Dynaverse.net

Carbon, when formed on food by charring, etc., is supposed to be carcenogenic. This may be due to the reactivity of carbon with respect to other elements when the food is mashed and smooshed and churned around by the hydrochloric acid of your stomach.

Also, small particulates can be highly carcenogenic, even if they are chemically inert, for example asbestos. That stuff is so "rock solid" it's good for very high temperature insulation, so by itself in large pieces, it's quite harmless. But if you breathe it's dust, you get lung cancer, all because of the size and shape of its small particles. This goes for anything else, too, including carbon.

Furthermore, when food, just about of any kind is cooked, there is always the potential that the heat may change something naturally not harmful into something else that might be.

But we should get all stupid about it; the watchword is moderation! We can eat just about everything cooked every which way (sometimes even not, if you like it really rare... but that poses its own different risks) but let's not overdo anything!

Years ago, there as a villiage in Northern China that had an abnormally high incidence of esophageal cancer. After doctors looked into it, it turned out that the residents had for generations traditionally eaten lots and lots of pickled vegetables... per day! And the high acid and salt, among other probable chemical transformations involved in the pickling probably irritated their throats so much that many, many people developed cancer.

I plan on using BOTH my TOS (no bloody A, B, or C) charcoal kettle and the fancy post-TNG (probably E) propane drive system, complete with thermal sensor and flux control disks tomorrow afternoon... and I'm a TOS guy. I guess that answers the original thread's question.

Hey, JMM, you're preaching to the converted! I eat lots of meat, mainly beef, pork, and chicken... and I LOVE a good barbecue. Yeah, we do that in New York, too. It probably doesn't compare to yours, though.

Anyhow, I was just answering a question...

I grilled some T-Bones last night and got to wondering what people think about grilling? Do you use Propane or Charcoal?

I've cooked on both and I know that Gas has become very popular but I'm old fashioned when I grill. I still use the old Weber original type non-gas kettle grill for my grilling and slow cooking. I have two, one tiny for when cooking just for my wife and I and one large one for slow cooking roasts, chickens and for serving more people. I typically prefer real wood (Mesquite) charcoal and stay away from brickets which often contain nasty ingredients (LIke petroleum products) to bind together the brickets. I also don't use lighter fluid as I think it affects the taste and never seems to light well without using a ton of it. Instead I use a chimney style charcoal starter.

BTW if you haven't used a chimney style starter, they are great! Just put the charcoal in and a couple of wads of newspaper, light it and go away for a few minutes and you have perfect coals everytime. Without fluid. You can buy them but a do-it-yourselfer can easily make one.

Chimney style starter example

Carbon, when formed on food by charring, etc., is supposed to be carcenogenic. This may be due to the reactivity of carbon with respect to other elements when the food is mashed and smooshed and churned around by the hydrochloric acid of your stomach.

Also, small particulates can be highly carcenogenic, even if they are chemically inert, for example asbestos. That stuff is so "rock solid" it's good for very high temperature insulation, so by itself in large pieces, it's quite harmless. But if you breathe it's dust, you get lung cancer, all because of the size and shape of its small particles. This goes for anything else, too, including carbon.

Furthermore, when food, just about of any kind is cooked, there is always the potential that the heat may change something naturally not harmful into something else that might be.

But we should get all stupid about it; the watchword is moderation! We can eat just about everything cooked every which way (sometimes even not, if you like it really rare... but that poses its own different risks) but let's not overdo anything!

Years ago, there as a villiage in Northern China that had an abnormally high incidence of esophageal cancer. After doctors looked into it, it turned out that the residents had for generations traditionally eaten lots and lots of pickled vegetables... per day! And the high acid and salt, among other probable chemical transformations involved in the pickling probably irritated their throats so much that many, many people developed cancer.

I plan on using BOTH my TOS (no bloody A, B, or C) charcoal kettle and the fancy post-TNG (probably E) propane drive system, complete with thermal sensor and flux control disks tomorrow afternoon... and I'm a TOS guy. I guess that answers the original thread's question.

Hey, JMM, you're preaching to the converted! I eat lots of meat, mainly beef, pork, and chicken... and I LOVE a good barbecue. Yeah, we do that in New York, too. It probably doesn't compare to yours, though.

Anyhow, I was just answering a question...

I grilled some T-Bones last night and got to wondering what people think about grilling? Do you use Propane or Charcoal?

I've cooked on both and I know that Gas has become very popular but I'm old fashioned when I grill. I still use the old Weber original type non-gas kettle grill for my grilling and slow cooking. I have two, one tiny for when cooking just for my wife and I and one large one for slow cooking roasts, chickens and for serving more people. I typically prefer real wood (Mesquite) charcoal and stay away from brickets which often contain nasty ingredients (LIke petroleum products) to bind together the brickets. I also don't use lighter fluid as I think it affects the taste and never seems to light well without using a ton of it. Instead I use a chimney style charcoal starter.

BTW if you haven't used a chimney style starter, they are great! Just put the charcoal in and a couple of wads of newspaper, light it and go away for a few minutes and you have perfect coals everytime. Without fluid. You can buy them but a do-it-yourselfer can easily make one.

Chimney style starter example

Carbon, when formed on food by charring, etc., is supposed to be carcenogenic. This may be due to the reactivity of carbon with respect to other elements when the food is mashed and smooshed and churned around by the hydrochloric acid of your stomach.

Also, small particulates can be highly carcenogenic, even if they are chemically inert, for example asbestos. That stuff is so "rock solid" it's good for very high temperature insulation, so by itself in large pieces, it's quite harmless. But if you breathe it's dust, you get lung cancer, all because of the size and shape of its small particles. This goes for anything else, too, including carbon.

Furthermore, when food, just about of any kind is cooked, there is always the potential that the heat may change something naturally not harmful into something else that might be.

But we should get all stupid about it; the watchword is moderation! We can eat just about everything cooked every which way (sometimes even not, if you like it really rare... but that poses its own different risks) but let's not overdo anything!

Years ago, there as a villiage in Northern China that had an abnormally high incidence of esophageal cancer. After doctors looked into it, it turned out that the residents had for generations traditionally eaten lots and lots of pickled vegetables... per day! And the high acid and salt, among other probable chemical transformations involved in the pickling probably irritated their throats so much that many, many people developed cancer.

I plan on using BOTH my TOS (no bloody A, B, or C) charcoal kettle and the fancy post-TNG (probably E) propane drive system, complete with thermal sensor and flux control disks tomorrow afternoon... and I'm a TOS guy. I guess that answers the original thread's question.

Hey, JMM, you're preaching to the converted! I eat lots of meat, mainly beef, pork, and chicken... and I LOVE a good barbecue. Yeah, we do that in New York, too. It probably doesn't compare to yours, though.

Anyhow, I was just answering a question...

Dynaverse.net

Off Topic => Ten Forward => Topic started by: CaptStumpy on June 18, 2004, 09:18:06 am