Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Those Kitchen Disasters


We all have kitchen disasters from time to time. Some are easier to 'fix' than others, but hopefully we all cope and move on. Recently I was making brown and wild rice for supper, but became distracted by a project and burned the meal. I had to start completely over with something new. I couldn't make rice again, as the pot was so blackened that it would take me days to get it cleaned out again. Please don't tell me that I am the only one who has these traumas! I like to think that it's quite alright to make a mistake in the kitchen now and then.

The kettle was deeply blackened and required alot of elbow grease and every other trick I could think of to remove. Well, every other trick without using steel wool (which I don't like to use on stainless because it leaves marks). Instead, I placed dishwashing powder in the kettle with some water and brought it to a rolling boil. Then, I allowed the mixture to cool and sit for awhile before scrubbing. This method worked well for most of the marks, but there were some stubborns ones that I simply could not remove. Next, I tried the vinegar soak method, then the Comet soak method, and finally simply water and more elbow grease. The kettle is finally clean and in full use again.

But I'm wondering, what methods do YOU use when you blacken a pot?

4 comments:

  1. I've used a combination of baking soda & vinegar for blackened pots before. In general though it does seem to come down to elbow grease most of the time. I've not burned rice that bad but I've scorched milk more than once that badly... Darn multi-tasking anyway.

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  2. I once read that covering the bottom of the pan with salt, adding just enough water to bring it to a boil works. I've tried it and it does work for me most of the time.

    Sigh, I just had to throw out a favorite saucepan because I started dinner in it and got on the computer. The rest is history... Even the salt couldn't save that pan.

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  3. Anonymous11:05 AM

    You are definitely not the alone in this.
    I basically use a method quite similar to yours of soaking in hot water and lots of scrubbing.
    I'm sure there are better ways maybe and we'd probobly find those ways if only we messed up like that more often. :) Thank goodness we don't though right? ;)

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  4. Have been there too, and had to scrub and scrub. Did the same things you did, but still felt like my arm was going to fall off from the work of it all.
    I have purchased some really nice stainless steel pans for next to nothing at yard sales that were blackened so some folks must just want to get rid of the problem : )

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