How to clean burned food from a crock pot

How many times have you served up dinner from the crock pot for your family but realized that you forgot to turn it off and tell the leftover sauce has turned into a crusty mess? And when it's gotten this bad, even a trip through the dishwasher won't help too much.

Here's what to do when you've discovered a burned on mess so you can use your crock pot the next morning with little fuss.

Fill your crock pot about halfway full with hot water, then add enough vinegar to bring it up to about three quarters full. But the temperature on low, and let the mess simmer overnight. In the morning, dump out the vinegar water, add hot water with dish soap, and give it a good scrub. You should have a sparkling clean slow cooker now.

This will also help remove any stains there may have been, such as from any tomato sauces.