Cleaning Aluminum Dutch Ovens

[MOLeader]

Need help finding the best way to clean aluminum dutch ovens that are old and have been abused. These have been cleaned enough to use and be sanitary but never back to spotless. I have used sos pads(fingers are now raw) and have made great progress but there is still black stuff in the pits and under the rim from boiled over stew from many years ago. Is there a chemical or cleaner that can be used? Oven Cleaner says dont use on aluminum. Any thoughts? maybe a power washer?

 

Thanks

[scottteng]

Go to a janitorial supply house and get the acid based cleaner used to clean aluminum frames,equipment,or wheels etc spray on hose off. That is why I prefer my dutch oven out of old fashioned cast iron.

[FScouter]

My grandmother always said the best way to clean an aluminum pot was to cook up a batch of tomatoes in it.

[CA_Scouter]

MOL,

 

I believe those are called 'flavor dots'. :-)

 

This reminds me of the story of my Mother who emigrated from Germany wanting to be a good wife to my American father. She worked all day long to scrub the frying plan clean only to have my Dad have to explain to her about 'seasoned' iron frying pans in America.

 

 

[Dizzy ona cliff]

The troop has one aluminum Dutch Oven and about six cast iron. During the past ten years the aluminum oven has been passed from Sharks to Rats to Pioneers and now Dragons. The aluminum oven has always been about the same color as the cast iron so in dim light I could only tell the difference by weight.

We have always treated the aluminum the same a the cast iron with just some hot water, a good wipe and a light oil, and I have no complaints. I am no gourmet but I am thinking that with a typical seasoning, rather than the dark brown of cast iron, your aluminum oven should be about the color of a quarter that has been buried in the soil at camp for about fifteen or twenty years.

[orennoah]

Try Barkeeper's Friend. It does wonders with cooked-on crud. (But NEVER for use on cast iron.)

[Gold Winger]

Sand blasting. Howerver I'm mystified as to why anyone would want to cook in aluminum.

[PeteM]

You have never tried foil-pack meals, or pie baked in a alum. pie plate, or even used foil to help in clean-up by covering the bottom of a pot/pan/grill?

[evmori]

The way we cleaned our aluminum ovens was donate them to a charity & get cast iron ovens.

[OldGreyEagle]

You know the Scouter who started this thread was asking for advice on how to clean his item, not to be skewered by those who hold his choice of equipment in disdain

[MOLeader]

Scotteng and orennoah, Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Dizzy on a cliff, Thanks for that suggestion, may try that.

 

To all who wonder why we use aluminum, first they weigh less then Cast Iron, better for canoe trips. For the boys they are easier to take care of as they can use soap and water or sos pads instead of boiling off backed on food. I know you ask if they are easier to take care of then why was I assking this question in the first place. The three primary leaders were all out of country for 15 monthes and have come home to a troop which is still together but a little rough around the edges and we are trying to get it back into shape. I apreciate the fathers keeping things going but they did not make sure things were done the way we had tought the boys. We all now boys, give them an inch and they will take a mile espically when it comes to cleaning. The boys often forget and use soap and water and the leaders were tired of teaching them how to reseason or doing it ourselves, or they were over oiled and would become rancid and the boys didn't want to use them because they smelled. Even after we wiped them out and boiled them to take care of the rancid issue they boys did not want to use them.

 

So because of these issues Aluminum was the choice.

[MOLeader]

oldgreyeagle spoken in the true spirit of scouting. Thanks

[John-in-KC]

I recently had some really abused Dutch's come my way.

 

I baked both of them for four hours AFTER the oven got to 500F.

 

I took a nylon scrub pad to them, the carbon came right out.

 

A high heat bake will carbonize almost anything, and a good seaonsing afterward (a friend who is an expert Dutch Ovener uses extra virgin olive oil, 350F, again for two hours) gets the job done.

[evmori]

You know the Scouter who started this thread was asking for advice on how to clean his item, not to be skewered by those who hold his choice of equipment in disdain.

 

And the answer I gave was how we cleaned ours. No disdain, just fact.

 

Whoever suggested Bar Keepers Friend is a smart person! This stuff is great! And it does work on cast!

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[Gold Winger]

I didn't skewer anyone, I just wondered why you'd use an aluminum dutch oven.

 

As for foil dinners, I use titanium foil. No concerns about alzheimers with titanium. :-)

 

BTW, according to Lodge, one of the big cast iron cookware companies, after a pan is well seasoned, it can be washed with dish detergent and water. You don't want to soak it with detergent overnight but washing is okay.

 

Most of my cooking is done with cast iron. I have chili pots, skillets, chicken fryers, griddles, and corn bread pans. On the rare ocassions that I have to re-season a pan, I use whatever oil is cheapest. It all is turning into a nice black coating so flavor and quality of the oil doesn't matter.

 

I wish my son's troop would do more interesting cooking. Left to their own devices, the boys would live on mac and cheese. The funny thing is that they see that the adults are having grilled pork chops with corn on the cob and they cry, "You're lucky! You get good food!" Hey guys, you chose the menu and when cooking is brought up the common cry is "that's too much trouble!"