I would fill it with water and put it the stove and bring it back to a simmer. The sugar should disolve without a problem.

A

I agree with Caliloo. Stainless steel is hard to ruin - even for me!

Thanks, I'll try that! Perhaps I will watch it more closely this time....

Linda

Been there... I've not had success with boiling out burnt sugar. Perhaps there's a better way but the only way I got it out was with a lot of elbow grease, starting with a razor blade and ending with BKF and a scrubby.

It's official, dcarch. Should you ever come over for dinner you're not setting foot in my kitchen to help with cleanup!

Well a trip in a self clean oven would likely turn your pan completely black, depending on what kind os SS it is.
Can you believe I have done just that same thing? Only I wasn't making bird food but caramelizing sugar for flan...lots easier to burn that! LOL!
What worked the best for me was to fill the pan with water and dry dishwasher detergent, bring it to a boil...simmer a few minutes, let cool at least over night.
some of the black will likely peel off....and some remain...and that's where the Brillo and the elbow grease come in.
Linda c

If only non-stick coatings were as tough as burnt-on sugar. Sigh...

Jim

Cover the bottom with baking soda, add water to cover by about an inch. Bring to a boil, turn off heat, and let sit until cool on the burner. Wash as usual. You might need to do this a couple of times, but it has never failed me! Had a girlfriend burn soup beans and was going to trash the pot. After trying this, she still has the pot years later!

Tami

Well, I simmered water and it helped a bit. I will try the baking soda trick first and if that doesn't work, I'll go out and buy some dry dishwasher detergent.

Dcarch...um...sorry hon, but I ain't taking a high speed drill to my Cuisinart pan! I agree that the self clean oven will turn it black...you should see my oven racks!

Linda

Heavy duty Easy Off oven cleaner. Spray, leave overnight. Or Barkeepers Friend. Put some water in the pan to cover the mess and add a liberal amount of Barkeepers Friend. Let soak for at least a day.

Gee, I have never done that! But if I had I would use the baking soda trick with a followup of Barkeepers Friend. It worked...I mean, I'll bet it will work.

Cathy, you are one funny girl! LOL

Tried the baking soda. It's been cooling for a few hours now and no sign of change.

I am thinking the oven cleaner idea might be my next effort....

Hope I don't end up having to toss the pan!

Linda

Linda, the oven cleaner will work. I used to buy (for resale when I was dealing in antiques) the nastiest, burned-on pans, knowing there was a jewel underneath. Oven cleaner always worked!

Linda, been there and done that many times over. The first was a couple of days after I bought a new set of pans and like you I burned suger. I boiled it did the baking soda thing and nothing would work. I was standing at the kitchen sink actually crying in frustration and my husband came in and took one look and said give me that. He came back like 5 minutes later with a sparkling pan. He used a grinding wheel on a drill to get the horrible black stuff and then a buffing wheel to put the finish back like brand new. Now if I burn somthing I just give him the pan and let him deal wiht it.

Melissa

"Posted by doucanoe -------- Dcarch...um...sorry hon, but I ain't taking a high speed drill to my Cuisinart pan! I agree that the self clean oven will turn it black...you should see my oven racks! Linda"

If I understand your first post correctly and if my memory of chemistry is correct, you may have very few options if you donÂt want to recycle your pan.

If the sugar has become carbon, as I remember, there are no known common stronger acid and alkalis that can attack carbon. Forget about any baking soda, oven cleaner, vinegar, amonnia --------- Furthermore, carbon is very unusual that it has no melting point normally. You can only oxidize it to carbon dioxide by burning it off.

I work with stainless steel a lot. I know it will discolor under heat. In a self-cleaning oven, which is about 900 degrees F, it will not blacken it as in seasoning cast iron. ItÂs more like a patina which can be polish off by using chrome polish that you can get from auto parts supply stores.

Wire brushing stainless steel with an electric drill will not damage good stainless steel.

Good luck and let me know the outcome.

dcarch

dcarch - My concern about the self clean oven goes beyond discoloration. I have warped stainless cookware (specifically clad cookware, but almost all stainless cookware these days is layered with other metal(s) one way or another) and have been told by the manufacturer that it's due to using it at too high of a heat. I've warped even more aluminum cookware, and been told by that manufacturer that it was due to high heat. Aluminum is typically part of the stainless steel sandwich. So I'm putting 2 and 2 together and thinking that putting it in the oven on self clean may subject the pot to potential damage or ruin.

