Clean Cooked-On Food from a Skillet

Even though automatic dishwashers have become a common item in most homes, they still will not clean everything off that you want to remove. It would be nice if anything you put into the dishwasher would be magically clean when it came out, but anyone with dishwashing experience knows that this simply is not the case. Although they work really well with freshly used plates and dishes, once the food has been baked on, the dishwasher usually will not have enough cleaning power to take it out. Instead, to get out that stain, you have to scrub, many times using plenty of elbow grease, to finally get the item clean.

If the dish you are trying to clean is a skillet, there is an easier way. Just follow these couple of steps to get your skillet looking as clean as ever, with just a little bit of effort on your part. Start off by filling the bottom of the pan with water. Add to the water just a little bit of automatic dishwashing detergent. Do not use liquid soap, or you may find your mixture becoming a bubbly mess.

Once you have everything in the pan that you need, simply place it on the stove, turn the stove on, and bring the mixture to a boil. After it has boiled for just a minute or two, take it off and rinse the pan out. You will find that the baked on food will flow out with the rest of the water.

This same trick can be used for anything that can safely be placed on the stove and brought to a boil, but usually not quite as well. It will work for pots, but you will need to use a more water and more automatic dishwashing detergent. You could also try doing it with a Pyrex casserole dish, but it is not recommended.