I had heard of it many years ago. My thought was why would you go to all that effort to have dry firewood only to throw wet garbage in the stove?
Or throwing a tin can in the firebox… around here it’s tin, not aluminum. Like a Yoo-hoo can from back in the day. Apparently tin cans and potato skins contain creosote defeating chemicals… ya know, to scrub out what the chimney fire didn’t get after burning pine.
It seems most don't go along with what I've been told. I didn't mean to imply they would clean a chimney, just help prevent creosote. I don't know .
I’ve never tried it, but heard of the peeling and also rock salt. I was told you still need to sweep your chimney, but these would help with creosote build up.
Interestingly enough, this is technically true. The question is if the concentrations in potato peels and cans are high enough to have the same effect. Doing a spot check of the MSDS for three commercial Creosote remover products, the active/ingredient common to them is manganese acetate. (The actual percentage of manganese is withheld as a trade secret on the MSDS) Both steel and aluminum cans contain manganese as part of the alloy (~ 0.35 to 1% manganese) and the average potato contains 0.3 grams of manganese (most of which is concentrated in the skin). So potentially, they could work the same as the commercial products, converting the sticky tar-like creosote into the easier to remove flaky creosote.
I cook baked potatoes in my stove , A little seasoning on them and wrap in foil then cook just inside the door on a few coals . They come out great and no clean-up. Does that count ??
