I overcooked rice in a pot, now pot has burnt bottom. Help!

[hanzj]

Hello,

I was cooking rice (boiling) in a pot. All the moisture ran out and the layer of rice in contact with the pan has turned black. I haven't had the chance to give it a good scrubbing, but i'm worried that I can't get the pot looking like the brand-new condition it is in.

Please help. Can I bring the pot to perfect condition? How?


UPDATE: I'm completely serious about this thread. It was a new pot of a new friend. The pot looked like a pot a professional chef would use: a Lagostina one. The pot looks like brand new. It still had the adhesive sticker on its side. I had just made friends with this person, and I feel really awful about this.

[szymon_g]

just pour warm water with detergent in it /before that, remove rice/. leave overnight- than clean it with a hard spounge

[pastalavista]

The pot will be better than new. The rice has infused its essence. You'll never burn rice again (unless you're a slow learner).

[hanzj]

pastalavista: I'm not sure if you're serious in your first two sentences.

[pastalavista]

pastalavista: I'm not sure if you're serious in your first two sentences.

I'm not sure you're serious about your problem. It's only a pot. I actually prefer a well seasoned pot to a brand-new one.

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

Remove the burnt rice without scratching the pot. In other words, do not use an abrasive pad.

You have probably oxidized the metal in the pot (black spots, sometimes, white spots); therefore, add some vinegar to warm water and let it soak. The acid in the vinegar should remove the oxidation.

[hanzj]

I'm not sure you're serious about your problem. It's only a pot. I actually prefer a well seasoned pot to a brand-new one.

I'm completely serious. It was a new pot of a new friend. The pot looked like a pot a professional chef would use: a Lagostina one. The pot looks like brand new. It still had the adhesive sticker on its side. I had just made friends with this person, and I feel really awful about this.

[Copper Bezel]

Yeah, as syzmon_g said, the key is letting it soak, and get a nice abrasive scrubber sponge if you don't have one. If it's a bare aluminum pot, there will be a stain, but it won't affect any future use. After letting it soak before and after and giving it a nice scrubbing, there's not going to be any flavor that carries over into whatever you're cooking in it next.

Edit: Old_Gray_Wolf, neat tip. I'll have to try that in the future myself. Thanks!

[Supermouse]

Open a terminal and enter the following command:

suto apt-clean pot

Then simply input your password.

[Dry Lips]

just pour warm water with detergent in it /before that, remove rice/. leave overnight- than clean it with a hard spounge

+1! The only thing I would like to add is that the trick is to use machine dishwasher detergent and leave it overnight!

[pastalavista]

I'm completely serious. It was a new pot of a new friend. The pot looked like a pot a professional chef would use: a Lagostina one. The pot looks like brand new. It still had the adhesive sticker on its side. I had just made friends with this person, and I feel really awful about this.

I'm sorry not to have taken you seriously, but you did neglect to mention the importance of the pot in your original post and this is a forum of great silliness. At least you have found some very good advice from other, less nihilistic forum members.

[oldsoundguy]

put a mixture of water and white vinegar in it. place it back on the burner at the lowest heat possible for a few hours. TURN OFF THE BURNER and go to bed .. next day a plastic scrubber should remove 99% of it without leaving much residue to polish out. (I use "Barkeepers Friend" for polishing my pots .. have a collection of 1950's Revere Ware copper bottom pots.)

Next time get a rice cooker for your microwave (about 10 bucks US) .. and follow the directions on cooking procedure. no more over cooked or under cooked rice.

[ubupirate]

Golden rule of cooking 101: NEVER LEAVE THE STOVE UNATTENDED WHILE IT IS OPERATING.

[hanzj]

+1! The only thing I would like to add is that the trick is to use machine dishwasher detergent and leave it overnight!

Why is machine-dishwasher detergent better than handwash dish detergent?

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

Edit: Old_Gray_Wolf, neat tip. I'll have to try that in the future myself. Thanks!

Actually, I use cast iron quite often. With cast iron you don't want to remove the black layer that builds up over time because that adds to the seasoning of the skillet or pot. I remember when my grandmother was in the hospital and my grandfather decided to help her by cleaning her cast iron skillets and pots. He spent hours polishing those down to the bare metal. She almost killed him :)

[oldsoundguy]

My cast iron has not been in soapy water in 50 years. It be FUNKY!! Hot water .. scrub with salt on a sponge .. rinse completely ... put back on the burner on max .. wipe with a paper towel and peanut or olive oil .. bring it to smoke and turn off the burner!

[Cpierce]

This works, seriously. Put enough water in the pot to cover the burnt stuff, then throw in a dryer sheet( like bounce) that you use in your clothes dryer. Let it set overnight. Then just wash it out the next day.

