How do I get this burnt black shit out of the bottom of my roommate's pan so she'll

SmokeStacks

stop bitching about it?

I mean, I feel bad for scorching her gear, mea culpa and all that, but Jesus Christ to hear her talk you'd think I'd killed her dog or something.

Anyway, I scrubbed the shit out of it to try and get it back to it's semi-shiny previous state, and this is the result:



I tried boiling water in it to loosen up the black before I scrubbed the shit out of it again, but it only helped a little.

So, does anyone know of a decent way to get the burnt stuff out of the bottom of a pan, or is it just tattooed for life?

Endaro

This once happened to me, almost the exact same situation. Was doing too many things at once and burned the bottom of someones pot. Scrubbed it in the sink for hours, soaked it for hours, tried boiling it with water for hours, not much luck.

The one thing that ended up working for me was scrubbing away at it with Ajax for what seems like hours, or in other cases steel wool has helped. Good luck!

Edit: Alternatively, buy her a newer (and possibly better?) pan!

BlazeFire

What are you using to scrub with, just a sponge? Try a scouring pad.

TychoCelchuuu

Stainless steel? Try Barkeeper's Friend.

Arivia

Fill it with warm water, add baking soda, and wait for a few hours.

BlindZenDriver

There is this really strong soap that you can soak things like this in over night. Here in Denmark it's called what translates to "Brown soap" in English - if you go to a store that sells cleaning equipment for pros they will have something like it. It should do the trick.

Djeet

Bar Keepers Friend or oven cleaner. I've heard you could also use a dryer sheet, but haven't tried it myself.

Esh

Thirding Bar Keeper's Friend. It's really cheap too. Like $3 or something.

JebusUD

Buy her a newer and better pan.

SmokeStacks

Cool, thanks for the info guys. I'll give the barkeeper's friend and some more elbow grease a shot, and if that doesn't work I'll move up from there.

Maguano

Add two tablespoons of cream of tartar to a cup or so of water and boil for 10 minutes

MichaelLC

JebusUD wrote:

Buy her a newer and better pan.

This plus the BKF. That looks a pretty cheap pan. Buy a cast iron, and she will have it until she dies.

Esh

MichaelLC wrote:

JebusUD wrote:

Buy her a newer and better pan.

This plus the BKF. That looks a pretty cheap pan. Buy a cast iron, and she will have it until she dies.

Make sure you know how to care for a cast iron before buying one. Those can get fucked up even faster than a normal one.

ceres

This amuses me because your name is SmokeStacks.

Do you happen to know what the pan is made of? Really harsh stuff can pit or scratch some kinds of metal cookware (that's bad), so you might want to take it easy with some of those chemicals. That's if the pan was expensive enough to worry about.

Blake T

Oven cleaner should do it. But it is total overkill and incredibly caustic. So do it outside wearing gloves.

Terra

Stainless steel is the way to go, as long as it isn't a non-stick pot. I also frequently leave pots and cookie sheets messed up this way. Brillo pad and one minute and you'll have all the gunk off. Just make sure to wear a glove unless you're also trying to scrub off your skin.

Dr. Frenchenstein

a nonstick frying pan is like 10-20 bucks at target. i did the same thing while trying to pan cook a deer steak (directions were for a cast iron skillet, as i found out to my chagrin). I've never used barkeepers friend, but something tells me there is no way you are getting that back to 100%.

Some Ladies are very protective of their cookware, especially if that's the only pan of that size she has.

wonderpug

There's power gel dissolver stuff you can buy for this kind of thing. Clean it as best you can (which you already did), dry it, spray on the gel, wait a half hour, then clean again. Rinse & repeat. Works pretty well.