Steel wool. Or steel scouring pad.

Try dampening with water, then sprinkling with baking soda. Let sit for a few minutes, then scrub with sponge or scrubby cloth. This usually works for any burned on anything on my pots and stovetop.

sprinkle it with cream of tartar. Leave for awhile.

Thanks so much for the quick responses. I will give these a try. I don't have steel wool here but can get some if the other ideas don't do the trick. Thanks again.

I put baking soda with some water and simmer for a bit, usually losens burnt bits like that.

Bar Keepers Friend, the powdered kind. Sprinkle in pot, use a damp paper towel and scrub. Do not let soak. Repeat if needed. Rinse, and wash as normal with dish soap.

I cleaned up my stainless skillets that I got off Freecycle years ago with BKF. It worked like a charm.

I keep a shaker container of baking soda and salt mixed together to clean my kitchen sinks. It also works great. Either one should work on your pan.

I used the baking soda/salt mix to clean an enameled dutch oven that I sold on Kijiji last weekend.

If you have a dishwasher tablet handy, you could try simmering a tablet. As it gets all hot and the tablet breaks up, stir a bit. Let simmer for a few for the soapy hot water to agitate. Then kill the heat and let it cool down. Scrub from there. I like to use one of those heavy duty green plastic scrubbers.

OxyClean and boiling water. Let it soak until the water is warm. Then scrub with a scouring pad. It should come right off.

Murraysmom, I think I know exactly how to fix this. First of all, stop scrubbing that pot. It looks like a stainless steel stock pot, so what you want to do is (excuse me I’m voice typing so I’m going to be making errors and I can’t correct all of them because it needs my fingers to do it and I have some musculoskeletal wackiness going on so bear with me and I hope you can figure out what I’m saying).

I have managed to undo this sort of burn Thanh mess before and here’s what I do and I would strongly advise it to anyone.

If it is stainless steel and not aluminum, what do you need to do is penetrate and dissolve The components making up that black stain. They are mostly oil based. Here is my line of attack with which I’ve had good success. Grease-dissolving detergents are in order. “Oven cleaner” is the strongest and most reliable, And solution such as “greased lightning” spray are a good intermediate.

1. The most expeditious way is to Warm the pot a little bit and place it underneath your kitchen exhaust vent or close to an open window. Or take it outside if it is warm enough. Spray or apply the oven cleaner. It is caustic and the fumes are strong, so I advause against using this in a confined space without an exhaust fan or open windows with a cross breeze. Let the paste or foam sit I just do it for about 15 or 30 minutes. Then you can take a rounded stainless steel knife or spatula and move the foam around and scrape gently all caps gently at the black oxidized areas of stain. Most likely you will see quite a bit of it willing to be dissolved and move along. Spray more and let this rest another while in fact you can even cover it if you would like with plastic wrap. You don’t have all that much oxidation on the pot and it should not take more than a few sprays and a little nudging with your stainless steel spatula or knife if your knife is rounded. It’s pretty straightforward. Here’s my phone number if you need help.

2. The weaker solution is the spray grease remover called “Greased Lightning” Or similar. It contains something like a lye but in less concentration or seriousness than the oven cleaner. Usually I can get by with this. It helps to heat up the pot or pan of cookie sheet that you want to clean before applying any of these detergents. As with the oven cleaner, leave the grease lightning on for about 20 to 30 minutes. You can reapply and nudge scrape a little bit with a rounded knife or spatula as many times as it takes.

Then you wanna wash the item with soap and water rinse it and dry it. I do this all the time. If you pay my airfare I just might come down well – – – unless you live in Minnesota. But if you’re in the nice warm self the sunshine but not too hot I’d say 72° is perfect I may just accept your invitation to come and remove all the stains in your house.

Yours in Kitchen Tabledhood,

Stainless Yankee.

Or skip the fumes and chmicals and spend just a couple of minutes with the above mentioned steel wool or steel scourer. Works for me and my pots.

Do you have some ammonia? Pour a little in the pot, put the lid on and set it aside over night and in the morning the black will come off with a scrubby.

I use Dawn Power Dissolver - not the same as Dawn Platinum Powerwash Dish Spray, but that might be good also.

Dawn Power Dissolver requires no scrubbing - just spray it on and let it sit (covered) for a few minutes, or an hours. It has gotten my stainless steel pan looking like new with no scratches.

I don't think that I've ever seen that Dawn Power Dissolver in the store! I'll look next time I'm out!

After looking this product up, it appears that they no longer make it!?

Reading the thread title I was expecting to see a pic of some old 70's Mexican reefer loaded down with seeds and stems.

simmer some canned tomatoes. Usually loosens burnt oil.

