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Try your washing powder, Susie. Put quite a thick layer on and dampen it. Then leave it for 24 hrs if necessary. You can tell when it's starting to lift - the powder discolours. Then heat it gently and scrape it or scrub it.

Another alternative, if you trust it to be able to withstand high temperatures, which a preserving pan should, shouldn't it?, is to carbonise the burnt contents i.e. sit it on a high heat and leave it until the burnt contents burn off. Bit drastic and lots of horrid smoke but it works. I've only done it once though and that was on a cast iron pan.

Sprinkle bicarb on it and add a little water to make a paste and leave it on. It works a treat!

I second the bicarb paste option - it will shift the most stubborn burnt on stains. For any bits that don't shift try rubbing it with a hard lump of bicarb.

Susie,

I burnt jam onto my pan, and I bicarbed it!!

Good Luck

Nikki

Try cleaning a bit, if it doesn't shift leave it for longer.

If bicarb and water doesn't work, try bicarb and vinegar. I suggest leaving it over night and then give it a gentle scratch with a round bladed knife. If it doesn't shift, try again, leaving it overnight again. I had to do this every day for a week after my last batch of chutney but it has come up beautifully again now.

Zoe

I don't know if my info is outdated or if the bicarb neutralizes it, but I've been taught not to use vinegar in aluminium pans.

Never use aluminum pans, so there you go....

Jandra

I use a concentrated orange oil based cleaner for things like this.
Let it soak over night if necessary.

no smoke, no chemical reaction, great smell.

Use a piece of pumice.

Jandra wrote:I don't know if my info is outdated or if the bicarb neutralizes it,
Jandra

We put vinegar and bicarb in a plastic container and make volcanos!

You must be able to use vinegar in an aluminium preserving pan - how else do you make chutney. It's a bit scary though - maybe you should think about that shiny new stainless steel one Susie.

Good thinking Batman

Yes you do!

I thought vinegar was a no-no in COPPER preserving pans, which are just for jams. I've no idea what my preserving pan is made from - I suspect stainless steel though. Though when I make jam I usually just use a huge heavy based SS saucepan which is a bit lighter and easier to handle - doesn't have a silly bucket type handle in the way of skimming off scum!

Science to the rescue. Acetic acid DOES react with aluminium to produce Aluminium Acetsomethingorother. However, the vinegar in your preserving pan can't find any aluminium to react with. Raw aluminium, on contact with air, forms a coating of aluminium oxide, and that does NOT react with the vinegar. So, as long as you don't scour your pan with steel wool and then immediately make your chutney, you're protected by that oxide layer.

Don't Panic!

Mike

As I do very little scouring of anything, ever, there's not much risk of that Mike. But, as usual, thanks for the info - it just reinforces my theory that elbow grease is bad for you, not just your elbows