We Tried It: An Automatic Pan Stirrer for Hands-Free Cooking

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"Everyone loves chili, especially this time of year," says Senior Culinary Producer Jeanette Donnarumma. "You've got a lot of meat, you've got vegetables, you've got beans."

The flipside though, as Jeanette points out, is that "if you leave it unattended while it's simmering for three, four minutes, it starts to burn on the bottom of the pan and you have to start completely over."

She's testing a product that claims to fit almost any pan and automatically stir at the touch of a button.

Product: Stirr By Üutensil Automatic Pan Stirrer with Timer
Claims to continuously stir simmering or low-heat liquids on its own for a set amount of time.

Watch Jeanette test the automatic pan stirrer and hear her thoughts in the video above.

If you opt to do the stirring yourself and do end up with burnt bits on the bottom of your pan, Jeanette has a few hacks to help save both your chili and your pan.

HOW TO SAVE SCORCHED CHILI

"Once your spoon sticks to the bottom of the pot," Jeanette advises, stop stirring. 

"You can't get that flavor out once you stir it in," Rach agrees.

The best way you can save burnt chili is to get another pot and lift the top of the chili out of the original pot and into the clean one. Don't go near the bottom of the scorched pot, because you don't want any of that char to ruin the flavor of your chili, Jeanette says. You can toss a little bit more stock or some water in to thin it out and you'll be good to go.

And as for the pot? Put some baking soda in there and let it soak. You'll be able to lift the burned bits right off without having to scrape, which can scar the bottom of the pot.