Here is an explanation for those who ask me what I clean my copper pots with in my videos on YouTube:
Hello, I understand that a lot of people would like to know the products that I use. Just watching a video, you might think it's very simple.
I do not use any finished products. I mean, I cannot advise to buy this or that product, of this or that brand, in this or that store. Quite simply because I don't use finished products. What I use are products that I make myself. So mixtures of different products. These mixes are different depending on what to clean inside or outside of a copper pot. Oxidation of copper, edible fats, limestone, carbonized ... On copper, tin, steel handle, bronze handles ...
I use very small amounts of products. Sometimes it takes 5g to clean a handle, sometimes 20g to clean the inside of a pot, sometimes 10g to clean the outside.
From there, it's already complicated. But it is not finished.
When you look at the tinning of a copper pot, whether it has been used 10 times or 1000 times, you won't know the difference. Yet there is a huge one. This is the thickness of the tin layer.
It is very possible, this is only one example, that the pot used 10 times still has 98% of the thickness of tin. And that the pot used 1000 times has only 5% of the thickness of tin.
Visually you can't tell. But I, out of habit, manage to detect certain signs that will cause me to use a mixture of more or less strong products.
The problem is that if you use the wrong mixture, too strong, on a 5% tin, your pot is ruined! For you this is a problem. For me not because it will be enough for me to redo a tinning.
ALL THIS IS THE FIRST DIFFICULT. And that only represents 50% of the work!
There is also 50% of the work that goes into the accessories used to clean and the way they are used.
The accessories range from the softest to the strongest, also depending on what to clean.
The way to use the accessories with this or that product also goes from the softest way to the strongest way.
Finally, you have to know how to decide the working speed. To better understand this notion of speed, take the example of this simple cooking recipe that involves working flour with oil or butter to make a roux. Or even better, flour and water to make a tangzhong. For the best success, you need to stir early on, when it's cold. Do not stop stirring up to 65 degrees. Stir again for the cooling phase. Do not stop stirring for the best result. If you stop stirring at some point, whether it be in the cold, hot and then cooling stages, you won't have a good result.
The way I clean copper pots is the same. It's not just the product that cleans. He should not be allowed time to attack the parts that it should not attack. And this therefore implies the applied force, the speed (and necessarily the time).
Hope you now understand that my method is different products of different strengths + different props of different strengths + different working strengths + different working speeds. It all depends on the pot to be cleaned.
And necessarily, explaining each thing case by case is impossible.
Look at the number of "magic" recipes you can find on the internet for cleaning copper. Soda cola, ketchup, vinegar + salt, vinegar + salt + flour, sorrel, descaling product, etc. Why is there not a unique recipe? Quite simply because there is not a single foul!
Someone who has new, never-used pots hanging on the wall in the living room, will give you a fantastic demonstration with ketchup! But the same series of pots, also new, hung on the wall in the kitchen for 10 years, at a smoker's house, your ketchup won't be able to do much!
What works great for one may not necessarily work for the other.
And what I find most unfortunate are the people who show you how these recipes can make copper look beautiful in the moment. It’s impressive, magical, superb. When you clean all your copper cookware with a bad recipe, after a few hours of work you are very satisfied. But the advisers forgot to tell you that the next day, in front of the marks and the oxidation, your disappointment will be immense.
But you've already put in a blue thumb and a nice comment: “Wonderful! Tomorrow I try! ".
The video has hundreds of thousands of views and there will be thousands of bad awakenings the next day.
Voila, it is a profession and a know-how that is not replaced by cleaning with soda. And in the meantime, I get thumbs down because I don't reveal my secrets! But that's okay, I present the result of my work and I am happy that some people like it!
To all Copper Lovers!
Regards, T.J.
