Can baking soda or citric acid help clean a pot with burned-in milk rice?

The other day I was cooking milk rice and forgot about it so it burned a little on the bottom. This lower layer was very hard to clean. A lot of websites recommend boiling water in the pot with baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) or citric acid to dissolve the burned residue and make it easier to clean the pot. I tried this but it did not help. I doubt there is even a chemical reaction between these reagents that would help in any way.


**Is this another myth or is there scientific basis for given recommendation?**




The hotter the water, the more likely it will be to remove burnt-on starch. Not only does $\ce{NaHCO3}$ raise the boiling point of the water, but it also helps [saponify fats](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saponification) (actually, "washing soda", $\ce{Na2CO3}$ would be better).


However, you still need to do a *lot* of scrubbing afterwards to remove the carbonized layer.


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Since an abrasive action is required to remove the burnt protein material after a significant amount of baking soda is covered, I suggest using a stiff plastic scraper and pressure to lift layers of the adhered material. The peeling tensions, shear, of a dry stiff material help with removal.


I found that a 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick application of baking soda with a spray of water without stirring or puddling of water encourage the ions to migrate and bond at the metal interface. 


After the application is dried, a spray of water will encourage more ions to combined at the metal interface.


We might view this as a way of drying the burnt material like we might dry meat. The tension and bonding at the metal surface is releasing and favoring the burnt protein structure.


So the adhesion of the protein to the material surface is altered by changing the properties of the Burt material to create more stress or tension or contraction by shortening the bonds of the protein and changing the bond strength at metal or ceramic surface.


Adding water relieves the stress. So a dry mechanical scraper acts like a knife lifting encouraging the dry tensile material to pull away from the pan.


Take the wet pan with no liquid in it.
Coat the bottom area with thick Baking Soda
Spray mist the baking soda with water
Let dry for 4 hrs
Spray mist with water again
Let dry over night
Scrape the dry material with a strong force of a hard plastic kitchen scraper blade 
Persist with strong force from clean surface across material coating.


This applies to stainless steel counters and stoves
[![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/teled.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/teled.jpg)


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Soaking burnt on food with baking soda - I do it all the time! I think boiling the pot is counter productive. Just let it sit covered with water and baking soda - lots of baking soda. It's very cheap. B
Putting the pot back on the stove just heats the burnt food more potentially making it even harder to remove. Just soak it - overnight for a serious build up. You still might have to abrasively remove the last of the residue.
I just cleaned a Pyrex casserole from dinner that had cheese scalloped potatoes burnt all around the top edge. Soaked it in q larger bowl covered with a water and a generous shake of baking soda. A few hours later it all came off with very little effort. 


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