How to Clean Burnt Food Off Your Ceramic Cookware
People covet ceramic cookware for a reason. It distributes heat evenly, all while looking beautiful, and it makes you feel like a pro in the kitchen. But take your eyes off the stove for too long and that ceramic pan becomes a mess of burnt food, no matter what you’re making.
Although it’s okay to run ceramic cookware through the dishwasher, it’s not the best habit. Those beautiful colors will fade with repeated exposure to heat—it’s the same reason you shouldn’t exceed medium on the burner. Soaking your cookware for a few days doesn’t always do the trick, especially when you’re dealing with finicky residue like crusty cheese.
Watch: 5 Uses for Vinegar in Your Kitchen
Your secret weapons
Got residue that won’t budge after days of soaking? (We too have learned that cheese and ceramic cookware don’t mix the hard way.) It’s time to break out some super valuable team players. Although the materials differ, cleaning out a crusty ceramic pan is a lot like scrubbing down a glass stovetop: you can apply all the elbow grease you want, but you’ll need a chemical reaction or an abrasive substance to completely remove the burns. Enter your new best friends: baking soda, vinegar, and hydrogen peroxide.
First, assess the situation. Does this residue just need scrubbing with a little more texture, or are you dealing with a full-blown mess? If it’s the first scenario, you can likely clear it with baking soda, an abrasive sponge (like a Scrub Daddy) or dish brush, and some exerted pressure. If this situation is gonna require reinforcements, you’ll need to lift the mess with a fizzy substance like hydrogen peroxide or baking soda and vinegar, the best tag team of all time.
For stubborn stains, start with your fizzy solution of choice. The chemical reaction will lift most of the mess, meaning you can save your energy for the tough stuff. Any spots that withstood the fizz will need a mixture of abrasion and pressure. Pour baking soda over the burn, and make a paste by combining it with either water or dish soap. Then, press down hard or use circular motions until that grime is gone.
How to prevent food burns on ceramic cookware
Priming your ceramic cookware, especially pans, with butter or oil will help cut down on residue from burns. By creating a layer between the surface and the food, you’re preventing bits of food from getting stuck and leaving crust behind. Cooking spray and oils with lower smoke points, like olive oil, are likely to leave something behind, so it’s best to avoid them. You should also leave your burner on the lower side when you’re using ceramic ware on a stovetop. High temperatures are a sure-fire (pun intended) way to ensure burning food. Lastly, don’t try to multitask too much or abandon your ceramic cookware. Only you can prevent stovetop fires, so keep an eye on that pan.