Easy Off has a great oven clean that removes grease. I'm embarrassed to say I let my oven go for a while. I was amazed.

Dawn Powerwash. Might take a couple of times. That stuff is pretty amazing.

vgkg, I like the way you think! If I ever have that problem, I will give you a holler!! Thanks.

Dawn Power Dissolver was discontinued in March 2014 (after I had already stocked up on it), but it has been reintroduced, and you can buy it at Home Depot, Walmart, or Amazon.

It is possible that the new version is not quite as good as the original, but I ordered some anyway, so I can try it out.

The old power dissolver worked like oven cleaner IMO, and it did not take much of it. I still have some in L.A. because I rarely make burnt on messes.

Dawn Powerwash

Sorry Murrysmom, it's raining and I was bored, nyuk. But to add another answer to your real pot problem I'd go with others who say elbow grease + Brillo pad would work if you don't mind more pan scratches.

I think the black is actually stain (as someone mentioned) and not burnt popcorn. It is a tough stain to get off. I will be waiting to see which method(s) you try and which one worked for you. I have similar stains on a skillet.

I have a very easy solution to this type of burn/stain.

Polident denture tablets!! Fill the pan with water to just cover the burnt area.

Pop in several denture tablets and let set 24 hours. Wash the pan without scratching it.

If the stain is still there, rinse and repeat.

Bar Keeper's Friend works very well for me for carbonized stuff like that. I have mainly stainless steel pots and pans.

It's great for getting dark marks and stains off china & glass too. I've even used it on stained melamine dishes.

Active ingredient is citric acid I believe, so if you have any of that around you could try it instead - i.e. you could try cooking some tomato sauce in the pan, as Valinta suggests above.

I prefer brass or copper wool, as I figure that it scratches those precious pots/pans/skillets less than steel wool.

ole joyful

Williams-Sonoma. By the time you get it cleaned, you could have bought a new one and made a few pots of stock, poured them into ice cube trays, and have stock for future sauces.

But, BKF and elbow grease fix all.

When i burnt my stainless steel steam pot (ran out of water!) I sprinkled baking soda on the burnt location, then dropped in just enough vinegar to make a paste, then used a scrubber like Dawn Poly Mesh scrubber. Repeated the process a few times then the burnt area was clear without a scratch on the surface.

If it doesn't come off with tomato sauce, it may just be a tough stain. It will add character to the pan, and remind you not to make popcorn in it again.

Lucille, thanks for the laugh! And the suggestion.

Brillo. Easy peasy!

Jane

Yup - a Brillo pad or an SOS pad will take that off easy.

bleach with water, let it sit a hour or two and it will come right out.

It’s not a simple ”stain” but is carbonized, burnt on oil and carbon (from popcorn).

You can abrade it or dissolve it or just live with it.

You can use muscle and effort, or a tiny bit of fast acting (clutch pearls) chemical. A bit of Easy off oven cleaner will quickly do the trick, and not scratch your pan.

See my note above.

So, how'd it go?

Using what I had here at home, first cream of tartar and then baking soda, it made a real improvement. I will see what Easy Off costs, but I won't have any use for it besides this so I'm reluctant to buy it. I suspect it will be as Lucille surmised that I will live with how it is now.

Thanks, everyone, for all the suggestions. I really do appreciate the help.

Good job, murraysmom. ( I’d been walking down the street wwith the pot and yelling through a megaphone, YeeeOoooo! Anyone got a squirt of Easy Off? There’s a molasses Popcorn Ball in it for you………..!”

Had similar experience and also used what I had at home (scrubbed with crumpled aluminum foil and water moistened table salt); worked great, burn completely gone.

MDLN, that seems like something I can still try. Thanks.

Also good for helping to develop upper body strength 😊 as it required hard scrubbing, but it worked. Good luck!

SOS pad

I use BKF and a soap pad. Getting the pot really hot with soaking in hot water first, then apply the BKF and scrub with the soap pad. I buy all of my stainless cookware used, and some are real messes of cooked on grease, and this cleans them right up. I bought an electric skillet and the underside was totally dark brown. Looks like new.

And, you can buy soap pads at the Dollar store or Walmart for a dollar a box...10 pads. Work as well as SOS...and considerably cheaper.

A problem sometimes with steel wool type scrubbing pads, Brillo and other brands, is that small metal pieces go down the drain that can exacerbate a partially obstructed drain along the way.

Also, some scrubbing pads can scratch stainless steel. Better to check first.

If you leave the BKF as a wet paste on the area for awhile before and after scrubbing, it does help.