Cooked some carbs on the BBQ this time...

[Nessism]

Decided to give boiling my carbs in lemon juice a try since some people talk about it. Bought four containers of lemon juice from the $.99 store (with some lime juice thrown in to balance the flavor), and added water til the carbs were covered.

Cooked the whole mess on the BBQ - boiled for about 30 minuets. There was all kinds of crud stewing around in the broth; oil floating on top. Pulled the carbs out and hosed them off - they were significantly cleaner than before I started but far from squeaky clean like they need to be. Skimmed the crud off the stew and put the carbs back in for another 30 minuets.

In the end the carbs did not come out as clean as I want them to be. Going to follow up the boiling job with a couple of hours in the carb dip polish them off.

Good fun.

[tkent02]

Decided to give boiling my carbs in lemon juice a try since some people talk about it. Bought four containers of lemon juice from the $.99 store (with some lime juice thrown in to balance the flavor), and added water til the carbs were covered.

Cooked the whole mess on the BBQ - boiled for about 30 minuets. There was all kinds of crud stewing around in the broth; oil floating on top. Pulled the carbs out and hosed them off - they were significantly cleaner than before I started but far from squeaky clean like they need to be. Skimmed the crud off the stew and put the carbs back in for another 30 minuets.

In the end the carbs did not come out as clean as I want them to be. Going to follow up the boiling job with a couple of hours in the carb dip polish them off.

Good fun.

Did the acid in the juice discolor the carbs?
Mine seemed to get a little darker gray.
I think the lemon juice trick is mostly for those who can't get the dip, or don't want the chemicals around.

[robertbarr]

The joys of cooking.

How about some connecting rods on the rotisserie, or a marinated starter roast with some honey mustard rub? Intake cam on whole wheat with a strip of lettuce & mayo?

[Nessism]

These carbs were pretty grungy on the outside so no good way to judge whether or not the lemon juice sauce darkened the metal. I've read that it might so that might be a consideration for people with pristine carbs.

Found some info on the web about boiling in straight distilled water but decided to try the lemon juice method instead. Straight water might be the way to go. Was considering water along with the a shot of dish washer detergent (which is a pretty strong cleaner). Might have to give that a go on my one last carb just for kicks.

[dr_fosg8]

This would be a very good way to extend the life of your dipping solution. After I soaked my carbs (sitting for 8-9 years) the dip was incredibly dirty.

[Nessism]

Pulled one of the carbs out of the carb dip after soaking for about 12 hours and it's about equal to the ones I boiled. Maybe the lemon sauce is not so bad after all...

[jed.only]

maybe boil them for longer?

[82Shafty]

Ed, I have to applaude you for your use of the grill.


True story, I know a young machinist who dipped the piston/rod assy in a pale of carb dip to decarbon the piston, but what he did not predict was the years of other crud in the carb dip gumming up and locking the wrist pins up. Hard lesson to learn.

The best way I ever achieved a like new appearance on a carb was to media blast the outside with glass beads.