I can't speak to oven cleaner except to say use and care a manuals warn against it, but apparently it worked for some. Same goes for wire brushes and other mechanical abrasive methods. I can (and did) speak to elbow grease, which worked out fine for me in the end.

Exactly what Lindac said. Put water in pan, add dry dishwasher detergent,maybe 1/2 cup of it. Put on stove and boil. That should take care of the problem.

FOAS, Yes warping is unavoidable for metal cookwares if they are overheated on the stove top. Metals expand differently under different temperatures. However, the thicker the metal, the easier for the metal to even out the difference and hence less warping.

Normal cooking with water in food prevents the metal from heating over boiling point of water.

Yes also bi-metal warps much easier because of the difference in expansion coefficent. That why they use bi-metal to make thermostats.

In a self-cleaning oven, the heating is much more even and less chance for warping for a single-metal cookware.

FYI, I have played with an amazing metal called SMA, which stands for Shape Memory Alloy. This metal can "remember" itÂs original formed shape under heat. In other words, if a car were to be made of this metal, and you crashed the car, all you have to do is to heat up the car and the car willl return to itÂs original shape.

dcarch

Here is a suggestion for future syrup mixtures. I received info from the Audubon Society as well as the Cornell Lab of Ornithology when I first started feeding Hummingbirds. The syrup does not need to be boiled. I have a dedicated glass jar I make the solution in. Wash and sanitize the jar and feeder often. A light bleach water solution is all that is needed.

1. Use a mild detergent to wash the jar and feeder.

2. One tsp of bleach in a quart jar(used to mix the syryp) of hot water. You can pour the solution in a bucket and swish your feeder around in it to sanitize.

3. Give both the feeder and syrup jar another swish in hot water.

The syrup solution can be 4/1 water sugar or 3/1 water sugar. Cornell suggested that they had more birds at their feeders with the stronger syrup which does not harm the birds. They also found that with a weaker amount of syrup the birds stayed longer to get the same amount of sucrose.

For anyone who thinks the suggestion that bleach should not be used: restaurants use a bleach solution to sanitize their dishes and equipment after washing followed by a hot water bath. Hospitals use the same method for cleaning everything: wash, bleach sanitize stage and final rinse with hot water.

This might be too much information - but you won't have a burnt pot in the future. And the birds will be much healthier. Both sources I rec'd info from said too many people think boiling the syrup eliminates the need to clean the feeder each time it is filled. Not so!

Hope this info is of help to you in the future.

Teresa

And....burned on carbon is fairly inert and will cause no problem....
Your goal is to have any that will flake off....flake off. Hot water, boiling alternated with cold will cause some of that to happen.
Carbon on the inside of a cuisinart pan won't cause any harm....and you can scour it off a little at a time.
dcarch, I suggest you really don't know what a Cuisinart pan is or you wouldn't suggest a self clean oven. Most are sandwich construction, some with a magnesium sandwich....and all are very expensive and high polish.

"Posted by lindac -------dcarch, I suggest you really don't know what a Cuisinart pan is or you wouldn't suggest a self clean oven. Most are sandwich construction, some with a magnesium sandwich....and all are very expensive and high polish. "

Thank you for noticing my total ignorance of Cuisinart luxury cookwares and my lack of metal working skills.

Perhap you have missed a minor point? Linda never said she had Cuisinart when I made my suggestions? In any case, my suggestions are for when all other methods failed, before she dumps the pan into the recycle bin.

dcarch

Teresa, I never heard that boiling eliminated the need to clean the feeder as often. And in my experience it certainly doesn't! LOL

Somewhere I read that boiling killed certain bacteria so your syrup doesn't go bad as fast as unboiled.

Oh...and an update...burnt sugar is still holding fast. Tomorrow...oven cleaner! (Wire brushes and grinders will be a last resort.)

Linda

Ok, maybe I am missing something, but if doesn't come off, why can't you still use the pan?

Because everything cooked in that pan will taste burned.

