This is how I clean my enamel cookware:

To say I love my cast iron enamel cookware is an understatement. Over time I have managed to pick up a few and each one is a highly used favorite. While I do not consider myself a great chef, I do cook regularly……night after night after night……for my family of 6 people.

I highly recommend these types of pans; they are great for making sauces, soups and stews. I also use mine to roast chicken, make pulled pork and even bake bread.I have two large pots, 2 deep frying pans, a grill pan and I recently bought a smaller pot to use for vegetables and smaller sized dishes.

I have both Le Creuset and Staub which are both very high quality and rather expensive French brands. However, I am a cheap skate with expensive taste and I do not like to pay full price. All of mine have been purchased as sale items in outlets (which is why the colors do not match) and I plan on having these forever.Recently I realized how dirty my favorite pan had become.  My husband insists that my kids take turns at washing pots after dinner every evening, but I think that their standards are lower than I would like them to be. There was quite the build up of grime.If you look on their website Le Creuset tell you to let the pot cool and then wash with hot soapy water.  Unfortunately after repeated use, a buildup occurs which requires more elbow grease to get it off.  Le Creuset make a product which works really well. However, it is rather expensive ($25) and frustratingly mine separated, solidified and became unusable. It got old as I didn’t use it up in time.

My Method:

I decided to take matters into my own hands. I happened to have a box of gentle pot scrubbers (similar to BrilloPads) under my kitchen sink. These pot scrubbers are easy to find at any grocery store and extremely inexpensive.Wet the pot scrubber slightly and then rub in a gentle circular motion.  The pot scrubber does most of the work for you.  I used it mainly on the outside and bottom of my pans, as this was where there was a large build up of burnt yuckiness making my pans look neglected and unloved.   It is very important to wear rubber gloves, as the steel sponge and the soap are very hard on your hands.The inside of the Staub pots are black, so stains are not as noticeable. To clean these I made a paste of baking soda and water and scrubbed gently with my gloved hands.  This gently exfoliates the inside of the pan and works really effectively. The Le Creuset Pots are cream inside. This makes them so very beautiful to look at when they are new, but unfortunately it means that the pesky stains and discoloration become so much more visible.  In this instance I decided to use the pot scrubber which worked really well and took the stains out easily. I was a little nervous that I would scratch the enamel so I used it very gently and it seems to be fine.In full disclaimer, I decided to use this method to clean my pots and pans at my own risk.  It is not actually recommended by the manufacturer.  They recommend a much more gentle approach.

I needed something more powerful. It has been a while since I used this method and I have not had any issues with my pans.

This is a method I use to deep clean my enamel cookware, maybe twice a year. They looked so much better after I was done.  It took about and hour to do my four dirtiest pots and it was so worth it.

Thanks for spending time here today,

Criona ♥