How To Clean Baked-On Grease Off Of Your Roasting Pans

Nothing quite advertises your gusto in the kitchen like cookware studded with stubborn stains. There are cooking pots browned with years of stew-making, wooden spoons with heat marks from resting on the edge of skillets, and roasting pans with baked-on grease from multiple meals. You can, of course, lean into this esthetic and leave it be, but if you are the type who needs your kitchen to be at least occasionally sparkling, we have a cleaning method to help you resurrect your much-loved roasting pans.

Baking soda and heat will be your allies in this endeavor. Fill the stained roasting pans with water (or submerge them underwater in a giant pot), sprinkle a good amount of baking soda into the water, then place the pan over heat. Let the water simmer for at least 20 minutes. Then, roll up your sleeves and exert some elbow grease, because it is time to scrub the pans in the sink with some soap and a good-quality scrubbing sponge. Depending on how old the stains on your pan are, it's possible for them to lift almost immediately.

So, how do baking soda and heat work to clean your roasting pans? It's important to first understand how stains develop. When cooking regularly with fats on metal cookware, something called polymerization takes place. Essentially, the fat molecules form strong bonds with the metal via repeated heating. This may sound familiar — it is exactly what is called for when seasoning a cast iron pan. However, with other pans that are not black in color, this seasoning becomes visible, especially when done unintentionally through spills, splatters, and overflows that get cooked onto the metal.

Baking soda helps to loosen these bonds by neutralizing acidic food stains with its alkaline properties. Baking soda also helps at the scrubbing stage by acting as an abrasive substance that can cut through different kinds of grime. Just remember not to use steel wool or the like to scrub your pans, which may leave scratches on the surfaces of your cookware.

You will likely never regain the sparkle of a brand new roasting pan, but there are a few ways to prevent the buildup of stains on your pans. The ideal method is to clean as you go, so as to not allow the stains to settle onto the surface of your pan. That said, it's not always possible to stay on top of cleaning, especially if you have a busy schedule. In those cases, try to at least submerge the stained pan in water until you do have time to clean. This softens the cooked-on food and makes the pan easier to clean — if you've ever tried to clean a dirty pan left out overnight, unsoaked, you would know what a difficult task it is!

Another way is to prevent any contact between the food and the surface of the pan from the start. Line the roasting pan with aluminum foil before placing the ingredients to be cooked. This is especially useful if the dish being prepared is particularly greasy, like roast chicken parts or bacon strips. Then, after cooking, simply remove the  aluminum foil along with all the grease collected at the bottom of the pan. With any luck, all the pan will need then is a simple quick rinse.