Click here to learn what to do about a burned pot on Candidly Kendra Eats:
My husband only half believes that I’m a good cook. He knows that the results are good and gives me full credit for that, but he also hears all my exclamations from the kitchen:
“Oh, shoot, I accidentally doubled the salt!”
“Oh, no! I forgot the lemon zest!”
Aaah! I burned the food!”
As my mom always said, “Do as I say; not as I do!” So don’t for a minute think that I cook without mishap just because my recipes don’t tell the whole truth, which would look like, “Forget to add the salt; then add it in a panic right before baking.”
In fact, it was while I was cooking dinner last week – when I burned the marina sauce cooking in a pot on the stove that I realized that I have a gift. A gift I should share with you. The gift of knowing how to handle my mishaps.
So, when something starts to smell wrong in the kitchen, when you go to stir your pot on the stove and the spoon sticks, this is what you should do.
1. Stop everything and save your food
Immediately stop stirring the food.
If the food is already burning on the bottom, stirring it will only distribute that burned taste throughout the pot. Yuck! Instead, stop stirring immediately, dump the food into another pot and resume cooking.
(If you don’t have another pot, dump the food into a bowl, and move on to step 2. Then resume cooking in the clean pot after that.)
2. Clean your pot
While the pot is still hot, run hot water into the pot. When it cools, scrub with a rough sponge, or even better, scrape with a plastic scraper to clean the bottom of your pot.
If the pot is still caked with burned-on food particles you need to take one more step for a clean-like-new pot. Pour in 1-2 tbsp. dishwasher detergent. Add water to cover the burned area – at least 1 inch deep. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the water level. After the time is up, scrub your pot like normal and voila! Like new!
And now I hope that my misfortune (clumsiness?) will be your gain!
Are you a clumsy cook? What are your “mishaps in the kitchen” tips?
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