Your Smart Cooker has a nonstick pot, which means it’s super simple to clean, either by hand or in the top rack of the dishwasher. However, even we test kitchen chefs can overcook a dish and cause a stuck-on mess that’s difficult to solve with just soap and water.

Though you might be tempted to toss the pot and order another one (you can do so here), we have a couple tricks up our sleeves for salvaging even the most stubbornly stained pot. Should this happen to you, simply follow these steps:

• First, remove as much food as you can, leaving just the burnt-on bits. (Don’t try scraping them off with any metal materials, as you can damage the finish.)
• Add 1 to 2 cups of water to the pot and place it into your Smart Cooker as if you were about to start cooking with it.
• Select Sear from the Sear/Sauté function and set the time for 15 minutes.
• After a few minutes of heating, grab a wooden spoon and start gently scraping off those burned bits.
• If the time runs out and you haven’t been able to scrape away all of the mess yet, just add another five minutes of heating time and keep plugging away. 
• Once you’ve scraped everything off, dump the contents, add some soapy water, and give the pot one final wash and rinse.

Your insert should be good to go! You don’t have to reserve this technique for when you’ve burned something, as it works perfectly for general pot cleaning, too!