I've read that cinnamon and curry work for soups. Can you put a smidge of cinnamon in, or would that detract from the taste of the plum?

Potatoes don't work for salt, etc. That's a myth...

Jasdip, I already put in cinnamon. :(

I'd try a little sugar. That was my Grandmother's cure-all for things that burned. She was boiling potatoes once and they scortched (SP?),I saw her add sugar. Couldn't tell at dinner time, the mashed potatoes were fine.

This is NOT my idea but found this doing a search:

Even though she was an excellent cook, Grandma wasn�t perfect. Sometimes she would get distracted and forget to keep an eye on a pot of spaghetti sauce, soup, or beans. By the time she remembered to check the food, it would be starting to burn.
Usually, Grandma could save at least part of the meal if she worked quickly. She would carefully pour or spoon the top part of the food into a new pan and taste it to be sure it wasn�t contaminated by the burned food on the bottom of the pan. Usually, it tasted fine and all she would lose was the bottom layer of food. I am not the cook Grandma was and I�ve had to save quite a few meals using Grandma�s tip to get the burned taste out of food.

Comments (36)
36 Comments �
328 Comment by Laura

July 18, 2006 @ 8:18 pm

Ok here is your tip if you put a spoonfull of peanut butter in it an mix it up good you will not taste the burned soup or beans
5220 Comment by SonyG

July 14, 2007 @ 9:39 pm

WOW! Everytime I cook beans they are so good the first night and the second night, I always burn them when reheating. My guy is always so mad at me because he loves beans and always wants them for 2 or 3 days. This time I lied and told him I caught them before they burned but I could taste in them and so I came on line and looked up how to get rid of burn taste when cooking and came directly to this site. I just tried the peanut butter tip and OH MY GOD!!! The taste is gone! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU SOOOO VERY MUCH, LAURA! I will remember this tip FOREVER!!!
5246 Comment by I tried it

October 15, 2007 @ 1:23 am

I did this just now with a delish pot of chili i was making and lowen-be-hold I fogot it for 10 minutes and burned the bottom layer � I used the peanut butter method listed here and seems to have helped but I know this chili could have been so much more�
5294 Comment by Jayne Baker

January 23, 2008 @ 6:19 am

WOW. I thought I had ruined an entire pot of the best potato soup. I was very very leary of the peanut butter. I added about a teaspoon to just one bowl (in case I had to experiment with other "remedies". THE PEANUT BUTTER WORKED. Another batch is in my rice cooker in the micro wave �.hey, why tempt the fates�with another spoonfull in it.

Thanks to who ever tried this the first time. It didn�t seem like the potato thing would work�considering it�s POTATO SOUP! LOL
5328 Comment by Susan

February 14, 2008 @ 9:55 am

I tried this. Works GREAT getting the burned smell/taste out of the beans. Just had to figure out how to get some flavor back in so it didn�t taste like peanut butter! Thanks for the tip!
5430 Comment by Shmuel Shimshoni

May 8, 2008 @ 3:21 pm

Wow !!! The peanut butter treatment was great. But after getting the whole thing mixed together the well cooked beans ended up quite mashed. So I added some fried onions and a bit of salt pepper.
I wonder if i will ever again get such scrumptions results by actually trying to pre-scorch a batch of beans again.
Thank you for the idea and the support it got as well.
Shmuel

You MIGHT try a small batch using the pb to see if it works.

Just found this in a search, that's all I know.

The only thing I know is you never stir the pot. As Glenda's article said, if you scoop out the top portion it usually will be okay if you have stirred the pot, I'm afraid the whole batch is ruined. I feel so bad for you. All that work.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I have never had any luck trying to disguise the taste of scorched fruit. The above hints often do work for potatoes, etc. but I have never been able to get rid of the scorched taste of fruit. If you can pour off the top half of the pot without disturbing the bottom half, you might be able to salvage part of it. So sorry this happened!

Burned is burned. Unless you immediately cooled off the bottom of the pot with cold water, and very carefully removed the unburned portion, it will always taste burned.

I have done that with home made jam, but really, it still tasted burned. You can certainly try the other solutions offered, but I think it will be a waste of time.

I posted this on three different forums and so far all three are in agreement, kiss that crap goodbye! Live and learn. Next year I'll definitely do it in the oven or the crop pot! Thanks everyone for your help and sympathy!

Adding things to burned stuff dilutes it slightly but you always wind up with something that's burned. It's like overseasoning, you don't unseason stuff although diluting that will help.

You could get a bunch of super hot chili peppers, something along the line of Naga Viper pepper, Infinity Chili, Bhut Jolokia chili pepper, Trinidad Scorpion or Butch T pepper and add to it. With enough, you won't taste the burnt parts! :)

Sorry for the loss. It happens. Have a glass of wine and let it go.

BTW, don't be too sure about a crockpot. Many of them get so hot they'll burn stuff too if unattended. I've had enough battles with day-long chili "simmering" to know that, which is why I like the Nesco so much better, but anything applying heat can burn something. You need to tend things appropriately. Something like a roast is less sensitive to it of course, but a soup, stew, chili, sauce or something usually needs to be stirred.

Hope your day is improving!

Not sure fruit can be saved, but for all the food mentioned above use your OVEN to cook and can with, it saves all scorching. If it is alarge batch use your big electric roaster. we make salsa and chili sauce in the electric roaster, works perfect every time.

tootsie

OP asked for help with her 'kitchen disaster' back on 9-8-2011

?? Why is someone bringing this forward on September 7, 2015 ??

When searching, or for whatever other reasons, someone will run across an old post they find interesting. Or they may not notice the date. OR they may feel as if they can add something that will help someone at a later point. Nothing wrong there.

BTW, anyone know whatever happened to Ron and Bigbaby?

I might do plum jam this week. This is good to know. Maybe crock pot would be better from the git-go? Someone?? Anyone?? Do you do it that way?

Ron & Bigbaby are alive and well on Facebook. I play Trivia Crack with Ron, who has many hiking and gardening adventures, and I enjoy Bigbaby's posts.

Moonie, I'm glad to see you posting!!!

Me too!