Sometimes you read about these hacks on the internet, and while some part of you desperately wants to believe they're real, there's another part of you that is certain that it's all a fabrication and will never work. This hack rang both of those bells for me. Here's the premise: If you put a dryer sheet into the water while you're soaking a scorched pan, the burnt bits will magically lift from the pan, no scrubbing required.

Yeah, right, I thought.

So the other night, when I made a burnt mess searing some pork tenderloin, I decided to give it a shot. I let the pot sit — not soak, just sit — overnight so it would be extra tough to clean. In the morning, here's what I did.

I checked it periodically during that hour and could see that nothing was happening. But I patiently waited for my timer to go off, then I rinsed the pan.

And you know what? All the burnt bits came right off!

Seriously, they flaked off — with minimal effort on my part. Just by running it under water, about 80 percent of the burnt pieces detached. I used the dryer sheet to scrub the extra bits, and they came off right away, too. Even the little bits of splattered burnt grease at the top of the pan came off.

Honestly, I was shocked and impressed. I texted my husband the photo (these are the things you get excited about after nine years of marriage) and he was impressed, too (his response had four exclamation points!!!!). I am definitely going to do this again. While I'd hesitate to use this for every burnt pot I generate (because dryer sheets aren't reusable and are more expensive than straight-up soap and scrubbing), it's a great fix for the really tough ones. Because I really do hate scrubbing those burnt bits off, and soaking them overnight in soapy water really only helps so much. Very cool.

Forgive me, internet, for not believing you before!