cppr-utn-care-msg - 8/21/09
Care and cleaning of utensils made of copper.
NOTE: See also the files: bone-utn-care-msg, horn-utn-care-msg, iron-pot-care-msg, lea-cook-uten-msg, pottery-cookng-msg, wood-utn-care-msg, potry-utn-care-msg.
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This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
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Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:18:04 -0700
From: Dragon <dragon at crimson-dragon.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Speaking of tinned, copper cookware
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Jennifer Carlson did speak thusly:
<<< DOES anyone know a tinker? Or a company that does such work? I
have a beautiful little Danish saucepan on 6-inch legs that I would
love to use, but the tin lining has oxidized and flaked in spots. >>>
---------------- End original message. ---------------------
The melting point of tin is only 450F so it is also not extremely
difficult to do. (And this is also the reason why you NEVER want a
tinned copper pot to go dry, it can easily exceed that 450F in a very
short span of time.
The basic process is not overly difficult.
Do this outside with proper fire protection.
So... first you need to thoroughly clean the inside of the pot until
it is shiny. You don't have to remove all of the tin that is there
but all flaky stuff and any organic matter must be gone. Use fine
steel wool to smooth it out and give it a satin finish.
Then you want to thoroughly degrease it because oils can prevent the
tin from adhering. Use naphtha to do that and then do not touch the
surface to be tinned with your bare skin again. (Use gloves when
handling the naphtha and remember it is VERY flammable).
Next you must melt the tin, use an old aluminum pot you don't care about.
Heat the pot to be tinned to 450F. Use an infrared thermometer to
check it or do it in the oven if you know your oven to be accurate.
Heating the pot gives you more working time as the tin won't solidify
quite as fast.
Once the pot is heated and the tin is melted, you must work quickly.
Apply flux to the entire inside of the pot to be tinned. Use a brush
with natural bristles that won't melt. The type of brush-on flux used
for plumbing joints on copper pipe is perfectly adequate for this.
Use a clean putty knife or spoon to remove the dross (the crud that
forms on top of the tin). Just quickly scrape it away and remove it.
Quickly pour some of the tin into the pot to be coated and swirl it
around to coat the entire inside and then pour out the excess.
You should now have a nicely tinned pot. If any spots did not get
properly coated, you can usually fix them without having to redo the
entire pot. Use your steel wool to buff out the pot, degrease as
before. Heat just the problem area with a propane torch, apply flux
and then some tin with a small spoon.
Dragon
Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2008 16:08:29 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <rcarrollmann at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Speaking of tinned, copper cookware
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
I have no experience at tinning pots, but you may be interested to
read some period advice on using newly tinned cookware.
This is from the recipe for blancmange in the _Libro de Guisados_ by
Ruperto de Nola, 1529.
"...then put all this in the pot, but it should not be of copper or
newly tinned, because it will absorb the flavor of the tin, although
commonly it is made by most cooks in very bright saucepans without
tin, but if it has been recently tinned, boil a lot of bread in it,
and sweat it very well, because all the flavor will come out of the
tin..."
(translation mine)
Blancmange being a delicately-flavored dish of chicken breast and
rice, I suppose it would be more susceptible to picking up metallic
overtones than other, more heavily spiced dishes.
--
Brighid ni Chiarain
My NEW email is rcarrollmann at gmail.com
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:32:20 -0500
From: Judith Epstein <judith at ipstenu.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Old copper pot needs TLC
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Copper pots can be cleaned by dipping a lemon in salt and rubbing. If
there are little bits that you can't get rid of that way, use a
cleaning toothbrush and more lemon juice; the salt is mostly there for
abrasion rather than its chemical properties anyway.
On Aug 13, 2009, at 1:31 PM, Cheri or Anne wrote:
<<< I have just bought a 'lot' of old kitchen items (very cool). One is
an old copper pot, it's round and has the hook still attached on the
handle for hanging over a fire. The handle is rusted and upon
opening the box I discover that while the pot is in good shape there
is the green of neglected copper inside the pot. Now I know this is
poisonous to ingest so what would I have to have done to the pot in
order to make it usable for cooking?
Anne >>>
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:32:58 -0600
From: Susan Lin <susanrlin at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Old copper pot needs TLC
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
You can clean it with a mixture of salt, lemon juice and bicarbonate of soda for a start. Just make a paste and work it in.
Shoshanna
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:00:18 -0600
From: Georgia Foster <jo_foster81 at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Old copper pot needs TLC
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
I use white vinegar and salt ... same thing as the lemon and salt but a LOT cheaper.
Malkin
Otherhill
Artemisia
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:10:12 -0400
From: Saint Phlip <phlip at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Old copper pot needs TLC
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Regardless of which acid you use, the pot will be safe to eat out of
as long as there's no visible green. You're not talking an immediate,
deadly poison here, that a microgram of which will drop you deader
than a doornail in seconds, but a mild poison that would require a
fair amount to make you ill, let alone dead, barring an unusual
allergy that would require that you not use copperware in the first
place. If a copper pot looks clean, it's safe to eat out of.
--
Saint Phlip
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:13:54 -0400
From: Saint Phlip <phlip at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Old copper pot needs TLC
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
If there's THAT much verdigris, rather than scrubbing, let it soak in
heated vinegar for a while, and spend an afternoon doing other chores,
and giving it an occasional scrubbing until it comes clean. Elbow
grease is wondrous stuff, and can't be beaten for some applications,
but lazy blacksmiths have long learned the uses of heat for stimulating
various chemical reactions ;-)
On Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 4:21 PM, Cheri or Anne<celticcheri at yahoo.com> wrote:
<<< It's going to take a lot to clean it to where there is not visible green :) Isn't what vinegar will do amazing?
Anne >>>
--
Saint Phlip
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:20:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: Cheri or Anne <celticcheri at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Old copper pot needs TLC
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Yes, there was that much :). But oh! the vinegar/salt is doing wonders. It's all out except the really bad spots in the inside curves and I've tilted the pot and am letting it soak now. If it's still being stubborn, I'll heat it up a bit....I'll show it who's boss around here!
Anne
From: Saint Phlip <phlip at 99main.com>
<<< If there's THAT much verdigris, rather than scrubbing, let it soak in
heated vinegar for a while, and spend an afternoon doing other chores,
and giving it an occasional scrubbing until it comes clean. Elbow
grease is wondrous stuff, and can't be beaten for some applications,
but lazy blacksmiths have long learned the uses of heat for stimulating
various chemical reactions ;-) >>>
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2009 17:52:23 -0500
From: Betsy Marshall <betsy at softwareinnovation.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Old copper pot needs TLC
To: 'Cooks within the SCA' <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
<<< If there's THAT much verdigris, rather than scrubbing, let it soak in
heated vinegar for a while, and spend an afternoon doing other chores,
and giving it an occasional scrubbing until it comes clean. Elbow
grease is wondrous stuff, and can't be beaten for some applications,
but lazy blacksmiths have long learned the uses of heat for stimulating
various chemical reactions ;-) >>>
And if that doesn't work- sand paper (400-1200 grit available at
hardware-auto stores)) or steel wool will remove almost any raised area of
corrosion, I also have one of the industrial kitchen scrubbers that looks
like a big snarl of metal foil strips- works a treat on stubborn gunk. Be
sure to wash and rinse copiously afterwards!
HTH, Betsy
<the end>