How is your cookware looking these days? Shiny and sparkling or, like mine, tarnished by baked-on cooking spray and carbon build-up? Tackling our cookware is one of my projects for this winter and today’s post is all about how to clean your pots, pans, and baking sheets.
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How to Clean Your Pots, Pans, and Baking Sheets
While there are some powerful solvent cleansers on the market, this method is the best eco-friendly way I’ve found to restore dirty cookware to an almost new state.
- Place the piece you want to clean in an open sink or large tub.
- Liberally sprinkle baking soda over the stained parts of the pot, pan, or baking sheet.
- Lightly drizzle white vinegar over the baking soda and allow to sit for a minute or two.
- Use a nylon brush or scouring pad (I like ScotchBrite and ScrubDaddy) to work at removing the loosened residue.
- Repeat until all residue is gone.
Place pan in sink/tub 
Add baking soda 
Drizzle white vinegar 
Scrub and repeat! 
Effectiveness: Great! Very pleased with how the cookie sheet came out. These are used frequently and had 20+ years of buildup on them. While there are some scratches on the surface, virtually all residue came off. The only remaining bits are on the reverse side where a thin trough runs around the outer perimeter of the pan.
Difficulty: Moderate. Multiple applications and a good amount of elbow grease were required to get this result. After cleaning this first baking sheet, I remembered that we had scrub brushes that attach to Natty Guy’s drill. Using this in combination with a ScotchBrite makes the work A LOT easier.
Time Commitment: Moderate. It took about 20 minutes to get this result, taking little breaks between applications. And remember, this was 20+ years of build-up. Now that I know this method works, I’ll be a lot more diligent about keeping up with the maintenance on all our cookware.
Because I Know Someone’s Wondering
Am guessing that someone out there is thinking, why not just buy new? Well, for me:
- The cookware is still functional, it just looked bad.
- It’s less wasteful. And the older I get, the more cognizant I am of our role in the excess waste problem of the US. Sure, it’s a little thing. But it’s a positive step I can take to be more mindful of what we both consume and throw away.
- I had the time. Thanks, COVID! This project gave me something to do while watching a show and also taught me a great, new method for keeping ALL my cookware in better shape over the long run.
Until next time…keep cultivating a simple, stylish, and satisfying life!
