Monday, September 27, 2010

Clean Burnt Enamel Pots







The cooking pots in a cook's arsenal are often a point of pride. From cast-iron skillets to woks, every pot has its place in the kitchen and is treasured. Enamel pots are treasured for their cooking value as well as their aesthetic beauty. Like most pots, nothing mars an enamel pot like a burnt on foods. There are however a few methods for removing tricky burns from your enamel pots. If a single method does not completely remove a burn, move onto the next method until the burn is entirely removed.


Instructions


1. Soak the enamel pot in warm soapy dish water for several hours. Scrub the burnt surface with a soft scrubbing brush. Do not use an abrasive scrubber like copper mesh because they can damage the enamel cooking surface. Rinse the pan and repeat soaking and scrubbing, removing as much burned debris as possible.








2. Pour two tablespoons of baking soda into the burnt enamel pot. Add two tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide, two drops of dish soap and one cup of water. Place the pot onto the stove and turn on to low. Gently boil the solution for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pot from heat and let it cool before using the scrub brush to remove burned-on material.


3. Use a biological laundry detergent to break the burn apart. Biological laundry detergent contains water-activated natural enzymes that will digest the burnt food particles. Cover the burnt surface of the enamel pot with the detergent and cover with one inch of water. Let the pot soak for several hours and scrub away any debris, repeating if necessary.


4. Fill the burnt enamel pot half way up with warm water. Drop one to two tablets of denture cleaner, depending on the pot size and severity of the burn, into the pot and let soak until the solution stops bubbling. Like the laundry detergent, the denture cleaning tabs use digestive enzymes meant for cleaning food particles, but also work with effervescence to loosen the burn.


5. Add five unwashed and unpeeled potatoes to the enamel pot. If the pot is too small, scale the number of potatoes down. Add water to the put until it is full and place on the stove on medium heat. Boil the pot until most of the water is removed. Refill the pot and boil down a second time. Drain the pot and throw away potatoes. Scrub the burn with a non-abrasive scrubbing brush to remove.

Tags: laundry detergent, brush remove, burnt enamel, burnt surface, food particles, scrubbing brush