crazily enough, pouring some coca-cola (regular--diet might work but I don't know) in to soak worked for me in the Great Apple Butter Catastrophe of 2009 when steel wool, baking powder, and lots more failed.

Using dishwasher detergent has always worked for me but use plastic gloves when you are scrubbing, it's very abrasive.

Is Comet ok for this?

Use Easy Off.

Soak in white vinegar overnight.

I had a massively burned pot. Nothing worked, until I used Bar Keepers Friend with a brillo. I have no idea what is in that product, but it is a miracle-worker and saved my $200 all clad pot.

20:47 has got it, IMO. Soak and scrape, soak and scrape. A plastic scraper is a handy thing to have--I got one at Strosnider's for 0.39. A stiff non-stick spatula/turner will also work, if it will fit in the bottom of the pot. They're better than trying to scrape with something metal.

After you've got the guck out, to get the black stains off and restore the shine, you can scrub with vinegar and salt. (Though brillo or SOS also works fine.)

This http://kitchenalia.wordpress.com/category/gadgets-paraphernalia/

Also, steel wool or copper.

Oxyclean works wonders.

Fill with water, cover all of the burned parts. Put some baking soda in the water, bring to a fast boil, then turn it off. Let it soak at least an hour. Every 5-10 minutes, take a utensil like a spatula/pancake turner with a flat end the is safe for the surface (e.g. soft if this is a non-stick pan or something) and give a light scrape, trying to scrape anything that has gotten saturated. When you can feel the bottom of the pan with the scraping utensil pour it out and then clean. If you have really caked on things, then you might have to repeat twice or let soak overnight before cleaning. You'll find that once the water can soak into the starch, that the starch will soften and expand and eventually lift off the pan. it's just a matter of how long it takes the water to soak into the starch. When it soaks in you do not have to scrub excessively hard. Time and water will clean better than a lot of effort.

If this is a stainless steel pan and you have black or discolor spots, SOS pads (specifically SOS, e,g, Brillo does not work as well), with a little water will take the black and brown streaks off.

A little ammonia mixed with water should work.

Try a thin layer of water and cover the burned part with baking powder.

I was boiling/cooking a rice dish and ended up burning a thick layer of rice on the bottom of a stainless steel saucepan. How do I clean it?