Marmalade disaster - carbon in the pan!

Astrolabe

Time to 'fess up and ask for help - I made my first batch of marmalade several weeks ago, followed Delia's receipe almost to the letter, but boiled it too hard for slightly too long. Result = thick layer of burnt stuff on the bottom of the pan, and six jars of what could best be described as "smokey" marmalade. My husband assures me he'll eat it...bless him.

So far I've tried soaking it repeatedly in a bio washing powder solution, boiling it up again with washing up liquid, then carefully chipping away at the black stuff til i ruined the end of a plastic veg peeler. Enough. No more Mr(s) Nice Guy. What else can I try? (The jam pan was a Christmas present and I am loath to take a brillo pad to it). I have been staring at it lurking on my worktop for weeks now, with its grotty bottom staring blackly back at me. Help please!

squeaky

Direct from the Cleaning scetion of our indexes we have...

Pans:
- Burnt on rice
- Burnt Porridge
- Burnt pan...what to use?

I hope they help

janb5

Astrolabe wrote:

Time to 'fess up and ask for help - I made my first batch of marmalade several weeks ago, followed Delia's receipe almost to the letter, but boiled it too hard for slightly too long. Result = thick layer of burnt stuff on the bottom of the pan, and six jars of what could best be described as "smokey" marmalade. My husband assures me he'll eat it...bless him.

So far I've tried soaking it repeatedly in a bio washing powder solution, boiling it up . Help please!

Astrolabe- what is the pan made of before we offer any suggestions?

beemuzed

Years ago I turned apples to carbon in an aluminium saucepan, and the smell was so bad I put the pan ouside in the garden! It was winter (in the days when that meant frost and snow!) and I sort of forgot about it for weeks - literally! Anyway, when I did find it again the pan was clean! Since then I've used the freezer to do the same trick - and generally it works!

Astrolabe

janb5 wrote:

Astrolabe- what is the pan made of before we offer any suggestions?

I'm guessing stainless steel but I just tried to to check on the Lakeland website as I think it was bought for me there, and it seems to have vanished. (Mind you, my searching skills can't be up to much as I missed the lovely threads Squeaky found for me! )

Astrolabe

beemuzed wrote:

Years ago I turned apples to carbon in an aluminium saucepan, and the smell was so bad I put the pan ouside in the garden! It was winter (in the days when that meant frost and snow!) and I sort of forgot about it for weeks - literally! Anyway, when I did find it again the pan was clean! Since then I've used the freezer to do the same trick - and generally it works!

That's a neat trick! How long do you stick a pan in the freezer for in the absence of snow? Does the carbon just lift off afterwards?

beemuzed

Try three or four days - and yes, it should just crack up and come off easily. Mind you don't get freezer burn on your fingers tho'!

janb5

Astrolabe wrote:

I'm guessing stainless steel but I just tried to to check on the Lakeland website as I think it was bought for me there, and it seems to have vanished. (Mind you, my searching skills can't be up to much as I missed the lovely threads Squeaky found for me! )

Have you tried putting some biological powder and water in it and bringing to the boil and then allow to simmer for about 45 mins to an hour. That should dislodge the worst of it!

furndire

Would oven cleaner work, so long as the metal will allow ~ i.e. not aluminium. Maybe worth trying a little bit first.

martindow

I think the putting it outside method might be due to slugs nibbling away. As long as the burnt on piece is wet they will do the trick. Wouldn't work at this time of year though - you'll need to wait for spring! A good idea to give it a thorough wash afterwards or your next batch of jam will be slimy rather than smoky.

snow

I followed Delia's recipe for dark orange marmalade several weeks ago too and spoiled it either Just can't understand now how it could possibly turned out ok after 3 hours of simmering.. I didn't burn it, but it was very, very dense. I can use it now for bread and butter pudding only. Then I tried a recipe from the Good Food magazine - delicious! And only 30 minutes of cooking.