It’s soup season, which means my bright red Martha Stewart cast-iron Dutch oven pretty much lives on my stovetop. I just made a double batch of lentil soup the other day for a light dinner and plenty of leftovers. The leftovers made it into the fridge, but unfortunately, I put the heavy lid back on the Dutch oven, and it never quite made it to the sink.
I don’t think I need to tell you that seeing dried-on lentils the next morning wasn’t nearly as appetizing as the soup was.
Normally, I would’ve filled the pot with sudsy hot water and left it to soak for a few hours — but I wanted to make more soup, so I decided to tackle it sooner rather than later. I started to reach for my go-to cleaner, Bar Keepers Friend, but then I remembered seeing something even easier on The Kitchn: You can clean your Dutch oven with baking soda.
Now, I know that baking soda is a great natural cleanser and deodorizer. When it comes to dirty pots, though, I usually reach for something stronger and get in an arm workout to boot. But in the interest of saving some energy, I decided to give the baking soda trick a try.
What Happened When I Cleaned My Dutch Oven with Baking Soda
This method can really be used for any dirty pot, but it’s especially good for Dutch ovens. All you do is bring four cups of water to a boil in the dirty pot, then add 2 tablespoons of baking soda, and scrape the pot with a wooden spoon. I doubled the “recipe” so I could fill up my 7-quart Dutch oven at least halfway.
Once the water started boiling, I added the baking soda. I’m glad I didn’t add more water, because the baking soda made the water foam up to almost the top before it settled down and continued to fizz. I turned the heat down to a simmer and grabbed a wooden spoon. As the solution simmered away, I scraped the spoon along the bottom and the sides, much like I did when I was actually making the soup.
After a few minutes, I turned off the heat completely and carefully dumped the water down the drain. I had no worries at all doing so — hot water and baking soda are good for clearing out and deodorizing drains, so I really felt like I was getting a 2-for-1 deal here.
I was happy to see that the baking soda and boiling water cleaned up all the gunk in my Dutch oven. I sprinkled a bit more baking soda on the bottom of the pot and scrubbed a little more, hoping to remove some of the staining from previous meals. It did lighten the stains in some spots, which just goes to show what a powerhouse cleaner baking soda is! I gave the pot a good rinse, and it was ready for another batch of soup in no time.
I tried the baking soda hack recently in my slow cooker, too, after making barbecue chicken. I filled the pot about a third of the way with water this time, then added baking soda and set the timer to 30 minutes on low to get the water simmering. It didn’t bubble up like it did when the water was boiling, but the steam and the baking soda worked well enough to loosen up the barbecue sauce and other bits and pieces.
I’m really trying not to let dirty pots and pans linger in the sink for too long, so I will definitely be using this technique again. While it does take about 15 minutes to clean a pot, it’s a mostly hands-off process. I also love that I save a lot of water that would have otherwise gone into soaking the pot or scrubbing it. I put the open box of baking soda in the back of my fridge to freshen things up and called it a day.
Have you tried this trick to clean your Dutch oven? Let us know your favorite method in the comments below!