[Dry Lips]

Why is machine-dishwasher detergent better than handwash dish detergent?

I'm not completely sure, but there's definitively a difference. However, once you have removed all the stubborn burnt parts of the rice, I would use the advice of Old_Gray_Wolf/oldsoundguy to completely remove the oxidation. We use hot water and vinegar to remove the oxidisation that happens over time to our kettle.

[hanzj]

This works, seriously. Put enough water in the pot to cover the burnt stuff, then throw in a dryer sheet( like bounce) that you use in your clothes dryer. Let it set overnight. Then just wash it out the next day.

Can anyone vouch for this?

[lisati]

Another way is to clean the pot as best you can by normal methods, put in some water and heaps of salt, bring the water to the boil, and simmer for several minutes.

[hanzj]

I'm not completely sure, but there's definitively a difference. However, once you have removed all the stubborn burnt parts of the rice, I would use the advice of Old_Gray_Wolf/oldsoundguy to completely remove the oxidation. We use hot water and vinegar to remove the oxidisation that happens over time to our kettle.

Does "removing oxidization" equal getting all the black stuff out and having a perfect pot again?

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

My cast iron has not been in soapy water in 50 years. It be FUNKY!! Hot water .. scrub with salt on a sponge .. rinse completely ... put back on the burner on max .. wipe with a paper towel and peanut or olive oil .. bring it to smoke and turn off the burner!

Yep!

And, I still have two fully functional Presto cookers. They are better than a microwave oven for some things, and just about as fast for something like a roast :)

[Gremlinzzz]

Hello,

I was cooking rice (boiling) in a pot. All the moisture ran out and the layer of rice in contact with the pan has turned black. I haven't had the chance to give it a good scrubbing, but i'm worried that I can't get the pot looking like the brand-new condition it is in.

Please help. Can I bring the pot to perfect condition? How?


UPDATE: I'm completely serious about this thread. It was a new pot of a new friend. The pot looked like a pot a professional chef would use: a Lagostina one. The pot looks like brand new. It still had the adhesive sticker on its side. I had just made friends with this person, and I feel really awful about this.

very-fine sandpaper:popcorn:

[Dry Lips]

Does "removing oxidization" equal getting all the black stuff out and having a perfect pot again?

Hopefully...

If I were you I'd try a combination of the advice you've gotten.

1. First remove as much dirt as you can by washing manually with soap and water.
2. Then leave it overnight in water with a machine-dishwasher detergent (not tablet, but the usual kind)
3. Use hot water and vinegar on the stains that remain, as suggested above.

(I've never tried lisati's solution, perhaps that'll work as well...)

[Bandit]

just pour warm water with detergent in it /before that, remove rice/. leave overnight- than clean it with a hard spounge

This. My wife eats rice 3 times a day.. Just soak it and it will come loose for the most part then a little soap and water then next day will clean the rest.:KS

[Ravens Tears]

As many have suggested if you leave it to soak over-night with some mild detergent or dishwasher detergent it should come clean. If the rice only burnt a bit it should be fine. If it burnt badly, don't be surprised if the metal is permanently discoloured. In that case there really isn't anything you can do to make it look new again. Clean it as best as you can and apologize profusely. Good luck!

[FuturePilot]

Golden rule of cooking 101: NEVER LEAVE THE STOVE UNATTENDED WHILE IT IS OPERATING.

But then it never boils. ಠ_ಠ

[meh_phistopheles]

My cast iron has not been in soapy water in 50 years. It be FUNKY!! Hot water .. scrub with salt on a sponge .. rinse completely ... put back on the burner on max .. wipe with a paper towel and peanut or olive oil .. bring it to smoke and turn off the burner!

one of my past roommates had a bunch of cast iron pans and i remember that procedure vividly. i hate the weight of the things though.

i would let the pans soak in soapy water over night. they should clean fine after that. i'm guessing there will still be some discoloration from like water marks or something, but that's kind of inevitable. the way i would play this off to your friend is to just pretend like nothing abnormal happened if you don't have to talk to your friend until tomorrow, since soaking the pot over night should work. but if you can't hide it and have to explain to your friend why the pot has to soak over night, then just be like "oh, i cooked rice and it's stuck a little." if your friend has cooked rice before, then he/she should understand. don't be like "oh my gosh, i'm so sorry. i made a big mistake" because that's just not true. burning rice is a perfectly normal thing to happen, so you shouldn't blow it out of proportion. if your friend gets angry at you that the pot has to sit over night, then i'm sorry but that's a little ridiculous. it's a pot.

[Ric_NYC]

Boil some water mixed with baking soda in that pot. That will help.

