hot sand
How to Clean & Sterilize Cooking Sand
Sand cooking is one of the oldest method of cooking. Many people fry or roast food in the sand, cook in sand pits, bake with sand and even cook directly on sand (sand coffee). Sand has the ability to retain heat which makes it an excellent medium to cook with. A lot of people want to cook with sand but are worried about the sand being contaminated with bodily fluids or chemicals. I made this video to show you how to clean and sterilize sand for cooking so that you can be able to clean your sand and cook with it without any fear or worry. Cooking with sand is an easy and economical way to cook.
Directions
- Add a few drops of dish washing soap and boiling water to the beach sand. Let it sit until it cools down. Once it cools down, go ahead and scrub sand in between your palm. Rinse and repeat process until it is no longer soapy. This is the initial process of sterilizing the sand. Any microbe that lives in the ocean cannot withstand heat. Do not do this in your sink because you don't want to clog your pipe. You can do this outdoors or in a large bowl or plastic tub.
- Add baking soda and a little vinegar at a time (so that you don't lose a lot of the sand when it bubbles up because of the chemical reaction). Mix everything together and let it sit until the reaction is over or for 10 - 15 minutes. Then rinse it out multiple times until the water runs clear. This process removes chemical from the sand that occurred during oil spills or contamination
- Strain it in a strainer and spread it out to continue to drain and dry.
- Spread sand out in a baking sheet and bake it in the oven for 40 minutes, on 350 degrees F/180 degrees C. This will dry and sterilize the sand because the heat will kill all microbes. After 40 minutes, leave it in the oven to continue tho cool down. Sand retains heat and if you attempt to handle it when hot, it would burn you.
- To flavor it and eliminate the ocean smell. Heat up the sand in a pan and when it heats up, roast some peanuts or corn or any nuts or seeds of your choice until they are done. Pour it out and let the sand cool. Store in a container when it cools. The sand is clean and ready for use. You can use it to roast/fry your food without any fear or concern.