Cleaning cooking pans and utensils

[Puddock]

I am reasonably new at wild camping and bushcraft. I have camped a fair bit, but usually at official campsites. One thing that struck me on a first attempt was how to clean things in order to use them again or to pack them away to move on without getting everything else in the pack minging.
This is easy at a proper campsite as there is a plentiful supply of safe water. But if you are in the wild any safe water that you have with you is precious and not to be wasted washing things up in, and using untreated wild water seems a recipes for disaster?
How do you manage? Am I overcomplicating things?

 

[Shewie]

I usually wipe my pots out with sphagnum moss or grass and then put them in a mesh bag. If it's a longer stay I carry some biodegradable soap and half a scrubby and then just boil up some water for washing after the meal.

You can add ash to fatty pans and put them back onto boil for ten minutes, it creates an alkali solution which removes the grease and grime.

Interesting read on Wayland's site ....
http://www.ravenlore.co.uk/html/cleaning_pots.html

 

[shutz]

i suppose by adding ash with the fats your making a basic soap..good idea that.

 

[shortyman]

Use gravel from your water source as a scourer. Works a treat.

 

[lannyman8]

i just use grass firn moss mud whatever i have, washing in unsafe drinking water is no problem, when your done just put your pot onto the "charcoal type" ash to heat through and kill the germs and bacteria etc.........

hope this helps.

chris...................

 

[ex-member Raikey]

if your on or near a beach a handful of sand is perfect,..(but then again i suppose the sea is close too!!,..hahahah unless your at Cleethorpes)

sounds minging but dry soil is good to ,...then a skim with some grass/moss as has been said,...,....

 

[alan whelan]

Use a mire made from the ash of your fire just mix the ash with water boiled if you like and scrub your pots and pans and than you bug free this will get your gear spot less with very little work or if you have a a folding wash basin you could fill it with boiling water and pop in a dish washer tablet and let it do it thing for a hour after that your gear comes out squeaky clean, but you may get some grief if your gear is too clean.
Alan.

 

[rik_uk3]

I always have one pot, usually something like a Trangia or Outwell kettle for brews only so no washing up needed there.

Small pot of fairy liquid and a plastic scouring pad is the most effishient method, much easier than flaffing about with lumps of moss or sand etc. I also carry Tesco non scented baby wipes (on sale again 18p for 80 wipes), you can wipe pots, plates and yourself with them. So long as you don't burn your food and eat it all pots take little or no cleaning on a weekend camping trip.

 

[neoaliphant]

Rather than fairy liquid, stardrops, it has many more uses

 

[ex-member Raikey]

i think puddock was looking for a low use or water-free solution to washing up,...

detergents need a fair amount of water to carry the detergent completly off,...

plus i like to faff,..

i could take a zippo too to start my fire,..but faffing with a bowdrill or, flint is nice too,...

 

[garethw]

It you wash your pans off in untreated water and then let them dry before you pop them back in a mesh bag, they will fine.. been doing it for years. You'll not be drinking this so there's no real danger....
One word of warning: Beware of Weils disease around lakes and rivers. Carried by rats it can be fatal. It gets into your system via a cut or wound and the incubation period is upto 7 weeks. Two of my fishing mates have caught it over the last ten years. Not a very nice disease at all, especially as most doctors have no experience of it and easily miss it.
cheers
Gareth

 

[mayobushcraft]

I just use a few spoon fulls of untreated water with some leaves or grass and scrub the pan until everything is loose. Then use some more leaves to clean out the inside of the pan add a few more spoonfulls of water to rinse. I also carry a small towel to wipe out the pans. When I use it next time I fill with water bring to a boil then make a drink and rinse my plate. And use the leftover water to make my meal. After 30 plus years of camping I have never been sick using this way of cleaning.

 

[rik_uk3]

i think puddock was looking for a low use or water-free solution to washing up,...

detergents need a fair amount of water to carry the detergent completly off,...

plus i like to faff,..

i could take a zippo too to start my fire,..but faffing with a bowdrill or, flint is nice too,...

Use the baby wipes then lol. I've done all the faffing about over the years, been there, done that, bought the tee shirt, sod that, fairy liquid, gas lighters, fire starter blocks, paraffin at a push...I'm at an age now where I like to set up my tent, get a real meal on the stove and chill out ASAP when camping, I'll leave the stick rubbing and moss pan cleaning etc to you younger bucks; besides its great fun watching you do it

 

[Frogo]

If you are really looking for a low water consumption method of cleaning your pots and pans then I would suggest not getting them dirty in the first place. I would use boil in the bag meals and with the boiling water you can make your brew..

 

[Squidders]

Am I overcomplicating things?

Yup

Factor your water requirements including admin (cleaning pots and pans etc) and personal admin (brushing your teeth etc).

You can clean sets of non-stick cookware off with the smallest quantity of water with practice so it's not a big overhead like filling a sink at home.

 

[Urban_Dreamer]

But if you are in the wild any safe water that you have with you is precious and not to be wasted washing things up in, and using untreated wild water seems a recipes for disaster?
How do you manage? Am I overcomplicating things?

I am a bit surprised that nobody has mentioned that if you heat the pan enough it won't matter what water you cleaned it with, you will have sterilised it. This is standard treatment for wok's and frying pans. Heat to very hot, then add stuff to start cooking. Just add the stuff when hot if concerned.

Re ash, soaps and detergents. Guess what, they work really well! During WWII experiments were done as to the difference between washing bed pans and sterilising them. Washing was surprisingly effective.

However I do STRONGLY recommend boiling all water that you either consume or bring near food. I have camped in many places where water was not drawn from the mains. The only time that I have known that to be safe to drink untreated was when a considerable effort had been made many years ago to exclude any source of contamination. All other times the water has been boiled to kill bugs, before making tea.

Ps, if you are really concerned you could copper or silver plate your stuff. It's not good for you, but far worse for the bugs. Hence the reason that grand houses used copper to cook with and silver to eat with.

 

[Fin]

It depends on whether you've cooked on a stove or a camp fire. Ash works great on grease and sand is a great scourer on stainless steel and any burnt on stuff on your seasoned ware (carbon steel woks and cast iron - don't forget to re-oil and burn afterwards).

If you're in a sterile campsite and have used a stove then - as Squidders said and Rik alluded to - you're going to have to clean the stubborn stuff the modern way and factor that into your water requirements. Remember that the only job of detergent is to break down the bonds of water molecules to allow them to penetrate the gunk - it's the water that does the cleaning, and away from the kitchen sink, it's surprising how little water you need to do the job.

If you carry vinegar as an ingredient then you'll find lots other uses for it too - including cleaning.

Top tip from Rik on the wet wipes - they'll not only clean your cookware - but provide a surprisingly refreshing "squaddie shower" as well - I never go out without them.