[m4tic]

are all westerns this way? Lol use steelwool, that's what it's there for.

[satanselbow]

Golden rule of cooking 101: NEVER LEAVE THE STOVE UNATTENDED WHILE IT IS OPERATING.

Golden rule of cooking 101 Subsection 1: NEVER LET RICE BOIL DRY AND BURN YOUR FRIENDS NEW POT.

... buy a new pot?

[oldos2er]

http://www.lagostinausa.com/service/use-and-care.html

[hanzj]

http://www.lagostinausa.com/service/use-and-care.html

Thank you, Ann. That was helpful!

[hanzj]

are all westerns this way? Lol use steelwool, that's what it's there for.

The Lagostina webpage Ann links to (http://www.lagostinausa.com/service/use-and-care.html) forbids using steel wool.

[oldos2er]

You're welcome.

[mips]

Just go and buy your 'friend' a new pot and you keep the one you burned, problem solved ;)

[lisati]

Golden rule of cooking 101 Subsection 1: NEVER LET RICE BOIL DRY AND BURN YOUR FRIENDS NEW POT.

... buy a new pot?

Subsection 2: Be aware that most stoves have a means to adjust the heat so that you don't have to leave a pot on "High" once the water is boiling.

<side note>
I've heard anecdotal accounts, probably apocryphal, of people moving to New Zealand, and being so accustomed to cooking food over an open fire, that they actually light a fire in their gas or electrically powered stove. The nearest I've seen to this happening is someone I know warming up some food in the oven, and leaving the food in plastic wrappers. The result was, shall we say, interesting. I'm happy to give the person concerned the benefit of the doubt and put it down to the person being distracted on account of being busy.
<side note ends>

[forrestcupp]

Hopefully, you'll learn from this. Never boil pasta or rice on high.

I did the same thing with homemade macaroni and cheese once when I was young. No problem boiling the water. The problem came when I drained it and kept the burner on high to melt the cheese. It destroyed the pot. I ended up throwing it away. Nothing I did would get the burnt smell out. Hopefully, you have better luck than I did.


are all westerns this way? Lol use steelwool, that's what it's there for.

Use steel wool and scratch up a nice, new, professional pot. If he scratches it up, then there's no chance at all for it to ever be back how it was.

I'd probably be careful with Comet or Barkeeper's Friend, too. That stuff scratches, too.

[Cpierce]

Someone asked to verify the dryer sheets. It was listed number one here:

http://laundry.about.com/od/softenersandfresheners/tp/dryersheetsuse.htm

and here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/306404

[Gremlinzzz]

sudez water and very fine sand paper.:popcorn:
and buy a pot that can burn and be scrubbed the one you got sounds like a show piece:popcorn:

[ratcheer]

I can't believe this thread has gone on for four pages.

I think the best idea I've seen so far is to just buy your friend a new pot. Expensive, but lesson learned.

Tim

[nrundy]

Hello,

I was cooking rice (boiling) in a pot. All the moisture ran out and the layer of rice in contact with the pan has turned black. I haven't had the chance to give it a good scrubbing, but i'm worried that I can't get the pot looking like the brand-new condition it is in.

Please help. Can I bring the pot to perfect condition? How?


UPDATE: I'm completely serious about this thread. It was a new pot of a new friend. The pot looked like a pot a professional chef would use: a Lagostina one. The pot looks like brand new. It still had the adhesive sticker on its side. I had just made friends with this person, and I feel really awful about this.

I had exact same problem, from cooking rice.

I was never able to get all the "black stains" off. I think it's permanent. The pan is "ruined". I was able to get most of the black stains off by scrubbing a lot with SOS pad. But never could get all the stains off.

[betterhands]

when it comes to stuff stuck on stainless steel, nothing works better for me than Bar Keeper's Friend (http://www.barkeepersfriend.com/). stuff is freaking magic.

[betterhands]

My cast iron has not been in soapy water in 50 years. It be FUNKY!! Hot water .. scrub with salt on a sponge .. rinse completely ... put back on the burner on max .. wipe with a paper towel and peanut or olive oil .. bring it to smoke and turn off the burner!

just recently bought a iron pan for the first time. read about the non-soap, use salt for abrasion thing, along with oiling it up when clean, but can you explain about the heating up till smokey part? what does that do?

[oldos2er]

Cast iron cookware needs to be "seasoned". http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/CastIronPans.htm

[bedpotato]

Hello. I have not read all the replies but wanted to chime in and say it depends on whether your friend's pan is non-stick or stainless steel. If it's non-stick, then the surface will probably have burnt off, and the damage will be irreversible. :( If it's stainless steel, then you could scour the damage away with wire wool, but doing that would leave scratch marks.