This tip is straight from my mom this morning.  She told me that yesterday she was boiling some sugar water for her hummingbird feeder and got distracted and left the syrup boiling on the stove until all that was left was black burnt-on sludge on the bottom of her pan.  It was so bad that she actually threw the pot away.

Apparently, my dad rescued the pot and suggested she google it and this is what she came up with:

Put about an inch of water in the pan plus about 1 T of dishwasher gel detergent, 2-3 T of hydrogen peroxide, and a sprinkle of baking soda (no measuring of any of this). Simmer the pan for 10-15 minutes.  Then I fill the pan with cool water, poured it out, and admire your clean pan!

It actually worked as well as it sounds here and she was just raving  – so I thought I’d pass this on.