Deglaze with cold liquid, not warm. Big difference on stuck crud.
Had a layer of baked-on cheese and potato mess in my 12 inch skillet last Tuesday. Normally I'd hit it with hot tap water right after cooking and scrub like crazy. I saw a comment somewhere about using cold water and letting the pan sizzle, so I gave it a shot. Filled it about a quarter inch with cold water and put it back on low heat for five minutes. The crust loosened into big flakes without any scraping or chainmail. I used half the elbow grease and didn't mess up my seasoning at all. Has anyone else switched to cold water deglazing and noticed their pans stay smoother longer?