Wednesday, March 16, 2011

It's a crock . . .

This kitchen, where I am now, has a dishwasher. Before we came up, someone had bought some of those Cascade packets that are premeasured and ready to use. They were stored underneath the sink in the cabinet that houses the garbage disposal which no one uses.

Because there was mostly nuking and reheating done in this kitchen, in recent years, I bought a crockpot, which had looked rather lonely, from a nearby Walmart.

I made a discovery about that Cascade. Those packets are great for cleaning a crockpot that was, ahem, allowed to cook all day without a coating of Pam having been sprayed on the interior.

The stoneware liner with a Cascade packet inside its cruddy self was filled with really hot water. This dissolved the packet with some help from an overactive plastic spoon. I left it overnight but that was overkill. A couple of hours would do the job.

And you know the juice that somehow gets inside the metal shell of the cooker? That stuff that bakes itself on even if the crockpot is unplugged? A corner of a paper towel dipped in the solution will, kid you not, rub that burned-on juice right off. (Wear gloves!) Finally, rinse off the
cleaned area with a damp paper towel.

No elbow grease required . . . just thought I'd share.

2 comments:

ol Doc said...

It's good to know tips like these. Thanks for sharing. Now if I can dig my crock pot out from under the counter mountain of bowls and trays that are piled on top... maybe I can use it one weekend and test the tip out. Uh, after I buy me some Cascade.

RANGER said...

I have since discovered Reynolds Crock Pot liners. No cleanup at all!