What causes soot, anyway?

[jrm]

I know, I know, funny question. I feel as though I should go back to high school science.

I think it's cool that costing the bottom of the pans with liquid soap and letting them dry before putting them on to the evaporator makes it easy to scrap off the soot, per another thread. I locked that away for future use. In past seasons, i was utilizing the snow and grass to help immediately get rid of the loose stuff on the bottom of the steam pans.

The day after reading that, I set up a camp stove filled my steam pans with water to see how long 'till they were boiling. (First time using propane, expect to go back to my barrel next year.) imaging my surprise to watch the soot buildup on the pan exteriors. On my wood fired evap I understood why, with propane, I'm confused. (I had this thought I wouldn't need Tom clean my pan exteriors each time.)

Thanks.

[Haynes Forest Products]

poor combustion and that is a big catch all. On all the propane burners I have have had there is a air mixer plate right before the Gas orifice. This is to fine tune the air gas mixture. You can dial it in so the flame is visually for best combustion. Same with my oil fired rig I stand out side and watch the flue stack exhaust while a friend opens and closes the air intake on the side of the fan housing.

Then you get to wood and its all about the air mixture, Moisture content and type of wood. I have some mirror finish fish kettles I use for big party's and they sit over wood fires and at start up they immediately turn black and stay that way. Out comes the Xtra strength Easyoff.

I was watching a show on metal working and Jessie James was showing how to work Aluminum and he firtst coverd the sheet with soot from a poorly adjusted oxy-acetylene torch. He would cover the sheet in soot and then with a Rose bud tip gently heat the sheet until the soot disappears. That temp when the soot burns off is ideal for working the metal about 500-600 degrees

Then I had an engine fire in my Chevy van and one of the first things the Auto repair shop did was have the fire marshal look at the soot on the engine to see if the heat got to hot causing unseen damage. Heck I dont know what Im getting at but soot can tell us alot about whats going on as far as combustion and the ideal temps.

[jrm]

That's great... I like the "extras"... there are all sorts of hidden meanings in the things around us, if only we know what to look for. Thanks for the tip re the combustion and the air intake mixture. I don't have such a thing on my grill, but yes, this camp stove does. I'll play around with it and sees if it changes the level of soot. In fact, as I think about it, one of the pans had a ton of soot, the other had less. Differences... the flame was a little lower on the smaller pan, since I didn't want flame jumping around the entire exterior of the pan. But, if I think back on it, the flames themselves looked different, which I thought had to do with my heat-output level. (I could on a propane stove, but the air/propane ratio was set when it was installed.)

Vinegar and baking soda has done the trick for me in the past. Maybe I'll try the easy-off route. The worst part is getting the sooty mess on my kitchen counter. Because I have a double sink, its not large enough to fully set a full-size steam pan into.

More new things to try...

Thanks!

[Run Forest Run!]

Janet, you want to adjust the amount of air until the flame looks blue. Tall, yellow flickering flames cause soot to build up quicker. When my propane burners are adjusted properly there is almost no soot at all on the bottom of my pans.

[jrm]

Janet, you want to adjust the amount of air until the flame looks blue. Tall, yellow flickering flames cause soot to build up quicker. When my propane burners are adjusted properly there is almost no soot at all on the bottom of my pans.

Thanks Karen. I'd be happier with no soot. ;)

The burner that had my smaller pan definitely was blue flamed. And, yes, the full-size pan, which was covered in soot, had tall yellow flames. I haven't lit it again, but I will be sure to try to fix it.

Thanks.

[Brian]

Soot is unburned fuel, most pans will soot up on start up do to the liquid being so cold. The heat source has to over come this. If you find soot on the bottom of your pan the heat source is not hot enough. I hope this helps

[Haynes Forest Products]

Boy oh boy what a way to make a mess in the kitchen. Making maple syrup and cleaning up after you make maple syrup. Putting soap on a really sooty pan will send it every where so so take a rag and get it wet and soapy and slowly wipe the soot around until its all wet and soapy.

I made the mistake one time with a power washer and my oil fired #2 diesel fired flue pan 3x7 SHEESH in so stupid some times.