Winter is definitely a season to love with its cozy evenings when we enjoy endless cups of tea after a day spent out walking in a snow-covered forest. But the thing we most like about winter is that now we can finally get our favorite Dutch ovens out and fill the house with the smell of slowly stewing comfort food.
However, months of negligence could make our cooking pot quite begrimed. Therefore, you may want to turn to these recommendations to make your favorite cookware pristine clean again before cooking all those dishes which make our fall and winter dinners unforgettable.
How To Clean Your Dutch Oven
The recommendations below according to cookwareinsider.com will help you remove persistent stains, scorch marks and grease from enameled cast-iron Dutch ovens. If you aspire to get the best results, you really must thoroughly clean and dry it after each and every time you cook in it. This way you won’t find yourself with a massive cleaning job when the winter comes to an end. However, you shouldn’t be so meticulous about making your enameled cookware spotless –any Dutch oven gets a little discoloration over time.
Hot Water and Dish Soap: If you only have small stains and bits of food stuck to it, apply some dish soap and hot water to clean the exterior, lid, and interior of the cookware. If the pan is very dirty, you can add dish soap and boiling water to it and leave it overnight with the lid on – this may facilitate loosening any stains.
Baking Soda Paste:You may try applying a thick paste made of baking soda and water to any discolorations or scorch marks the cookware has. Leave the paste on for 15 minutes or up to an hour, then delete the stain scrubbing. You can do it on both the exterior and interior of a Dutch oven.
Baking Soda and Boiling Water: Pour half a Dutch oven of water and put several tablespoons of baking soda, bring it to a boil for five minutes, use a wooden spoon to scrape away any stubborn food. After the oven has cooled enough to take it with hands, clean it with soap and water.
Baking Soda and Vinegar: You may try applying a paste of baking soda and water spreading it evenly on the Dutch oven, inside or out. Let it sit until the paste almost dries. After that, spray white vinegar onto your pan. The mix will bubble up making scrubbing the dirt away much easier.
Baking Soda and Peroxide: You may use some hydrogen peroxide mixed with a few teaspoons of baking soda. Boil the mixture at low heat for 10 minutes, then scrub away any stubborn stains with a heat-resistant scrub brush.
Bar Keeper’s Friend: Bar Keeper’s Friend contains oxalic acid which can help remove stuck-on food and scorch marks from any enameled cast-iron.
Self-Cleaning Oven: When you see that all your efforts were in vain, put your Dutch oven (without a lid) into a self-cleaning oven and the machine will do its magic. When the cycle is finished, wait until it is cold enough and wipe away any ash or residue left. This one is really harsh, so you should avoid resorting to it as long as you can.
What You Should Never Use With Your Dutch Oven
Enameled cast-iron Dutch ovens are quite durable. Still there are some things which can destroy them much faster than you would want that.
Steel Wool: Steel wool will definitely scratch the enamel of any Dutch oven, which will make food stick and slowly but surely reduce the quality of your pan over time. What you should use is plastic or nylon scrubbers.
Metal Utensils: Likewise, you should avoid using metal utensils, spatulas among them, to scrape food and stains off when you wash your enameled cast-iron oven.
Citrus-Based Cleaners: Citrus-based cleaners are not a good choice either, as they will inevitably dull the shine of your cookware.
Nina Smith 
Kim Marks 