Tips for removing burned on stuff from pan

[5Foot5]

I left some pearl barley simmering in a pan while I went of to watch my recording of last night's Upstairs Downstairs with DD. Totally engrossed until I noticed the horrible burning smell. Barley had burnt dry and stuck to pan with a nasty black crust.

It is a stainless stell pan - quite heavy duty. I have soaked it and scraped it and removed the worst of it but there are still quite a lot of nasty black marks on the bottom that I am having real trouble shifting.

Mum recommended vinegar or bicarbonate of soda. I have both but fortunately DD pays attention in science and told me not to use them at the same time as it would have an alarming reaction.

Anyway scrubbing away with a bicarb paste for ages helped some but not enough. It is currently sitting with a bit of vinegar in.

Does anyone have any other magic remedies ot is it just a long slog and persistence?

I have previously left it soaking overnight with some hot water and biological washing powder... make sure you rinse well though!

My mum swears by soaking, followed by a good scrub with a brillo pad or steel wool and copious amounts of washing powder. I've managed to salvage my stainless steel pans numerous times using that method.

(BTW, Upstairs Downstairs was good, wasn't it?!)

Neat bleach. Leave it a while, works a treat.

washign powder, and water, on the stove, bring to boil and simmer.
works a treat.

Washing powder, boiling water, overnight.

Wow thanks for the quick responses. Since so many of you recommended the washing powder and hot water method I am going off to do that now. I will report back.

ttalloo - enjoyed Upstairs Downstairs, hope the nice young footman gets a second chance!

Good luck with the washing powder and hot water method - hope your pan comes up a treat.

(Was sad to see that the poor young footman didn't get a second chance, or was even replaced; in fact I was a bit startled (and disappointed because I liked Rachel) that they lost yet another nice member of staff tonight. Did enjoy it very much, though!)

Kim and Aggie used coca cola I think ...

Well hot water and wash powder improved things a bit but after two goes it is still not completely right.

Coca cola? Hmm - might try that next.

ttalloo - he's back!

Washing soda (nb this is not caustic soda!)
Costs about £1/bag.
Sprinkle some in, leave overnight, comes off pretty easily

I use astonish household paste and a spontex scourer for burnt on food.

I got both from tesco - they havent let me down yet!

I burnt jam this year in a stone pot, I tried everything, neat dishwasher powder, washing powder, coca boiled etc - eventually I used a bio friendly oven cleaner from Lakeland as I was going to have to throw it away anyway thought I had nothing to loose. Was amazed it worked, though was anal about the pan and ran it through the dishwasher about 6 times to make sure it was clear of anything ......

coca cola works a treat! leave it overnight and it rubs burn off, i should know...im a pro at burning stuff

Look just throw in some neat bleach and leave overnight. No scrubbing I promise.

Wouldn't be surprised if Coca Cola works too, we use it as a rust cleaner in our house.

Deglazing with vinegar can be quite effective too, works wonders on my risotto pan when i haven't stirred enough.

Did the washing powder trick on my Le Creuset and would say its damaged them. Seems to have taken a layer off.

Shazzam!!

The coca-cola did the trick. I put some in and brought it to the boil then left it to go cold. At first I thought it hadn't had any effect but when I started to rub at the pan with a sponge the remaining burnt marks lifted fairly easily.

Thank you ladies for your help.