Whether it’s simple aluminium, has a non-stick coating, or maybe it’s anodized aluminium, your cooking pot is one of the essentials in your camp.
So, it’s a good idea to ensure you take care of it so that you can keep on using it for a long time during your greatest mountain adventures. To do this, we have a few tips and tricks!
1. Clean your cooking pot with tea bags
Tea bags are very good for cleaning greasy cooking pots. Boil a pot of hot water with a tea bag. Leave to soak for 5 minutes. The tea breaks down the grease and food stains, so you can scrub them away more easily.
2. Making a special fragile coating mini-sponge
For this, you need:
-1 sponge specially designed for non-stick coatings
-1 pair of scissors
-1 length of cord or string
Cut a piece of the sponge (about 3cmx4cm), make a hole in it, and pass the doubled end of the string through.
The scraping surface will let you clean your pot without damaging it.
When the dishes are done, rinse your mini-sponge and let it dry. With its little string, you can hook it onto your backpack, so that it dries while you walk.
3. Prepare soap flakes for spotless dishes
Although you can use a multi-use organic soap to clean your cooking pot, its weight can discourage campers.
For this, you need:
-1 TicTac-type box, empty of its contents
-1 knife
-1 biodegradable soap (Marseille soap, Aleppo soap, or black soap) to avoid polluting the water and soil
Using the knife, cut the soap into small chips and place them in the sweet box for easy carrying. Perfect for degreasing if required, and for washing clothes, too.
4. What do you do with the left-overs attached to the bottom of the cooking pot?
Anne, product manager at Forclaz, also has a tip: "In winter, when we go camping in the snow, we like to make a fondue on the stove. Obviously, there is always some left in the pot. The most practical thing is to start by scrubbing well with plastic cutlery, then fill the cooking pot with snow, and leave it like that all night. The next morning, the snow and ice will have unstuck the remaining fondue, and the cooking pot will therefore be very easy to clean."
5. Make a cooking pot protector/mini-towel using an old fleece
The aim is a dual one: to have a mini, multi-purpose towel, and a cooking pot protector against scratches that the gas cartridge can cause when stored in the pot.
The mini-towel should be able to wrap around the gas cartridge, and fit in your closed pot. It must not be too big.
So, for a 1-person pot, we made a mini-towel 16'' long by 9'' wide. You will need:
-1 old fleece, or a fabric swatch
-1 pair of scissors
-your pot
-the gas cartridge that fits your stove And we’re off:
- Place your cooking pot upright and remove its lid.
- Cover the top of the cooking pot with the fabric, cut the ends of the fabric so that the walls of the pot are covered by the fabric up to the top.
- Place the cartridge on the fabric and lower it into the cooking pot.
- Once the cartridge is at the bottom of the pot, fold the fabric back over the cartridge and cut it, so that it protects the cartridge well and does not stop the lid from closing.
