Helpful Hint: Restoring Burned Steel Pots and Pans

I just fixed two sauce pans that had food in them burned onto the bottom of the pans--only one of which I burned myself. Here's how:
Generously sprinkle the bottom of the wet sauce pan with Barkeepers Friend cleanser. Let the pan sit overnight and then scrub out. The burned on food should come out fairly easily. If not, use an SOS pad to scrub the pan.

If you have Teflon pans--do everything you can not to burn them. Otherwise, you can try the Barkeepers Friend, but you may end up scratching the Teflon. Then the pan should not be used because scratched Teflon releases carcinogens into the food and you don't want cancer.