When I would look at my dutch oven before baking bread or stewing something, I thought it was simply hopeless how stained and dirty it was!
I do not use parchment anymore when baking sourdough, and I lightly grease the dutch oven so it would get splashed up and look dirty. Then roasting or stewing made it even worse!
I was so glad when I discovered that simple natural products we all have in our kitchens would clean these spotted, stuck on messes! Just a bit of vinegar and baking soda will do the trick!
Let’s get started!
The last time I made beans, I slightly scorched the bottom of my dutch oven (luckily the beans still tasted great), which stained the dutch oven even more! Look at that messy pot!!
Time to clean it!!
First, sprinkle a teaspoon of baking soda and a splash of vinegar until fizzy. Let it sit until it stops fizzing, about a minute or two. I already cleaned the bottom before I thought to snap a photo to share with you!
This was just after a few scrubs! Already much cleaner!
Needs a bit of elbow grease, but keep scrubbing. As I went around, if the dirty vinegar didn’t clean anymore, I dumped it out and added a bit more baking soda and vinegar and kept scrubbing. I did this all the way around.
I added a bit more baking soda and vinegar to the pot and scrubbed…scrubbed…scrubbed all the way around the sides and on the bottom! Takes a lot of elbow grease and a scrubber that won’t wreck the enamel coating!
Then I dumped that out and washed twice with hot soapy water. I rinsed it several times too. Look how clean! I was so surprised!
After I dried it, I can see a few spots that didn’t come clean, even after I tried scraping it gently so I don’t wreck the enamel coating, but that’s totally fine with me! Such a huge improvement!! Oh my goodness…I was so impressed!! Just look how great that is! I’ll do this every time it gets spotted from lots of use!
How to Clean Your Dutch Oven
Start with putting 1 teaspoon baking soda and 2 to 3 tablespoons vinegar in the dutch oven. Let sit a couple minutes until it is no longer fizzy. Start scrubbing.
If it’s not coming clean anymore, dump the dirty vinegar and sprinkle another spoon or half a spoon of baking soda and a splash of vinegar. Scrub. Repeat this until the dutch oven is clean.
Wash with hot soapy water. Rinse well and dry.
enjoy from Our City Homestead to yours