Cool Trick for Cleaning

[GB]

I read about this trick a few weeks ago, but just had my first opportunity to try it yesterday.

When you have some stubborn baked on food stuck to your pot/pan/crock what have you try using dishwasher detergent instead of dish soap.

Put some dishwasher granules in the pot to be cleaned and fill with hot water to soak overnight. The next morning wash as usual. Most, if not all the hard stubbon stuck on stuff will come right out with little or no scrubbing.

I made a crock pot meal (which was lousy, but that is for another thread) and it overcooked and really baked stuff on there good. I was NOT looking forward to cleaning it as it was a serious mess. Well I tried this trick and it worked amazingly well. I still did need to go after a few tougher spots with a scrubby, but I only needed to go over them, not really scrub them. This trick saved me a lot of elbow grease. Give it a shot next time you have something that needs a soak to clean.

[Andy M.]

I regularly soak pots and pans overnight. Sometimes with just hot water and sometimes with soap. That seems to do the trick for just about everything except the brown oil residue from pan roasting. Then I reach for the DPD.

GB did you notice improved performance with the DW soap?

[GB]

Andy, I noticed a huge improvement over regular dish soap. If I had done the same thing with this crock, but used regular dish soap soap I am guessing I would have still had to do a decent amount of scrubbing. With the dishwasher granules I had to do almost no scrubbing.

I know you are a fan of Dawn Power Dissolver Andy. I have not had the same success you have had with that product, but I am guessing what I did with the dishwasher soap would be roughly equivalent to the results you have had with DPD from what I have read about your experiences with it.

[Barbara]

I soak my pots or casserole dishes with a dryer sheet over night - it works!

[babetoo]

i just spray tough stuff with oven cleaner. no scrubbing necessary

[kamp]

I add baking powder. It works every time!

[bakechef]

Powdered dishwasher soap works so well because most of it contains enzymes which eat away at the grime quite well.

I only use the powdered stuff for that reason, I have had great results with it in my old apartment that had the cheapest old dishwasher that you could imagine (no top washer arm), but when I used the powdered stuff I got great results regardless. I still use it even though the house we bought has a higher end Kenmore that is fantastic.

[Tanner B]

A trick I like to use if I want my pot or pan to be clean without soaking it in the sink overnight is put some vinegar in the pot, along with enough water to cover the hardest to get grime then put it on the stove at a low simmer. I usually let it go for about 45 minutes to an hour, sometimes a bit longer depending on what it was. Then all you have to do is take it off, and wipe it clean! Works like a charm.

P.s just don't forget about it! It happened to me once...

[babbler]

I've tried all the ways recommended here to soak off tough cooked on food and nothing - nothing - works as well as Calgon Water Softener powder. I just put a tablespoon or two in the pan/pot, add hottest tap water to dissolve and let sit a few hours or overnight. Cooked on crud just swishes off with a good dish brush.
I add a squirt of dish detergent so as to make cleaning more thorough.