Please save my favorite casserole dish!

[joannqn]

I made bbq chicken wings in it a few days ago. The chicken was perfect, but the sauce burned to the side of the dish. It's been soaking for three days now and is still rock hard. I can't even scrub it off with the scrubbing side of the sponge.

[frugalmama]

Have you tried these: http://makeyourowncleaners.com/cleaning-pots.html

 

Also, I've found a good stuff brush works wonders - I use a floor scrubbing brush on really bad jobs.

[swellmomma]

Fill the dish with water and add some lemon juice to it, if it fits in the microwave pop it in there for a few minutes and then let it sit with the steam for 10-15 minutes, if not pop it in the oven for a while. Drain it in the sink and then scrub again. If that doesn't work use an S.O.S. pad, I rarely do because I do not want to damage the dishes, but if your choice is a few scratches or toss the pan, I would rather have a few scratches.

[bbkaren]

If it's really your favorite, and you don't mind spending a couple dollars, TSP (tri-sodium phosphate) can be bought at home depot, lowes, etc. in most states. It's generally used to clean the walls of a house in preparation for painting. Make sure you get the red box, not the green (that's "phospate-free TSP" which defeats its own purpose).

 

For a mess like you've got, I'd put the dish in the sink and add maybe a teaspoon or so (for, say, a 1.5 qt. casserole - more if it's bigger) add a small squirt of dish soap and fill it up with water.

 

Let it sit for a day or two and you should see the black layer peel right off. If you don't, add some more TSP and let it sit again.

 

I have yet to find a burned-on mess that can defeat a TSP soak.

 

I also add 1/2 of a teaspoon to each dishwasher load now that phosphates have been removed from detergents; it eliminates the cloudy mess on my glassware and the stuck-on food that would normally have been washed away but now stays on the dishes.

[sgo95]

I use cobber scrubbers like these. I don't notice if they scratch my pans (if they do they're not noticeable in my pans) but it's the only way I've found to remove baked/burned on gunk.

[Bluezoo5]

If it's the same type of ceramic like Corning Ware, oven cleaner works wonders. It saved one of my own casserole dishes not too long ago after I read the tip somewhere online. (and it didn't hurt the finish)

[sweetbasil]

Pour in some dishwashing detergent WITH phosphates, if you have it, add boiling water, cover, soak overnight. You can also pop it into the oven and bake it (at a low temp) with the water in it, and that's really effective.

 

Dishwashing detergent works every time for me.

[happypamama]

Maybe a stiff brush, like you would use on cast iron, would work? Also, the Pampered Chef scrapers are really great for getting off stuck-on food. Maybe some baking soda?

[Unicorn.]

Baking soda works great. Sometimes I use salt too, but I would try baking soda first.

[joannqn]

I have oven cleaner. So I took it into the garage and sprayed it there so it doesn't kill me. That makes sense, too, because it's the same kind of rock hard stuff you find stuck to the bottom of the oven. It looks and feels like lava rock.

 

I have no car until later, and then I'm having a party so I can't get TSP today.