

All my pots are stainless steel, and I use a timer. A smoke alarm is a good idea, too.

Straight white vinegar will dissolve mineral deposits, and can be reused dozens of times.