Photo: Great grandparents at their farm in Blandinsville, IL, with five of their six children .. my grandpa was yet a twinkle in grandma's eye. Stable boy and governess also pictured. Hodges farm, circa 1903-4

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Potato Peels

I don't know the science behind this .. and I wouldn't substitute the use of burning potato peels instead of cleaning out the wood stove's pipe ... but whenever I burn potato peels, I do notice flakes of creosote on the patio or snow near the back door just adjacent and below the stove pipe.  My friend from Norway said her mom would put potato and carrot peels in her fire and when it came time to have the stove pipe cleaned it was always fairly clean; we shall see when it comes time to clean ours next year.

UPDATE:
Here's a link saying to use dried potato peels.  I've used damp .. and even burned dry bean pods with success.

13 comments:

Deb said...

Thanks! This is good to know!

Dani said...

Just the info we need too - we have no chimney sweeping service nearby... :)

Thank, Mrs Mac :)

Cabbage Tree Farm said...

Thanks for the 'hot' tip (no pun intended!).. I usually either boil them up for our pigs or they go in the compost..

Felisol said...

Dear Mrs. Mac,
In Norway an official chimney sweeper comes once a year to seep and inspect the chimney.
He always praised my Mom's clean chimney.
My Mom like you, used both dried and raw potato peel.
I assure you, it does work.
Nice to see this just today. I like the thought of my Mom's thoughts and works living on.

Mrs. Mac said...

Felisol .. I smile and think of your sweet mother each time I burn the potato peels (which is about every other day the way Nathan eats :) It is good that her tradition is carried on.

Rebecca said...

We don't have a fireplace or wood stove, but I love hearing these kinds of "tips".

Merry Christmas, Mrs. Mac!

Tanya Murray said...

Wow! That's interesting, I've never heard that one before. Let us know how it goes at the end of the season.

Pat said...

Now that's some useful info!

Jada's Gigi said...

well how about that! Good to know.

Saija said...

i do miss the days of having a fire to stoke ... though the felling/sawing/stacking of the wood was quite the undertaking for us!

we received a lovely card from your neck of the woods today ... :) ... thanx!

Geno said...

I will be trying this one very soon!
Merry Christmas to you and your family

Sandy Livesay said...

Very useful information Mrs. Mac.
Have a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Journey11 said...

If this works, my husband will be one happy man. The pitch of the roof on our old farmhouse is quite steep and he hates climbing up there for frequent cleanings. Certainly couldn't hurt, so I will give it a try. Thanks!