How To Clean Burnt Grease From Frying Pans
Among the more challenging of kitchen tasks is trying to remove baked-on grease from frying pans. If you're lucky, you might be to convince somebody else to do the dishes, but in case the other members of your family are smart enough to decline, here are seven homespun methods for coaxing that baked-on mess off of your favorite frying pan.
Method1: Dish Soap and Dryer Sheets
Fill the pan with very hot water. Place two or three dryer sheets into the water with a drop of dish soap, and allow it to sit for at least one hour. You should then have no trouble scrubbing the pan free of grease with warm soap and water.
Method 2: Baking Soda Paste
Make a paste using equal parts baking soda and water, and coat the baked-on grease with it. Allow the paste to sit on it for at least 15 minutes. Scrub the grease away with a clean cloth dipped in hot water—the baking soda will act as an abrasive. Wash the pan with warm soapy water. If the paste doesn't work, try again by applying a thinner baking soda mixture, boiling it on the stove, then scrubbing again after it cools.
Method 3: Vinegar
Pour enough vinegar into the pan to cover the grease, then bring it to a boil on the stove. Allow the vinegar to boil for at least 10 minutes before pouring it out and scrubbing the pan with an SOS pad.
Warning
Never use SOS pads or other abrasive cleansers on pans with a nonstick coating. For non-stick pans, use sponges or nylon fiber pads only, not metal pads or abrasive powders.
Method 4: Baking Powder, Sea Salt, and Vinegar
Sprinkle enough baking powder into the pan to cover the baked-on grease. Then add a layer of sea salt and a few spritzes of vinegar. Scrub the pan with a sponge.
Method 5: Heat and a Scrub Pad
Heat up the pan on the stove until the grease becomes liquid again. Remove from the heat and pour cold water into it. This will cause the grease to coagulate into bubbles that can be poured away. Then, scrub the pan with an SOS pad or nylon fiber pad (for non-stick pans) and wash with warm, soapy water.
Method 6: Ketchup
Spread ketchup on the pan and let the acid in it eat through the baked-on grease. Leave the ketchup on stain overnight, then wash your pan.
Method 7: Oven Cleaner
Spray the pan with oven cleaner and allow it to sit on the baked on stain overnight. Wipe the grease away the next morning with paper towels, and wash the pan as usual. Always wear scrub gloves when working with oven cleaner, as it is a caustic material.