Crusty pots and pans come clean with an overnight dishwasher detergent soak

If you've got big plans for cooking an Easter or Passover dinner, keep Anishka's pot-washing tip in mind:

I do a lot of cooking on weekends for when company comes and I've given up my non-stick pans after seeing some crazy reports about Teflon. I love my cookware but it can be a pain to clean -- even with soaking (fill pot with water, add squirt of dishwashing liquid, let sit overnight) they still require a bit of elbow grease. One day, I was staring at the label on a container of natural dishwasher detergent and noticed that one of the ingredients (I now forget which) was defined as a "food dissolver." So, instead of soaking my pans with liquid dishwashing soap like usual, I used a teaspoon of dishwasher detergent mixed with hot water and let it sit overnight. The next day, all of the food was dissolved--no scrubbing necessary--even the scrambled eggs and the roasting pan came clean with just a soapy rinse and a wipe.

Related: Can you clean a computer keyboard in the dishwasher? Talk amongst yourselves.