Its Stuck and Won't Come Off- Cleaning tricks

Well, they always say, a well seasoned cast iron pot or pan is as good as any Teflon coated non-stick pan out there.  I believe it.  But I also know that I'm still not an expert cook and I can get things stuck on even Teflon pans.

So, when we are out camping, what do we do when we've got something stuck to the inside of our Dutch oven since using ANY soap is a big no-no?

Here are a few tricks that we've tried with sucess.

1.)  Pour boiling water into the pan and let sit for just a minute (never soak your cast iron cookware- it will get RUSTY)  Then take a plastic spatula and carefully lift the stuck on food.  This works particuarly well for a sugary mess.  Be careful not to scour your pan with a scratchy pad or any utensil- that removes the seasoning that you've worked so hard to get and maintain.

2.)  Vinegar.  A dab of vinegar poured in a pan with some water also does a great job of getting stuck-on food out.  We used this method a lot on our last camping trip.

Now, enevitably, we get some rust.  Mostly on our 12" Camp Chef D.O. since its lid has a lovely Lewis and Clark scene on top.  So, to remove rust we tried this trick just last night:  Coke.

Yeah, that's right, Coca-Cola (I suppose, Pepsi or a store brand would work too).  So, we poured a little Coke on top of the lid and let it sit for about 30 minutes.  After that, we dumped it off, rinsed with water, and dried it off.  Then we reseasoned the lid with oil in the oven.  Now, we are ready to go camping!

Anybody out there have other cleaning tricks to suggest?