Cleaning soot/sap/etc off pots from camping????????

N

NeedItCheaper

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Jun 17, 2012
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What's your favorite way to clean soot off your pots after you get home from camping? So far I have been using Dawn dish soap and 000 steel wool.


What's your favorite way?
 
Firstly, if cooking on coal or flame, first coat the OUTSIDE of your non-cast iron pots and skillets with the dish soap. Clean up will be much easier as it's that layer of soap (and not the pot) the soot adheres to. Every Boy Scout knows this trick, or at least he should.

Secondly, if there is something else stubborn you must absolutely remove, make a paste of baking soda and water. Cover the spot with the backing soda and water paste, leave it on for twenty minutes or so, then scrub and rinse.

Baking soda, water, and vinegar creates carbonic acid which breaks down making "scrubbing bubbles" --- good for lodged drains, sieves, and such.

Baking soda and vinegar are really the only household scrubbing cleansers you'll truly need for most applications. Sometimes you use them alone. Sometimes combined. Depends on application/use. Saves a ton of money too.
 
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Use #10 coffee cans and throw them away after they get dirty. :)
Two #10 cans fit wonderfully in my backpack side-by-side, one for cooking and one for bathing. :thumbup:
 
Kisatchie said:
S.O.S pads after a good soak in hot soapy water.
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Comet/Ajax and steel wool

But I used to only take the top one inch back to plain metal the rest just had the soot removed
What I learned in Scouts many years ago is:
the first inch is for hygine,
the rest to to take off the transferable soot
 
leghog said:
Firstly, if cooking on coal or flame, first coat the OUTSIDE of your non-cast iron pots and skillets with the dish soap. Clean up will be much easier as it's that layer of soap (and not the pot) the soot adheres to. Every Boy Scout knows this trick, or at least he should.

Secondly, if there is something else stubborn you must absolutely remove, make a paste of baking soda and water. Cover the spot with the backing soda and water paste, leave it on for twenty minutes or so, then scrub and rinse.

Baking soda, water, and vinegar creates carbonic acid which breaks down making "scrubbing bubbles" --- good for lodged drains, sieves, and such.

Baking soda and vinegar are really the only household scrubbing cleansers you'll truly need for most applications. Sometimes you use them alone. Sometimes combined. Depends on application/use. Saves a ton of money too.
Click to expand...



Wow if I didn't know better it sounds like we got the same instruction as kids;) Been doing that for years and it's always worked. Showed the wife about 29 years ago as we passed thru the Tetons on the way to Alaska.
 
leghog said:
Firstly, if cooking on coal or flame, first coat the OUTSIDE of your non-cast iron pots and skillets with the dish soap. Clean up will be much easier as it's that layer of soap (and not the pot) the soot adheres to. Every Boy Scout knows this trick, or at least he should.
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+1, I used to rub a bar of soap on the outside of the pots, soot comes off like magic.
 
It is a PITA to have to bag your pots to keep the soot off of other gear. I wash mine down with Dawn between trips and several times a year strip them down with FastOrange mechanic's hand cleaner.
 
Think of it more like a patina that has to be earned by spending time outdoors than an actual problem. If you keep your pots in a stuff sack or even just a few doubled-up grocery bags, then they are much less likely to get soot on anything until you get home. Then, just wash them off with soap and water and give the outside a "buffing" with a paper towel or two. With a little effort, this will remove the transferable soot so that it doesn't end up getting on anything else, which might get you in trouble. :smile:
 
I normally just scrub the loose stuff off of them. The blacker they are on the outside the more they absorb the heat anyway.

While camping I don't bother to wash the outside. When I go backpacking I always carry all my pots in those plastic grocery bags so the resin and soot doesn't rub off on anything anyway.
 
Started with trying to clean the carbon off when I got home using a Brillo pad. That didn't last long and changed to cooking in cans and if it was pork & beans, I cooked them in the can that came from the store in.
A pair of tongs were your friend when handling cans that were hot and sharp.

potgripz.jpg


Now days I do things as hollowdweller does. Recycling/reusing plastic bags to keep the mess away from messing things up and just cleaning off the loose carbon and soot. Hey, if seasoning is good for the inside of pot and pans, just think what seasoning can do for the outside of cookware. :D
 
I try and clean them up while I am in the field. Sand has become one of my preferred methods. When I am sea kayaking there is plenty of sand around so I just scrub the pot with handfuls of the stuff or rub the pot into the beach. I often use sand in freshwater streams too when I am hiking.

I have a bit of concern with using sand though. For example if I had aluminum pots, I don't think I'd want to scrub with sand because I'd be afraid small particles of aluminum might break off and pose a health threat if I were to ingest it the next time the pot was used. In fact, I don't know if I would want to take steel wool to an aluminum pot either. I am somewhat concerned with stainless steel too since it's an alloy. Not sure if my concerns are warranted or not and I am definitely not an expert on this stuff.
 
thelastbestplace said:
I try and clean them up while I am in the field. Sand has become one of my preferred methods. When I am sea kayaking there is plenty of sand around so I just scrub the pot with handfuls of the stuff or rub the pot into the beach. I often use sand in freshwater streams too when I am hiking.

I have a bit of concern with using sand though. For example if I had aluminum pots, I don't think I'd want to scrub with sand because I'd be afraid small particles of aluminum might break off and pose a health threat if I were to ingest it the next time the pot was used. In fact, I don't know if I would want to take steel wool to an aluminum pot either. I am somewhat concerned with stainless steel too since it's an alloy. Not sure if my concerns are warranted or not and I am definitely not an expert on this stuff.
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This is all a good read.


I (Edit: Don't) think sand is an issue, as long as you rinse it out I don't see more particles coming loose after the fact. And you could also follow it up with some OOO steel wool to smooth it out. I could be wrong, but that's how I see it. Would be interesting to see if that could be tested.
 
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I don't do anything. My mini solo goes into it's own stuff sack. I just knock the loose stuff off. It looks well used, but I don't care.
 
Codger_64 said:
It is a PITA to have to bag your pots to keep the soot off of other gear. I wash mine down with Dawn between trips and several times a year strip them down with FastOrange mechanic's hand cleaner.
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PLUS 1 on Fast Orange to clean pots and stuff. I use it to clean my brushed aluminum mag wheels as well- better than any wheel cleaner- with pumice
 
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