Cleaning dirty pots and pans is a chore most people dread, but the days of scrubbing the remnants of food out of the bottom of them is finally a thing of the past. Now there’s a surprisingly simple way to clean a burnt pan, and best of all, it requires minimal elbow grease. A team of cleaning experts scorched baked beans onto the bottom of a pan, before testing popular cleaning hacks to remove the remains. They included baking soda, lemon juice, dishwasher tablets, and even dryer sheets. The results revealed that your best option is a dishwasher tablet, which will help you achieve a sparkling pan with relatively little work involved. The experts pointed out that although many manufacturers claim their pans are dishwasher-safe, the hot water used inside a dishwasher can wear down the non-stick coatings, which is why you’re better off hand-washing non-stick pans. To use the dishwasher tablet hack, start by filling the pan with enough water to cover the burned-on food. Add a dishwasher tablet and put the pan on the stove on medium heat. Let the water simmer for 10 minutes. Rinse out and wipe away any residue with a soft sponge, before washing as normal. While this technique is effective, using a whole dishwasher tablet for a single dirty pan isn’t good for your wallet, so this method should only be used as a last resort.
