protecting stainless steel billy can

[bikething]

I keep reading how open fires destroy billy cans.

Where? I've never heard of such a thing.

Must just be my cooking that does it then

 

[Shewie]

all of this is very good advice! and thank you all. Although you guys/girls all have good points about letting it go black, i still want to keep my pots and pans prestian, must be my experience in the kitchens hahaha.

Still i dont think anyone can say they dont like a nice and shiney pot rather then a greasy one. i know which one i prefer eating out of.

I put mine into a carrier bag at the end of the trip and then just wash it when I get home. Just washing-up liquid and a scrubby sponge thingy. You can get rid of the soot but you`ll always get marks from the heat.


Rich

 

[spamel]

I'll tell you a neat trick. Use your pans on an open fire until they are black and crunchy on the outside. You flick off the big lumps, wash the inside out and everything is cool.

Where the magic happens is when you are in an area where you cannot have an open fire and need to use a stove. Light up the stove you use, I use a Nova Plus, and pop your billy onto the top with the black crud on the bottom still there and not scrubbed off. You'll get the smell of a proper wood fire, even though you're not using one. It works on my household cooker at home so should work on a gas stove, not sure about a trangia type stove though. Nothing beats the smell of woodsmoke!

 

[Bogman10]

I'll tell you a neat trick. Use your pans on an open fire until they are black and crunchy on the outside. You flick off the big lumps, wash the inside out and everything is cool.

Where the magic happens is when you are in an area where you cannot have an open fire and need to use a stove. Light up the stove you use, I use a Nova Plus, and pop your billy onto the top with the black crud on the bottom still there and not scrubbed off. You'll get the smell of a proper wood fire, even though you're not using one. It works on my household cooker at home so should work on a gas stove, not sure about a trangia type stove though. Nothing beats the smell of woodsmoke!

I noticed that too, and I also consider that a bonus!

I have also heard ( from Newbie's that you shouldn't use pots and pans over a fire), My friend
was shocked when I used my 50 cm cast iron fry pan over the fire grate ( instead of my Turkey deep fryer ) saying I will wreak it!
I told him thats the way they did it before stove's and some of those pots and pans are still in use.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[SimonM]

Nah, If you really want sparkling pots you can do what I do on the inside to the outside too.

If you have a fire add some ash and water to your pan.

Ash + water = alkali + gritty silica

alkali + fat = soap

soap + gritty silica + slight scrub = clean pan.

when you have washed the pan pour the water into the fireplace, this area has already been affected by the alkali.

Rinse with water and again pour it into the fireplace.

On the next rinse you can pour the water away elsewhere but not into the water source.

No Brillo with detergents for me but I still say it's a waste of time on the outside..... .

Never mind freelance Viking - fancy teaching chemistry to my Year 7's?
Bring a few swords and axes and they MIGHT even behave (After you sacrifice one obviously!)


Simon

 

[Grooveski]

Mmmm.....I would be very interested to hear if anyone has ever burned one through...

Boiling off sea water for salt is pretty heavy on pots but you'd have to be making a cottage industry of it before it'd do any damage to a stainless billy.