Ask the Gear Guy
How to keep pots clean
How do you keep pots from your mess kit from turning black when using them over a fire?
– Seared Sandi in Hamburg, N.Y.
A: Don’t cook over a fire! Just kidding — sort of. Actually, cooking over a camp stove is the best way to avoid blackened pots. Plus it’s more efficient and better for the environment. That said, we asked Mike Glavin of GSI Outdoors Inc., which makes some of the best camp pots, for tips on keeping your pots clean when cooking over campfires: “Rub bar soap on the pots before use, and try to keep your pots on a coal-bed, away from open flames. They will still get sooty, but the soap helps keep the soot from sticking — allowing for easier cleanup.
Read 15 comments about “How to keep pots clean”
September 29th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
what I need to know is what to do if a coating of liquid dish soap did not work well & tha pan is borrowed. we would like to return as it came to us & so that is not possible. have used soap & water, baking soda, SOS pads, green scrubbers &
Scotchbrite erasing pads. any ideas?
March 27th, 2008 at 7:19 am
When hubby & I were first dating he went to the BWCA and brought back the blackened pots for me to clean (gee thanks hon) and the soap trick did wonders! Only they didn’t put it up the sides far enough and there was still some scorching, but the soap did wonders. They used liquid soap and put on a good thick coat.
Its just too bad that cast iron is so heavy .. there’s nothing quite like cast iron cooking! But if you have to pack it to your campsite, it gets too heavy too quickly
March 1st, 2008 at 9:24 pm
i agree with prez down there leave them be
February 7th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Anakin - the black soot from a campfire tends to stick on whatever it touches. If you coat the outside of your pot with soap (we always used liquid soap when I was a kid) the campfire soot will stick to the soap. The pot will still look a mess, but when it comes to clean-up time the soap washes right off the pot and the soot goes away with the soap.
February 1st, 2008 at 2:30 pm
why does soap help
January 28th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Soap anyware except for cleaning is a mess and eventually gets into the food! My solution is to cover the grill the pots and pans go on with foil. The heat will go thru it the soot will pass around. Remember, foil is your friend. Use it often. We line the inside of our dutch ovens with it when baking and clean up is a breeze! Also, do not throw it away! Foil is 100% recyclable, add it to your soda cans and other aluminum to be recycled and earn funds for that next camp out! Oh, don’t forget to feed the Dog!
January 13th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Let your pots blacken. It makes them heat more efficiently, especially if they are shiny uncoated aluminum or steel. Darker colors absorb more heat, try wearing a black t-shirt, and then switch to a white one on a hot day. You can feel the difference. Thats why they make solar panels black, so they take in more energy from the sun. The soot might get on your stuff inside your pack, but to solve that problem just put them in a trash bag.
November 29th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
Try using dish degergent as twotall2 said also
try army mess kits as well my friend has one they don’t blackin as easily
October 15th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
Liquid or bar soap will work, however you must stress to the Scouts to soap only the OUTSIDE of the pot!
August 29th, 2007 at 4:02 am
I have never used that!