1 cup of diet pepsi, turn up the heat & bring to a boil. Using a soft spatula, gently scrape the bottom & sides of the pan, wash with hot soapy water. ( It works because I just did it, my better half burned our good pot with curry!! It was black!!!....not anymore!!!).

The best way I've ever found is to put water in it and boil the water. A bit of detergent can be added, but often, that isn't needed. When the water is boiling, the burnt food comes off easily with a utensil.

Soaking the pan over night is my favorite. If you can get to the pan before the stain sets. Place the pan in the sunk under running hot water, add dish washing detergent and use a good abrasive scrubbing pad. Reheating the pan is another good trick. Not to hot but just enough to warm the pan to make the junk easier to remove.

Cleaning a burnt pan can be very tricky. The best way that works for me is to put some water into the pan and boil it with some baking soda. Keep repeating the process if you still have trouble getting the burnt stuff off.

Cover the burnt area with water and add 1-2 Tablespoons of Dishwasher detergent. After it soaks overnight the burnt food wipes right off.

It depends on if your pan is Teflon, cast iron, or stainless. Salt and a scouring pad works pretty well on cast iron and stainless. Make sure not to get your cast iron wet. NEVER scrub your Teflon. If boiling a little water in your Teflon pan doesn't loosen the burnt on pieces, then the safest thing to do is throw it away. Scratched Teflon can leach toxins into your food.

I don't know about baking soda, but a good steel or copper scouring pad will take almost anything off. Let it soak in a bath of hot water and dish soap for an hour or two before, if it's not coming off as easy as you'd like.

Barkeeper's Friend is a product I like to use to clean pots and pans

You want to get the really black stuff off? It depends what the pan is made from ...

Cola contains acid, and you can check that because it makes pennies bright and shiny. That acid also attacks your teeth, diet or "full fat", which is why my wife is now under orders from the dentist to stop drinking Pepsi Max ... yes, it helps cleaning.

If it is an iron or steel pan, you can resort to caustic soda solution (soak it overnight), but glass or aluminum will be damaged, and results are unpredictable on enamel pans.

If I burn a pan badly, I leave it outdoors for a week, then I try to clean it. If it is not perfect, I give it another week and try again. Mother nature gets rid of the black stuff gently and effectively - and she is way cheaper than the cleaners you get from the supermarket!

I like to leave mine soaking overnight with a few drops of dish detergent and about a tablespoonful of diet cola; you may have heard people say that cola removes stains from the toilet; I find that it definitely helps get off grease from my pans as well! It doesn't have to be diet, that is just the kind we usually have around our house.

Add an inch of water, a dash of baking soda, 1 drop of dishwasher detergent, and a few tablespoons of hyrdogen peroxide to the burnt pot. Boil for 15-20 minutes. The burnt parts should either scrub off easily or already be floating in the pot.