Cooking With Fire

[zelph]

After a while our pots get a little blackened

If you cook over a wood fire your pot will eventually wind up yukky on it's sides and bottom.
By accident I found a product that cleans the soot and tar off with ease.
Use liquid Chaffing Fuel as the cleaning fluid. Pour some in a shallow paper plate, wrap the sides of the pot with paper towels, put the pot in and soak over night. (I only soaked the bottom overnight for this photo session) It only took one min. to clean the bottom from start to finish. Use a paint scraper instead of a single edge razor, I think it's workk better. The razor blade was too sharp and kinda dug into the metal and made some skid marks :lol: :lol:
Liquid Chaffing fuel can be purchased at many big box stores or restaurant supply stores like Gordon Food Supplies (GFS) It's used for warming trays of buffet food. Can be bought one at a time or by the case.
This is how it looked after my recent 13 wood stove tests. YUKKY, but smelled good :mrgreen:

[Fiddleback]

I still remember what seemed like hours of scrubbing after returning from a Scout overnight. I eventually learned to cook over a fire without severe scorching inside the cookware and very little blackening on the outside. Still, as an adult, those memories of SOS pads and fashion drove me to a white gas stove. Now, it's all FBC'ing and there are no pots. As someone who prepares most of the home evening meals, I've learned the cleaner the cookware to start, the easier the cleanup at the end, i.e., grease not removed gets recooked, builds up and discolors cookware over the long run.

The chaffing fuel tip is interesting, if not environmentally friendly, but...man! I never had pots that looked like that!

FB

[Rick500]

Another tip: if you smear a tiny amount of liquid soap on the bottom of the pot (don't know if Bronner's would work...worth a try), you should be able to wipe the bottom of the pot clean very easily after cooking.

[The Cleaner]

Why even bother cleaning the black junk off?Black cook pots heat faster & just carry in stuff sack to keep the soot off everything else.....

[TheYoungOne]

Is that just steel pots, or could you do the same for aluminum and Ti

[zelph]

Why even bother cleaning the black junk off?Black cook pots heat faster & just carry in stuff sack to keep the soot off everything else.....

Overy a long period of time the coating gets really thick and softens every time I use the pot. When the pot is placed on the ground, twigs,stones/dirt stick to the bottom. If placed on a rock or log it sticks to them. My pot/pots need to be cleaned once in a while. Only full time users of wood will know what I'm refering to.

The coating has very little soot and is relatively clean. Once the pot cools, the coating gets hard and is no problem.

Notice the sides of my pot are shiny. Soot leaves a "dull" finish. My fires leave very little soot.

[Old Hiker]

Quick question: are you cooking over the actual flames or do you let it die down to coals before cooking?

I remember in Scouts that it was flames that produced the coating, not coals. That's assuming you can find enough hardwood to create the coals. West Texas = tons of mesquite to cook over!

[zelph]

Quick question: are you cooking over the actual flames or do you let it die down to coals before cooking?

I remember in Scouts that it was flames that produced the coating, not coals. That's assuming you can find enough hardwood to create the coals. West Texas = tons of mesquite to cook over!

I cook over the flames. One load of pine twigs gets 2 cups of water to a slow boil. This is a prototype wood stove I'm working on. Long video, it does come to a boil. The initial start up gives off the most smoke which causes the coating on the pot. The twigs are stacked vertically.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/Z_IuGAg4kHw

.

[Fiddleback]

Quick question: are you cooking over the actual flames or do you let it die down to coals before cooking?

I remember in Scouts that it was flames that produced the coating, not coals. That's assuming you can find enough hardwood to create the coals. West Texas = tons of mesquite to cook over!

Learned the same lesson from the same organization...

Don't forget the live oak, if you're not too far west in West Texas...

FB

[JaxHiker]

I just used my wood stove last night and forgot to put dish soap on it. The result was nasty. I'll have to see if I can pick some of that stuff up.

[4Bears]

As an alternative to wiping soap on the bottom of your pot you can also put some aluminum foil around the bottom of the pot and the creosote/soot will land there. I have tried the soap method and did not find it very effective. YRMV

[Farr Away]

As an alternative to wiping soap on the bottom of your pot you can also put some aluminum foil around the bottom of the pot and the creosote/soot will land there. I have tried the soap method and did not find it very effective. YRMV

Very clever idea.

[blackbird04217]

Wow, glad my pot never came off looking like that! I cooked on wood whenever I was able to, though I usually propped the pot above the coals a little. And always waited until after the fire was going. I did get the thin layer of soot, but the homemade cozy took care of hiding that from the rest of the "kitchen" / hands etc...