Make Your Burnt Pots And Pans Sparkle Again With An Unexpected Household Staple

Kitchens can be the location of some of our most grandiose successes and unfortunate failures. One of the most frustrating events that occurs is when food gets scorched and burnt onto ours pots and pans. However the burning happens, the results are charred remains that are bonded to the pans like the tiles to the space shuttle. Removing the burnt residue can be a difficult and forbidding task. But you may have an effective solution to this problem sitting in your bathroom, Epsom salts. 

Epsom salts, originally discovered in Epsom, England, are magnesium sulfate — a crystalline salt made from the elements magnesium and sulfur. Unlike another pantry-found cleaning compound, baking soda, Epsom salt's pH is neutral, neither basic nor acidic. Usually used in long soaking baths to sooth aching muscles, Epsom salt has a long history in our homes with various uses. Many of us already know how to clean with Epsom salt, as it freshens laundry, cleans grout, descales shower heads, and offers a host of other home cleaning hacks.

It's super easy to clean your burnt pots with Epsom salt. If there is a thick crust of burnt residue, remove what you can with an abrasive pad or the rough side of a cleaning sponge. Pour out any water in the pan, then squirt a few drops of dishwashing detergent onto the burnt surface and add a couple of tablespoons of Epsom salts to the dish soap. With a green scratchy pad scrub the soap Epsom salt combination in a tight circular motion. Do not be afraid to use a good bit of elbow grease to get the job done. The crystalline composition of the Epsom salts will remove the burnt food, but is not abrasive enough to harm your regular pots and pans. With that said, don't use it on non-stick surfaces as it may damage them. 

Unlike a baking soda paste, Epsom salt's neutral pH will not chemically breakdown fats and grease. However, its abrasive nature is a perfect solution for scorched cookware. When you've cleaned away the burnt-on mess, simply wash your cookware as you normally would to prepare it for its next use. Finally, if your pots and pans have burned and discolored bottoms, use this trick to address that concern too.