On Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:21:44 -0600, Damsel in dis Dress
> wrote:

>I can barely see my monitor through the smoke. LOL!
>
>I turned a burner on to heat water for tea a little while ago. After
>a few minutes, I noticed a burned smell, but chalked it up to the oven
>being on for heat.
>
>Then the smell got very strong. Shit! I had turned the burner on
>under the rice leftover from last night's dinner. Thankfully, the lid
>was on the pan, because the rice was on fire.
>
>Took the pan outside to cool, and to reduce the amount of smoke in the
>house. Brought it back in, and man, is it black inside that thing!
>
>What's the best (easiest) way to get the burn stains out of the pan?
>Oven cleaner, maybe? We're dealing with stainless steel Revere Ware
>with a copper bottom, if that helps.

Put a whole bunch of baking soda in water into the pan and let it soak
for an hour... then empty it out and put in a half-inch of water and a
bunch more baking soda and start scrubbing. The baking soda softens
the gunk and acts as a mild abrasive. I'm glad that you just burned
the pot and not your whole kitchen! I turned the wrong burner on on
our stove a few times lately, but luckily I was standing right there
and realised before any damage was done.