This Viral Cleaning Hack Resurrected My Dutch Oven

Many of my friends keep Le Creuset or other enameled cast iron Dutch ovens out on their stovetop; with their rich colors and iconic form, they’re pieces of both function and beauty. Like a pair of good jeans, they only get better with time. My Dutch oven wears its age (30 years and counting) with character and grace. I adore the thing nearly as much as my own child.

One thing I don’t love is the cooked-on grime that accumulates on them over time. Let’s call it schmutz for shorthand. 

Dutch oven schmutz doesn’t budge with dish soap and hot water, no matter how much you lay into it. So when I got wind of a viral cleaning hack making its rounds on the socials, I had to put it to the test.

The Boiling Water and Baking Soda Trick

The hack itself—filling the pot about halfway with water, adding baking soda, and simmering it all for half an hour—has been around long enough that I tried it once before social media was a thing. I recall having mixed results. That was a long time ago, though. Was my memory failing me?

As a refresher, I did the baking soda trick on three different Dutch ovens (my own and two borrowed ones). Enameled cookware can have three types of battle wounds: grease deposits, scorch marks, and staining of the actual enamel. Here’s how a boil of baking soda and water worked on each.

• Grease deposits: Great! These sort of melt away; all you need to do is wipe them off after the baking soda boil, though some schmutz deposits take more wiping than others. If the schmutz is on the outside of the Dutch oven, it works better to set it in a larger pot or skillet with the baking soda water—meaning you may need to do to the trick twice, once for the inside and once for the outside. 
• Scorch marks: Pretty good. Unlike the schmutz of cooked-on grease, scorch marks are those blackened spots where your browning chicken or caramelized onions carbonized. I had to scrape a few of the scorch marks with a plastic scraper, but they mostly came off without effort.
• Staining: No difference. Enameled cast iron with light interiors (such as Le Creuset) can discolor over time. The staining isn’t on the surface; it’s more of a dark haze that’s embedded in the enamel itself. After the baking soda dealy, the staining didn’t budge in any of them.

My verdict? Thumbs up (mostly). This trick can resurrect really schmutzy Dutch ovens, but it’s not a magical fix-all, and it doesn’t address staining in the enamel itself. You still have to wipe and scrub for a bit after the simmer, putting some muscle into it. 

How To Clean Your Enameled Dutch Oven with Baking Soda and Boiling Water

1. Fill the Dutch oven about halfway with hot water. For every four of cups water, add two tablespoons of baking soda. Cover and bring to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 to 30 minutes with the lid on. The lid traps in steam, softening the schmutz on surfaces that aren’t submerged. The longer you go, the more the schmutz softens. If the top of the lid is a mess, flip it over after 15 minutes and put it on the pot upside-down (use potholders!)
3. Empty the pot most of the way and let it cool to warm. Use a non-abrasive sponge to scrub away the loosened schmutz, dipping in the leftover baking soda water from time to time.
4. Condensation might have dripped from the lid onto the surface of your range to make chalky, crusty spots. This is simply the baking soda solution with the water cooked out of it. Once it’s cooled, wipe it off (while annoying, you get the bonus of a polished cooktop).

My Favorite Way To Clean My Dutch Oven

God bless your little heart if you do this somewhat impractical baking soda business every time you use your Dutch oven. It’s for serious deep cleaning. 

For maintenance cleaning, I prefer Le Creuset’s enamelware cleaner. It’s way more convenient and faster, too. At $27 for 8.45 ounces, it’s spendy, but a little goes a long way. I’m not even a quarter through my bottle. More importantly, because cleaning with it takes moments instead of half an hour, I actually use it. I break out the cleaner every month or two and my Dutch oven looks young and spry without a ton of scrubbing or boiling.

Another alternative is Bar Keeper’s Friend, which Le Creuset itself says is safe for cleaning enamelware. I’d caution you against really going to town with it, because too much can wear down the enamel. (Ask me how I know.)

In any case, don’t get too worked up over keeping your cookware looking showroom-new. A pristine Dutch oven is like an unmarred pair of Converse sneakers: for poseurs only. A little wear and tear and even some decorative schmutz are signs of a well-loved pot that goes above and beyond.