No that's not so....the carbon is very inert and will lend no flavor to anything. I did a burned sugar thing on one pan...continued to use it and scrubbed a little more with a steel wool pad every time....and eventually it's all gone.
If it released "burned taste" into the food you cooked....then you could remove the burned stuff by boiling in it...but that doesn't happen.
Linda C

I did the same thing. Scrape out as much of the ash as possible. Boil equal parts vinegar and water. Let sit. Take a metal spatula, and very carefully scrape the pot. Rinse and add straight vinegar and boil again. Drain, leaving a small amount in the bottom. Use auto body sand paper, fine grade. Sand until it's removed. Alternate with a brillo pad. Takes awhile. I don't recomend doing this on the outside because of the swirl marks.

I read that the water boiled for nectar is done to get rid of the chlorine. Also you should only clean your feeder with vinegar, to be on the safe side because plastic tends to hold on to chlorine.

The hummingbird sites will say boiling helps to retard mold growth if you are filling your feeders less frequently than every three days. Mine make it about 4 days this time of year, a week in winter as just our Annas winter over. I boil. Any time I'm filling with fresh sugar/water, I wash in hot soapy water then rinse, rinse, rinse and repeat again so I'm leaving no trace of soap taste on plastic. Our water is chlorinated, they don't seem to mind feeders washed and copiously rinsed in chlorinated water....I'm feeding hummingbirds 12 months of the year.

Had same exact problem .. making hummingbird 'juice' .. left a boiling pot with sugar in it .. before I knew it .. pot boiled over .. smoke filled kitchen .. smoke alarms .. etc .. tried many ways (and hours) to clean pot .. Bar Keepers .. vinegar .. baking soda .. and just boiling water .. nothing worked .. Then I came across an article on this site by 'MOXIE' dated 2010 ..'Moxie' explained problem and remedy exactly .. In that I was about to throw away our expensive stainless steel pot .. thought I'd try Moxie's recommendation .. hydrogen peroxide .. I was skeptical .. knowing that everything else has failed .. but .. to my amazement .. it worked .. within 15 min and a little scrubbing pot was as good as new ! Thank you 'Moxie' !!!!

Note: I think name was 'Mixie' .. not 'Moxie' .. sorry !

Yes, bbass, hydrogen peroxide is nothing short of a miracle worker at removing burnt on sugar messes.

I've used it twice now for cleaning up a burned sugar mess in a stainless steel pot and the results were almost instantaneous. I used just enough hydrogen peroxide to cover the bottom of the pan (maybe 1/8" deep) and apply heat. As it starts to come to a simmer, the carbon starts lifting and flaking away from the bottom of the pan. Neither time did I have a huge, huge mess so Big Messes might require more peroxide and a little more time.

It's such a magical experience to witness that it makes you almost want to rewind and repeat!

I used the hydrogen peroxide in my little saucepan the other day. The spaghetti was charred in it. After a short while on a low heat, it looked like it hadn't helped much and that I'd need to do it several more time. Fooled me! I cooled the pot a short while, put it in hot soapy water and started to clean with one of those plastic scrubbies. All, and I do mean all, of the charred spaghetti came out and the pan was as good as new. Love my Gardenweb friends who solve the problems.

Madonna

My wife burned sugar water in a sauce pan to the extent that it looked like a volcano erupted. It was burned inside the entire pan and some on the outside. I took the handle off and submerged the pan in an old pot filled with peroxide and slowly boiled it for 1/2 hour. I did scrape occasionally with a wooden spatula. When I removed the pan, it was completely clean. Thanks for the advice on using peroxide. There was no need to use scrubbies, brillo, oven cleaner, etc.

Researched ways to remove burnt sugar from trying to make homemade kettle korn (THAT stunk up the house). A hard, black mess. Tried everything to no avail: boiled pot with water, with detergent and water, boiled pot with straight vinegar and let it sit overnight, even soaked in straight bleach--eight hours! None of this made a dent in it, even scrubbing HARD with steel wool after each treatment. Nothing.

