Best Way to Clean Cooking Gear

[mississippihiker]

Going to be using my GSI Halulite Microdualist on the trail next week. While I'm not taking any food that will require any major clean up, I'm struggling to decide on what is the best cleanup method in terms of "cleaning solution" in order to keep it sanitary.

A. Bleach. Pour some in the pot and use a rag to clean the rest.

B. Cleaning Liquid Soap. Same process, except I'm concerned about the scent attracting all those big ole bears.

C. Biodegradable Soap. I don't have any, but can pick some up.

Thoughts, suggestions are appreciated.

[russb]

Add some water. Swish it around. Drink it. Wipe out the pot with a bandana. Done.

[Mountain Mike]

Add some water. Swish it around. Drink it. Wipe out the pot with a bandana. Done.

Then make sure you boil next time cooking. I only use a drop or two of soap for oily mess. If it's bad I use a little plastic scaper to get last morsel of food out which I lick clean to get all the calories.

[kanga]

scrub with sand. hold it over a fire. or a stove. once you boil your water for the next meal in it, it's clean.

[Deadeye]

Eat everything in the pot (less gray water to drink) it helps to have something flat like a plastic knife (c'mon, just a gram or two) to scrape off as much as possible. Add water, swish & drink, add more water, wipe with leaves or bandanna. Next time you cook, you're pretty likely to be boilng water in your pot before cooking, right? There's your sanitized pot.

Any soap scent will be far less attractive to bears than the food scent you were broadcasting while cooking & eating, so if you really want to use a drop of dish soap, go ahead, just do it away from water source & people.

[Spokes]

I kept it simple- Ate all my din-din by scraping every last morsel of food out with my spoon, used a drop or two of camp suds, used my fingers to clean the post, and rinsed well with fresh water. Done.

I only do the twigs and sand trick when I'm performing on the "Man Against Wild" TV series.

[Tipi Walter]

Never soap! Just use water and your hand or a little green scrub pad cut in half.

[kanga]

I kept it simple- Ate all my din-din by scraping every last morsel of food out with my spoon, used a drop or two of camp suds, used my fingers to clean the post, and rinsed well with fresh water. Done.

I only do the twigs and sand trick when I'm performing on the "Man Against Wild" TV series.

to each his own. thanks for knocking mine. it works well and isn't harmful to the environment. i'll keep doing it, thanks.

[Beachcomber]

Any simple soap, whether Ivory or special "camp" soaps costing three times as much, is totally biodegradable. Perfumes, anti-bacterials, skin conditioners and such in various detergent bars, liquids, etc., are less friendly to the environment, because soil bacteria and fungi can't metabolize them as they do with soap residue. Most important thing in many back-country sites is to minimize water use, which means using soap only when it's truly necessary, like removing grease or fecal contamination.

[handlebar]

After eating my dinner from the pot, I slosh in a little water then use the spoon and my finger to dissolve the goo and bits that are left from the lipton's or mac'n cheese, etc. and drink it all down. Then I load in water for my tea, fire up the alcohol stove, and bring it to a boil. I pour the tea into my cup and dry the empty stove briefly over the alcohol burner before extinguishing the flame. I've got a clean, sterile pot ready for the next meal. I got all the calories from my meal and all the water, and I didn't pollute the campsite with tiny bits of food. No need for soap. I suppose it helps that my pot has an effective non-stick coating.

Since presumably the OP is feeding two, he/she'll need an extra container for the other person's dinner or they could just both spoon from the same pot.

[Hikes in Rain]

Those mesh bags that onions come in make virtually weightless scrubbers that rinse clean easily. And you can store your cooking stuff in them.

[10-K]

You're supposed to clean pots??

Dang, who knew? I'm a rinse-an-go guy.

Between not treating water and not washing my pot I've probably got a gut full of cooties.

[Hikes in Rain]

It's truly a wonder you're still alive. A statistical anomaly. After all, everyone knows if you take a sip of untreated water or fail to make a lot of soapy water to wash your pot, well, then..........

[mweinstone]

i use dogs. they love me for it and i treat them better than some of the resturants theyve washed dishes at. i leave stuff. they hate scrapers.and i complain if they leave stuff. im picky and they respect that. when im done cooking and eating, i raise my bowl and dogs know just whats up.when there done they get water in my bowl. then i torch it on the stove dry.

[brian039]

Eat, pour a little water in your pot then grab a few dry leaves on the ground and scrub pot. Next time you boil water for cooking your pot is disinfected. Spoon is licked clean.