OT - burned pan

It's only burned sugar: fill the pot with water and leave to soak - for several days. Change the water and give it a scrub now and again.

You could try putting a paste of baking soda and water in the bottom of the pan and letting it sit for a day or so, making sure it stays wet. I've had good results from putting dishwasher detergent and water in my pans and letting them soak. I try to avoid scrubbing, especially with anything abrasive since it damages the surface. I will use an old credit card, though, and have found lots of clumps of glop will pop off when approached from the side after they have soaked a while.

You may not have been aware of it, but I actually invented the New Orleans "blackened" style of cooking. I have been doing it for many years, much longer than those young upstart chefs. Why, I even invented blackened toast!!

First, try just boiling it out with water and a squirt of dish soap. Otherwise, got some dishwasher detergent? If so, put about 1/4 cup in the pot, and fill with water to slightly above the char line. Boil for awhile, while writing "I think I won't do this again"

200 times. A little steel wool or green scrubbie, perhaps a second go with boiling with dishwasher detergent... should do it.

If you don't have dishwasher detergent, try baking soda (use lots) or washing soda (use not quite so much) or TSP + dish soap + boiling.

Why are you cooking the humming bird food? Just dissolve I part sugar to

3 parts HOT water. Don't add food coloring. The hummers will never know the difference but if they say anything tell them I said don't be so picky. Dot, the Tennessee Hillbilly

Put in enough water to cover the charred stuff and bring it to a boil.

While using skillets as lids for other skillets, I have discovered that distilled water that condenses right on the stain is the ultimate solvent.

Joy Beeson

Dot, I've read a couple of times that the sugar water won't sour as fast if it's boiled, then allowed to cool before using (of course!), so I cook mine too. Even so, in hot weather I clean and refill the feeders at least every other day.

As for cleaning the scorched pot, may I please put in a plug for Bar Keepers Friend, similar to Comet cleanser but oh so much better. First time I tried it, I was longing to buy some very old glass drawer pulls in a thrift store but they were encrusted with rust in the screw holes. The clerk told me BKF would take the rust out...and it did. I was amazed! Since then I've used it for everything...metal marks and rust on porcelain, burned pots, etc. It polishes stainless steel like you wouldn't believe.

Doreen in Alabama

Instructions I use say the mold in the feeders is a result of stuff carried there by the birds (on their bills), and boiling the water will do nothing to impede this, although it will reduce the amount of chlorine. It's crucial to change the feeders OFTEN and clean them thoroughly.

I use very hot water (hot water dispenser at 190 degrees), dissolve the sugar by stirring, and clean my feeders EVERY day with a bleach solution. I never use food coloring. I have two feeders up at all times, and rotate a third one in when I change the syrup.

I have at least four pairs visiting on a regular basis, and probably several singles, too. I don't have a problem with mold.

Aren't they wonderful creatures? Worth all the work. We have nine feeders, and they're all busy...I think we're on a flyway, and some of the hummers on their way from Louisiana to the East coast stay just for a while, others spend the summer and hatch two sets of babies.

This picture of five female ruby throats, with a sixth coming in from the right, isn't as sharp as I'd like, because it was taken through double-glazed window and screen:

in Alabama

Caution, if you can't remember to take something off the stove you wanted, you might be even more likely to forget the boiling soap. My mother swears by this technique, she's a rather distracted cook when she gets into calligraphy. But the smell of burnt soap is worse than any food you might have been cooking. My mother always wonders how I know she's burned something when I go into her kitchen, even days after the soap burning incident.

Joy

Hi All,

I'm new to the group, though not to sewing (over 30 years). I had to laugh when I saw your message about boiling sugar water for the hummingbirds. I did the same thing yesterday, only I left it long enough to catch on fire, smoke up the house and set off the smoke detector. I've always just mixed sugar and hot water, and I think I'll stick to that from now on. They are amazing little things. One has gotten so territorial, he's even chasing the bigger birds (Titmice, Chickadees), and they RUN.

Juliette in Texas

snipped-for-privacy@cybermesa.net wrote:

Hi All,

I'm new to the group, though not to sewing (over 30 years). I had to laugh when I saw your message about boiling sugar water for the hummingbirds. I did the same thing yesterday, only I left it long enough to catch on fire, smoke up the house and set off the smoke detector. I've always just mixed sugar and hot water, and I think I'll stick to that from now on. They are amazing little things. One has gotten so territorial, he's even chasing the bigger birds (Titmice, Chickadees), and they RUN.

Juliette in Texas

snipped-for-privacy@cybermesa.net wrote:

Possibly related to a male that used to be at a friend's house. She called him Atila the Hum.