Inside: Dealing with another burnt pot or pan? Check out these easy tips on how to clean burnt pots. You can easily clean burnt pots and pans without all the elbow grease.

A couple of months ago I was cooking some pasta for dinner when I completely forgot I had it on the stove. I had a timer set but we have the worlds quietest timer so I didn't hear it go off until it was too late. My dog started acting really funny and when I went into the kitchen the pot was smoking.

The pasta was completely black on the bottom of the pot and I had to start dinner over again, but what I really was upset about was the pot. The pot was so burnt that I was afraid I had ruined it. This had happened one other time and I spent days scraping away at the pan.

I had heard of a few tricks for cleaning burnt pots and pans so I decided to give it a try. I kind of felt like I was doing a middle school science experiment, but it really did work. My pot is now clean and being used again. If you have ever wondered how to clean burnt pots without a bunch of scrubbing check out these tips below.

You can see below what my pot looked like in the beginning. It was covered with burnt gunk and still had pasta that was stuck around the edges. I started by letting mine soak in soapy water overnight.

In the morning I took the brush that I use on dishes and scrubbed the pot for a minute. It really didn't do much for the burnt gunk on the bottom of the pan but it did help with the pasta on the sides. Once I had some of the stuff broken loose I added 1 cup vinegar and 1 cup water to the pot and put it on medium heat.

I brought the vinegar mix to a boil and then dumped in 1/4 cup of baking soda. The mix foamed up just like a volcano science project but when it died down you could tell it had loosened some of the burnt on food.

You can see below how much better the pot looked after one time of the vinegar and baking soda. It was a huge improvement.

I used the scrub brush again to scrub away any loose stuff and then repeated the process again. Once I boiled the vinegar and dumped in the baking soda the burnt stuff was almost 100 percent gone.

There were a few small areas that needed a bit of scrubbing with a brush but overall it made a huge improvement. I was so happy to have my pot clean again. Plus, I didn't have to spend the day scrubbing away at the pot.

If you have burnt on food on your pots or pans I highly recommend using this easy trick to get rid of the burnt on gunk. It will make a big difference without a bunch of scrubbing. Check out how it looks after cleaning it.

Want some other easy cleaning tips? Check out the easiest way to remove baked on grease. It will get all your pots and pans shiny without the elbow grease.