I made a BAD cooking error tonight…HELP!
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Anonymous
| Was making chocolate fondue. Recipe called for boiling corn syrup, water, and sugar and adding cocoa (and then I was to add heavy cream…only I had none). I panicked and pulled it off the burner while I figured out an alternative. It hardened solid. I can’t warm it - it’s just burning the bottom because there is no liquid. I tried a Bain marie (is that what it’s called? Put the pot in a pan of water for more gentle heating). No dice. It’s currently soaking with HOT water and a dish tab. Is there anything I can do?!?! |
Anonymous
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Just let it sit with water in it filled to the rim. The sugar will dissolve by morning.
Strange sounding recipe by the way. Normally chocolate fondue uses chocolate and cream. I wouldn’t use that recipe again. |
Anonymous
| Wow that is so bad. Every time I have an urgent problem, DCUM is my first place to go. It's so time sensitive and responsive and helpful. "Hey DCUM, my house burning down, what I do? THX" |
Anonymous
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Thank you!! Hoping it’s dissolved by morning. It’s my favorite pot too.
Here’s the recipe: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/chocolate-fondue-102222 It’s delicious - and I saved leftovers last year for hot cocoa! |
Anonymous
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Happy holidays to the other PP above!
No house on fire urgency here - just staring down a ruined pot from a stupid mistake 
I was able to find another recipe and made a different batch, fed the kids and kept trying and googling other options - but I’ve been so incredibly lucky with the advice I’ve received here (on this board and many others - Hale orchards most recently) over the years - I thought it was worth a try! |
Anonymous
You’re a jerk. |
Anonymous
| Agree with the first PP, water is a great solvent. I'm sure you'll be able to get it all cleaned up tomorrow after a good soak tonight. Glad you found an alternative meantime. Chocolate fondue is a great Christmas Eve treat! |
Anonymous
| You may need to dump out water, rinse out the goop that got soft, and soak again a couple of times. But it will eventually come off! |
Anonymous
Actually without your sarcasm, you are quite right. Where else can you get a quick response from a crowd of overwhelmingly smart ladies? |
Anonymous
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If soaking it overnight doesn’t help, Google suggestions for saving pots with burned on food. I had a pot with completely blackened, burnt food that really hardened and could not be scraped off, even after soaking for a long time. I had to try a couple suggestions, but eventually, I found a remedy that involved adding water and something else to the pot and then bringing the mixture to a boil (baking soda? Vinegar? Dish detergent? I can’t remember anymore.) It took a lot of elbow grease, but eventually, I was able to scrape off all of the burned on mess. The pan was kind of discolored, but after cooking in it and washing repeatedly, over time some of the discoloration went away and it’s almost back to normal,
Good luck. |
Anonymous
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OP back here!
Thank to all for the thoughtful and quick responses! Lots of cycles of soaking, hot water, and dishwasher tabs are making slow but steady progress. I can now see the bottom in one spot (down from 3 solid burned inches of chocolate) which gives me hope
Our families Christmas Eve tradition has always been cheese fondue before church and chocolate after and everyone loves it. It’s one of my most treasured memories. I lost my dad earlier this year and was putting a ton of pressure on myself to make everything perfect which (in hindsight) contributed to my late night stress over this. All is good and calm. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to DCUM. I found this place 10 years ago and have moved through the boards as times and interests have changed. What has remained consistent has always been the excellent perspectives, thoughtful advice, and creative ideas….and also the occasional snark, but that’s ok too. |