How to Recycle an Old Saucepan with Creative Reuse

Our kitchen is filled with saucepans and cookware that have been collected over the years. Some of them were Grandma’s, and others were thrift store finds for when I first set up house. A good solid saucepan should last for several decades but when they finally do warp or loose their finish, they aren’t much good for cooking any more.

Is there a way to recycle these old pans? Certainly there is.

Saucepans are made of a wide range of materials, many which can be recycled. If the saucepan is aluminum, it can included in your aluminum can recycling. If it’s made of cast iron or steel, it may have to be brought to the recycling center. In most cases, you will have to remove the wooden or rubber handle first or it won’t be accepted.

However, before you send that saucepan out for recycling, read on to learn some of the practical ways that an old saucepan can be used around the house.

Pet bowls

Out on the farm, we never get rid of an old sauce pan. Once the handle has been removed, saucepans make great water and feeding bowls for household pets and small livestock. The heavy pans are best since they aren’t as prone to tipping over.

Home maintenance tasks

We also use old saucepans for heating up pitch and patching tar. Old pans are also great for holding greasy auto parts and for washing small mechanical parts. My 85 year old neighbor even hangs up old saucepans around her garage door as a sort of makeshift burglar alarm.

Crafting

Do you make your own soap or candles? You can set aside an old saucepan just for crafting use. Using a designated pan just for melting paraffin or soap makes clean ups a whole lot easier.

Make a musical instrument

When my kids were little, they loved banging pots and pans together. I saved the wear and tear on the good pans by giving the children a couple of warped ones to play with instead.

Adding humidity to a room

Those of us with wood stoves know that heat can dry out the air during the winter. Even if the pan is warped, it still can be filled with water and placed on the wood stove or stove top to add humidity to the air.

Donate it

If the pan is still is good usable shape and you are merely tired of the style or color, consider donating it to a thrift store instead.

A parting tip: if you are considering tossing your saucepan because you burned last night’s dinner, try this foolproof way to remove baked on food. Add a couple of cups of water and half a cup of baking soda to the pan, bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, the burned food should have loosened enough that it can be pried up with a spatula.