Search...
Home Subscribe
Pie
Home Subscribe
Recent topics Flagged topics Hot topics Best topics
Search...
Search within cooking Search permies
Advanced search Google search
Register / Login
rocket mass heater workshop
  • Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
Full online Permaculture Design course and Appropriate Technology Course video Paul Wheaton's tour of Wheaton Labs movie Sepp Holzer Desert or Paradise Documentary Free heat movie permaculture bootcamp sketch with tools
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Carla Burke
  • John F Dean
  • Nancy Reading
  • r ransom
  • Jay Angler
  • Timothy Norton
stewards:
  • paul wheaton
  • Pearl Sutton
  • Anne Miller
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
  • M Ljin
gardeners:
  • Jim Garlits
  • thomas rubino
  • William Bronson

blackening stainless steel pots

 
Hedy Parks
Posts: 16
1
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hello all!  
this is only indirectly about cooking, sorry.
I am building a solar cooker and have a couple stainless steal pots/casseroles I´d like to blacken permanently so I can use them in there. Does anyone know a natural/non-toxic way to PERMANENTLY blacken them on the outside (so I can clean them without having to blacken them again)?

thanks so much for any advise...
 
Gary Numan
pollinator
Posts: 267
Location: Central Virginia, Zone 7.
82
I like...
trees chicken food preservation bee solar composting
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I'm assuming you mean you want to *season* your pots.  I don't think stainless can be seasoned.  Cast iron yes, carbon yes, stainless I believe stays shiny.  If it's not silver, it's dirty.



*Edit*. Oh, now I understand, not necessarily seasoned but blackened, on the outside.  I missed that part the first time.

Same answer though!  I don't think there's a practical way to blacken stainless.

*Another edit!*.  John mentioned black engine enamel below.  I have used in the past, high-heat black spray paint for use on barbecue grills.  Made by Krylon, called Krylon High Heat Black Spray Paint.  *Of course* don't paint the inside, but this may be a good option for the outside.  The Krylon stuff is used for grills, may not be as chemical laden as the engine enamel.

Determining the difference between Bockings 4 and 14 is done by consensus. It's like trying to identify the difference between twins.

"There are other spots on the web to get my fix proving someone is an idiot but no other place for what I get here." -- former permie Brice Moss, 2012.

 
bruce Fine
Posts: 1576
128
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I saw this about black cookware for solar oven
https://permies.com/t/77531/black-cookware-solar-oven

ive never done it but saw video of someone baking food in a very simple portable solar oven, nothing was perfect on it it appeared bent and twisted almost, the food was cooked in a new aluminum pan. I was amazed, I was thinking that stuff must get pretty hot in there , but then again when I slow cook on smoker I'm only cooking at 225-250 degrees F. and everything ive smoked is done in 4 hours or less some stuff even got way overdone after more than about 2 hours.
 
John F Dean
master steward
Posts: 8642
Location: southern Illinois, USA
3528
I like...
goat cat dog chicken composting toilet food preservation pig solar wood heat homestead composting
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I can only think of approaches that I would not want to do ... such as sanding and black engine enamel. ....or the use of an LP torch.   Rather than potentially harming my stainless, I would shop the junk shops for appropriate cookware for the solar.

You can only be young once … but you can be immature forever!

 
Mike Haasl
steward
Posts: 16170
Location: Northern WI (zone 4)
5279
9
I like...
hunting trees books food preservation solar woodworking
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
If you burn a sugary substance on there it might turn black permanently.  I'm not sure if it would eventually wash off but it might work.

I make a Maple Syrup instructional movie! Check it out HERE
SKIP books, get 'em while they're hot!!! Skills to Inherit Property
See me in a movie building a massive wood staircase:Low Tech Lab Movie

 
Anne Miller
steward
Posts: 19076
Location: USDA Zone 8a
4821
I like...
dog hunting food preservation cooking bee greening the desert
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
If I were trying to make a solar cooker and didn't have any cookware other than stainless steel then I would make something with black fabric and elastic to cover the bottom.

These threads are recommending using Graniteware or Enamel Cookware which I like because I have a turkey roaster that would work.

https://permies.com/t/65217/DIY-Solar-Oven#553765

https://permies.com/t/77531/black-cookware-solar-oven#808224

Seems to me that buying this type of cookware is probably the best route to go rather than trying to find something to blacken stainless steel.

Or using cast iron.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

 
Gray Henon
pollinator
Posts: 906
Location: Appalachian Foothills-Zone 7
235
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Cook over a wood fire a few times.  Bonus points for using pine.  Gently wash the outside of your pot when you get done.  Some amount of soot will be left.  Rinse and repeat until it is as black as you desire.

https://permies.com/t/161023/biochar-production-tally-thread

 
Robert Ray
gardener
Posts: 3484
Location: Cascades of Oregon
951
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Not sure of anything that will permantely stain stainless. Granite ware works great. We use small dutch ovens, black enamel ware from Dansk.  Hard anodized camping pots.

Our inability to change everything should not stop us from changing what we can.

 
fueri jurfy
Posts: 1
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
I think no need to color change on stainless steel pots because its natural color is so beautiful. why you want to color change on stainless steel pots I don't know but if your pot's color change to darken by heat then you want to change color. So you can simply wash your pan with vinegar and rinse with water to remove discoloration.

...

 
Abe Coley
pollinator
Posts: 403
Location: Missoula, MT
172
posted 4 years ago
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
The bottoms of all my stainless pans are glazed black from years of cooking various oily and greasy stuff. It happens little by little, as droplets of oil get on the outside of the pan and run down the side and underneath where they get scorched and turn into a fire-proof black glaze. I always scrub the inside of the pans thoroughly with soap and water and keep them very shiny, but the outside/bottom I only lightly scrub enough to get them clean but not remove the black stuff.

If you need it right away, just go to a restaurant kitchen before they are open and pay them cash for one of their pans. I feel like every restaurant kitchen I've ever seen has tons of stainless pans that are blackened on the bottom.

My tree nursery: https://mountaintimefarm.com/

 
Mike Haasl
steward
Posts: 16170
Location: Northern WI (zone 4)
5279
9
I like...
hunting trees books food preservation solar woodworking
posted 4 years ago
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
    Send
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Or a used restaurant equipment supply store

I make a Maple Syrup instructional movie! Check it out HERE
SKIP books, get 'em while they're hot!!! Skills to Inherit Property
See me in a movie building a massive wood staircase:Low Tech Lab Movie

 
Beware the other head of science - it bites! Nibble on this message:
It's a bit like "run away to the circus" but with gardening
https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp
reply
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
Boost this thread!
Similar Threads
More...