UNTIL I read about hydrogen peroxide. Poured in straight hydrogen peroxide, about 1/2" deep. Boiled covered about 20 min then let sit to cool down. When cool, it didn't look much different, but when I started to scrape, it amazingly began to come off in flakes. Still took elbow grease, but FINALLY I had hope that I hadn't completely ruined the pot. Wish I'd taken before/after photos.

https://www.quora.com/How-does-Hydrogen-Peroxide-remove-burnt-sugar-from-stainless-steel-pans

Hydrogen peroxide works for more than just burnt sugar messes.

The griddle on my Wolf stove top was turning into an 'over seasoned' mess and starting to get gobs of half-polyermized grease on it. (Multiple cooks using the griddle.) Heated the griddle up and started pouring small amounts hydrogen peroxide on it...WITH the vent fan running full blast. (The fumes were pretty awful.) Scraped with a metal spatula to help release the old seasoning. Took a bit of elbow grease but not a whole lot of time...maybe 10 minutes...and I had a clean griddle again.

Also worked a treat cleaning up a pan with burned rice just a couple of weeks ago.

You don't really need a lot of hydrogen peroxide, either. Just enough to cover the bottom of the pan maybe 1/8" deep.

What "fumes" from carbon dioxide?

I imagine that the problem was more of the yucky steam than just plain CO2.

Definitely more than just (water vapor) steam but perhaps 'noxious fumes' was overstating it. Quite irritating (hacking cough) in a sharp way and definitely not something you wanted to breathe. I noticed it only when cleaning the large surface of the (heated) griddle where the hydrogen peroxide evaporated almost instantly. (And not when cleaning a pan where the peroxide evaporates much more slowly.) I suppose a bit of vaporized grease was a component in the steam. Anyway--nothing long term--the effects were limited to the time of exposure. Also, this was during the winter when the humidity in the house was very low.

I wanted to convey that using the exhaust hood at full blast is a good idea if you're using the H202 to clean a large surface such as a fixed griddle. (Where you can't submerge the mess nor put a lid on it.)

I use Dawn Power Dissolver to remove carbon from frying pans. You spray it on, cover the pan, and leave it for an hour or overnight, and then you can easily wipe the pan clean, but you must wear rubber gloves.

I feel hummingbirds all year, but less in the spring and summer when there are so many flowers. We have Allen's hummingbirds all year, which have extended their territory from Palos Verdes. They are extremely territorial and run off the Anna's hummingbirds when they come to visit.

I never boil the sugar water - I put 1/4 cup sugar in a Pyrex measuring cup with one cup water and microwave that for one minute. This way I cannot burn it. I have the most hummingbirds in the winter, probably because I feed them. Aloes, aeonium, and certain bromeliads bloom in the winter here, but they do not make enough nectar to keep them fed. There is a bottle-brush tree across the street, and it blooms in the winter also, as well as some other plants that I have in my front yard that came with the house, and I have not identified them. The hummers especially like the aloes.

I can't find Dawn Power Dissolver to buy locally and it's quite expensive from on-line sources. So I use H2O2. It's cheap, I have lots of it on hand and it works almost instantly. No waiting around to fix that embarrassing mess I made. ;-)

I'll have to try the H2O2, if it works as instantly as you say. I've tried baking soda, and that didn't work.

Wasn't that the Dawn that was discontinued?

The Dawn Power Dissolver is in P&G's professional products line which is probably why it is difficult to find. A single 32 oz. bottle runs north of $20 on Amazon. Otherwise, it's mostly sold by the case (6 count).

Lars, I've not had much luck cleaning anything with baking soda, either.

The H2O2 seems to work by breaking the bond of the carbon to the steel and the stuff lifts off in flakes. So, it comes off 'clean' and not dissolved into a black/ grayish mess. (The grease on the griddle was a bit more messy.) (I've used it only on stainless steel and whatever the steel is in the griddle. Not sure about how/ if it would work on aluminum.)

It is true: P&G has discontinued Dawn Power Dissolver, although you may be able to find it at a few stores that still have inventory. I hate it when products I love get discontinued. Even though I am not out, I went ahead and ordered an extra bottle from Amazon, even though I am trying to boycott Amazon while they are advertising on Breitbart.

Dawn Power Dissolver is on the P&G Professional website.

I haven't checked into Dawn power dissolver in quite awhile. .Thanks Lantro for that info. Also if you can find Dawn Grill Cleaner its the same ingredients as Dawn power dissolver. I don't know if its still sold to the public or not.