Cooking Tip: How to get Burnt Bits Off A Sauté or Skillet Pan

Cooking Tip: How to get Burnt Bits Off A Sauté or Skillet Pan

Ever had that stubborn grime on the bottom of your skillet or sauté pan? Sometimes when browning anything in a skillet pan we will get black or brown burnt remnants of the food stuck to the bottom of the pan. Frequently when using a skillet or sauté pan we like these burnt bits as it flavors and beautifully colors the food we are preparing.

It may seem impossible to remove these bits from the bottom of the pan and usually requires some elbow grease and steel wool to get the pan back too shiny and clean.

If you have ever slaved over a kitchen sink attempting to soak and scrape this off I have an easier way for you!

Deglaze the Pan!

Any liquid that has a high sugar content will work great. Wine and/or a pulp-less juice are two of my favorites to use. Here's how you do it....

While the pan is still hot on the stove turn up the heat and pour the sugary liquid in the pan so the entire bottom of the pan is covered. You will probably get a lot of steam rising from the pan and this is okay. With a deglazing spoon (Every chef should have one of these, it has a straight edge that easily scrapes the bottom of a pan's surface.) slowly scrape the burned bits off the bottom of the pan until they are freely floating in the remaining liquid. Once you get the bulk of the bits off discard the liquid.

To get the pan spotless use steel wool or an abrasive sponge to remove the remaining bits before letting the pan cool.

Note: Many recipes that have a sauce to prepare already incorporate the deglazing process when preparing a sauce!