I wonder if something similar to this would clean my cookie sheets? They've got a funky residue around the edges from overspray when we use a non-stick product on them...

I think I need to forward this to my husband, who is known for burning things into the bottom of the frying pan.

@ChristinaWeedon I did the same with my cookie sheets, but only after letting them soak on the counter with, of all things, a dryer sheet in hot water. It helped loosen the grime a bit. Then I went after the rest with baking soda and vinegar. It didn't get all the gunk off, but it help a lot.

Vinegar and baking soda can be used to clean just about anything, as long as you remember *not* to combine them. That fizz in step 4 is the vinegar and baking soda reacting to make water and CO2, two compounds not known for their super cleaning powers. You may remember this little experiment from elementary school science class "volacanos." So, by all means heat your vinegar in the pan , but then empty it out before adding the baking soda. By adding the baking soda to the vinegar, though, you are just wasting both.

@greenward: Yeah, I always wondered about that. So many DIY cleaner recipes call for mixing things like borax (alkaline) and vinegar (acid). Doesn't that just neutralize everything?

One day I would really like to see a good chemistry-based set of green cleaning tips.

I think a lot people think the fizz means it's "working" :)

@Chronosynclastic: You are right about the neutralizing effect. I use creme' of tartar as a cleaner for my copper cook wear and it works great as a paste in cleaning off metal baking dishes. It seems to work better than baking soda. It does cost more but it cleans better and I use less of it than baking soda.

This is amazing. Thank you.

I tried this today...after a distracted morning at the stove where I burnt both bacon and potatoes. So I had two frying pans to clean. I only had apple cider vinegar and only a little of that so I used the boiling method on the worst pan. Using the advice from other comments, dumped the boiling mixture before adding the baking soda. The pan now looks cleaner on the inside than it does on the outside! I just used hot water and baking soda on the second pan and was also amazed by how easy it was to clean. I think baking soda is the key here. I'll be trying it on everything I have to clean from now on :) but I'll also be more careful when cooking breakfast haha

No chemicals used? The active ingredient in vinegar is acetic acid, and baking soda is sodium hydrogen carbonate. Inexpensive, relatively harmless, well working chemicals. They'll clean just about anything.

i really needed this! my husband keeps burning stuff into the pans and leaving me to clean the mess. I was beginning to think I'd never get all of
them clean again!

I always just use water and baking soda, no vinegar. Just put some baking soda (sort of a lot)(like 1/2 cup or so) and some water in the pan and bring to the boil, then simmer for a while. Then, turn it off and leave to cool. The stuff comes off like a miracle, with no scrubbing.

I just use baking soda. Add water to the pot/pan, add a good amount of baking soda and bring to a boil and let simmer for a while. Be careful, it easily boils over and you'll have a big mess on your hands. Let cool until you can stick your hands in it without burning yourself and scrub with the hard part of a sponge. You won't need to scrub much. It's less work than the instructions above. Unless the food is seriously burnt, it comes right off during the simmering part.

Sorry, I hadn't read all the comments. Dulcibella had already said how it's done much more easily.

Thank you I have plenty of pans to try this on

I can almost always get stuck or burned stuff off the bottom of a pan by dampening it and sprinkling baking soda over it, being sure there's enough water that it isn't dry on the top. Then I put the lid on the pan and do something else. I don't know how long it takes because I usually leave it until the next morning. Most things scrub right up, some require a repeat. I'm told that hydrogen peroxide rather than water will ramp that up a bit, but I haven't tried it.

I can't wait to try this. My wrists always get so tired of scrubbing so hard with just regular dish soap. Thank you for this tip!

That was incredible! My wife burnt a pot while having a shower yesterday pretty bad, so of course being me, I wanted to try and clean it rather than replace it. I boiled apple cider vinegar and water together (about half and half) for about a minute, drained the pot, and sprinkled the bottom of the pot with baking soda. It then came off by simply wiping it clean with a washcloth. Amazing! I had been trying to scrape it off just prior.

The acetic acid in vinegar will do little for the carbon on the frying pan. The baking soda won't do much chemically on the carbon, but it will physically as an abrasive. What is really going on is the green scratch pad as the bigger abrasive.

I suggest a little inexpensive oven cleaner with some lye (Sodium Hydroxide). Warm the pan to about 150F, NOT HOT. Spray a little of the cleaner on. DON'T BREATHE THE FUMES.Then clean using rubber gloves wipe away the gunk.

Then follow up with the green scratch pad to remove the fine layer of saturation on the pan. Re-Season the Pan.

There are a lot of comments behind the chemical reactions; however, I did it to the 'T' and it definitely worked. It's the cleanest pan I have right now. Thank you so much for the walkthrough pictures, that what made me convinced this will definitely work.However, I still had to seriously sit there and scrub. But it was worth it ;)

THIS WORKS WONDERS!
i was babysitting and cooking. i burnt the pan, an emeril pan! very expensive. well i was looking up ways to clean it up so it looked good as new, and stumbled across this. life saver. it looks fabulous. so happy i saw this. thank you!

Acetic acid breaks down proteins so it works brilliantly on milk products like cheese. So no more terror of mac & cheese casseroles!

Thank-you for the the information about cleaning pots, I've had this pot hanging around for a week and both my partner and I tried to get this clean. My daughter suggested boil water and baking soda, didn't work. I tried the boiled vinegar then dump it out and then I started scouring with baking soda and WOW I couldn't believe my eyes when that black, burnt milk started coming off. Happy Holidays and thanks again!

unfortunately, no chemical or method that i have tried will do the trick (bleach, soaking, hot water, freezing, borax, baking powder, vinegar, CLR, rubbing alcohol, peroxide, ammonia, oils/rubs of any kind, no otc overpriced product or any combination thereof will have even a remote effect.
i have removed the thickest, most baked on crusty gunk from stove surfaces and grates successfully using my exacto knife and a steel brush. neither will scratch the stove grates (make sure to test on the underside just to be sure).