Burnt pans - the bane of our existence. Well, those and pans getting rusty. Anyway, how many times have you accidentally left something on the stove just a bit too long (okay, or a ‘lot’ too long), only to come back to a smoking mess and a charred pan? We aren’t even going to mention the charcoal briquette that was once food.

Anyway, if you’ve ever burnt a pan then you know exactly how hard it can be to clean them. In fact, we won’t say that we haven’t tossed a pan or two just for that reason. But wait - you don’t have to! In fact, we have a remedy for you that just might save your next pan from disaster or being thrown in the trash!

So what is the super secret recipe behind burn-free pans? For that, we turn to TikTok creator Zoe, aka CaptainMumCleans! And the secret itself - a dishwasher pod! Yes, really, you won’t even have to run out for some crazy ingredients, especially if you already regularly use your dishwasher.

The idea here is to take the pod and chuck it into your pan and fill it with water, however high the burn goes so too should the liquid. Put it on your ‘hob’, aka your stove, and let the water heat up to boiling, then turn it off immediately and let it sit until cool. This will give the dishwasher pod the time and heat it needs to sink in deeply into the burnt-on stains.

Then just pour out the water, scrub a bit, and rinse! Voila, beautifully clean pan without the back-breaking labor of having to try and scrub as hard as you can. The idea behind how this works is pretty much the same as your dishwasher itself - the whole point is to get the dishes clean. Unfortunately in the dishwasher, the pod has to clean the entire thing and all the dishes inside, so your pan wouldn’t get the cleaning power it needs. Putting the pod directly into the pan allows it to soak up all of the strong cleaning liquid which in turn breaks down the burns.

Now, HUGE reminder from the comment section! This only works with stainless steel pans! If you manage to burn or ruin your nonstick pan then you are better off chucking it rather than risking exposure to the chemicals underneath!