How to Clean Burnt Grease from Bottom of Frying Pans

How to clean burnt grease from bottom of frying pans? Well, that is the question that comes to mind whenever you see burnt grease at the bottom of your frying pan or skillet.

So, what to do? Is my skillet totally ruined beyond all repair? I hear you ask! Don’t worry, it’s not completely destroyed.

You’ll just need to clean the bottom of your frying pan to be rid of the brown grease.

There are several different ways to clean the bottom of a frying pan. For instance, you can use vinegar, baking soda, ketchup, salt, etc. to clean the gunk from under your skillet.

Let’s discuss them in detail.

How to Clean Burnt Grease from Bottom of Frying Pans

Having a frying pan with a burnt underside can be quite problematic. The reason why this happens is that your cooking oil has burnt the grease underneath, thus preventing proper cooking.

It might seem impossible to remove all that greasy mess from your frying pan. Even hours and hours of scrubbing can prove ineffective against the grease. But, if you have the proper knowledge about the matter, you can easily clean your skillet. And that’s what we are here to discuss.

To clean the bottom of your frying pan, you’ll first need to gather all the necessary tools for this procedure.

Here are the items you will need to perform the cleaning task:

• Sea salt
• Baking Soda
• Vinegar (White)
• Scrubbing pad/brush
• Dish Soap
• Ketchup
• Toothbrush

The various methods of removing burnt grease from the bottom of a frying pan are illustrated below:

1. Baking Soda

Baking soda is an extremely versatile substance that’s highly effective in removing grease from frying pans. Here are the steps for removing grease by using baking soda:

• Mix baking soda with hydrogen peroxide and water. Add some dawn to it if you can.
• Use the scrubbing pad to apply this mixture to the bottom of your skillet.
• Thoroughly move the scrubbing pad around the bottom of the pan and make sure the paste gets into every nooks and cranny.
• Let it sit for half an hour. And once the paste gets all dried up, scrub the paste out using a toothbrush.

2. White Vinegar

The grease is bound to form on the outside part of your frying pan. This is especially true if you use the pan on a regular basis.

But the good news is that you can use white vinegar to remove that grease. And white vinegar is a common household item. So, this method shouldn’t be that difficult for you.

Here are the steps you need to follow:

• Take a large bucket that can fit the frying pan inside.
• Mix white vinegar with water with a ratio of 1:2.
• Submerge the skillet inside the mixture and let it sit for 30-40 minutes.
• If the grease persists, keep it submerged for an additional 20 minutes.

3. White Vinegar, Dish Washer Liquid, and Baking Soda

Both of the cleaning agents that we have described so far are effective in their own right. But you know what will make an even more powerful cleaner?

All you have to do is mix those two with some dishwashing liquid. Here’s what you need to do:

• Cover the frying pan’s surface with baking soda.
• Pour a few drops of white vinegar and a few drops of dishwashing liquid over the frying pan’s bottom surface.
• Let it sit for a few minutes.
• Wash the surface with a wet sponge.

4. Ketchup

So, now that you’ve got all the basic cleaning agents covered, you just need to learn about some unorthodox ways to clean greasy frying pans. I’m sure you didn’t know that ketchup could be used to clean frying pans.

Fair warning! This method only works if the pan only has a thin layer of burnt grease on it. I’ve tried using this technique and I was successful in this endeavor. Here are the steps:

• Cover the entire bottom surface of the skillet in ketchup.
• Let it sit overnight. It takes a lot of time for the ketchup to remove the burnt grease.
• Scrub the surface and then rinse it.

5. Salt

If you have some kosher salt (coarse) lying around in the kitchen, then you can use it to clean your fry pan.

• Sprinkle some kosher salt on the greasy surface.
• Add some lemon juice or soapy water to it.
• Cut a potato in half and use it to scrub the surface and once you’re done rinse it.

6. White Vinegar and Salt

Another way to clean greasy coating from your skillets is to use a mixture of white vinegar and salt. This method is quick and easy. This method works best if you mix a little bit of dishwashing liquid into it.

• Keep the skillet soaked in white vinegar for more than an hour.
• Pour the kosher salt over it and add a few drops of dishwashing liquid.
• Vigorously scrub the bottom surface.

7. Oven Cleaner  

I bet you didn’t know that oven cleaner can be used to clean grease from kitchen appliances. Although most people hesitate to use oven cleaner to clean skillets, it’s actually quite effective at removing stubborn grease.

Here is how you can use it to clean your frying pan’s bottom surface:

• At first, take the spray bottle filled with oven cleaner spray it all over the bottom surface of the skillet.
• Leave it like this overnight (for at least 12 hours). This will give the oven cleaner enough time to break down the grease particles.
• After that, use a scrub to clean the loosened grease. You can use a damp cloth or a sponge for that.
• After you’re done scrubbing, you have to thoroughly wash the frying pan so that no burnt grease is left on its bottom surface.

Tips for Cleaning Burnt Grease of Frying Pans

If you want to keep your frying pan in the best possible condition, you should follow the tricks given below:

• You should soak the skillet in water as soon as you’re done cooking your meal. This will make it easy for you to clean the grease.
• Put a coat of ketchup on the surface of the frying pan in order to make it shiny.
• Refer to the instruction manual and follow the instructions given by the manufacturer in order to maintain your frying pan properly.

Final Thoughts

So, did you find our methods of cleaning burnt grease interesting and helpful? Hopefully, our guide on how to clean burnt grease from bottom of frying pans has helped you understand that the process is not as complicated as it seems.

But we should warn you, it might not work on the first try and you may need to use different techniques to accomplish this task. Still, you should remember, no matter how tough the grease is, it will definitely break down at some point.