Health Question re: Cast Iron Use

Spring Chicken

I discovered quite by chance that my cast iron trivet fit Maggie Mini (my Mini Egg for those of you who don't know).



It looks great. I even cooked some hot dogs on it that turned out just as good as on a regular grid.

Now Spring Hen is questioning the health safety of using a cast iron device that was not intended as a cooking grid.

First of all, it was made in China and we all know how they get rid of their trash.

Second, there may be different grades of cast iron: Okay for food use / Not okay for food use.

I figure cast iron is cast iron, perhaps with different levels of hardness, etc but nothing that would make it unsafe for everyday use.

Any thoughts or opinions would be deeply depreciated.

Spring "I Know Everything But I Don't Know That" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

Grandpas Grub

 
I am of the thinking "cast iron is cast iron", that is if there is no flaking or such.

GG

Rascal

Made in China, and not for cooking... there's no telling what contaminates (like mercury, etc.) might be in the amalgum of the "iron" casting. I'd play it safe and use it as an ornament..

Spring Chicken

That's my thinking too.

Spring "Iron Is Iron, Steel Is Steel" Chicken

fishlessman

i think i would be more concerned with it cracking if you like the piece. foodwise i dont think i would worry too much

Spring Chicken

The hotdogs probably had some of those same contaminates in them. And I'm still alive, at least for now. My Texas Driver's License says so, at least until May 2017.

It would be interesting to send the trivet out for analysis. It might come back in many pieces thereby solving the problem of whether to use it as a grid or not.

Or I could just hang it back on the wall.

Spring "Problems Solved With Deep Thinking" Chicken

Little Chef

Hey Spring! If it was cast as something intended for cooking, I would have no concerns. But since it was cast as an ornamental/trivet, I would be concerned about possible lead content. They may pour the trivets at the same time as cookware, but one never knows. Just my two cents!

Spring Chicken

It didn't crack when I gave it a good hot 'burning' to get the paint off. I then wire brushed it really good and followed with a good oiling, followed by a long seasoning and slow cool down. Then I washed it thoroughly, sprayed a lite coat of Pam on it and cooked some Hebrew Nationals.

I'm also keeping in mind that most, if not all, of the cast iron cookware we use is probably made in China, possibly by the same plant using the same materials for everything cast iron.

I've also wondered if chrome plated grids are dangerous. At least stainless steel products are given numbers to reflect their differences, especially those designated for food use.

Spring "We Never Really Know All That We Put Into Our Body" Chicken

Rascal

Depends on how how long you want to enjoy it..

mnwalleye

Or is does it have some sort of coating applied to it

Ripnem

Leroy,

You can get a lead test kit at the local box store for a minimal fee and then you'll know for sure.

Spring Chicken

I have Googled "Cast Iron" to death (pun intended) and have yet to find a clear answer to my question: "Is there a difference in cast iron used for cooking and cast iron used for other purposes?"

I've read all the way back to when it was first discovered, and all improvements along the way. It has been used for cooking purposes pretty much since it was invented.

I also learned that cooking in cast iron adds a considerable amount of iron to the food. Not to worry though, it's the same iron as in our bodies and iron supplement pills.

I think I will just use the trivet for show and not for cooking.

Thanks.

Spring "What You Don't Know, You Learn" Chicken

Spring Chicken

But then I'd probably have to stop chewing on my pencils.

Spring "What I Don't Know Can Kill Me" Chicken

Carolina Q

Leroy, I just did a quick google search on "is there lead in cast iron". One of the comments I saw was this one, which pretty much sums up what I was thinking...

"Unlike things made a ceramic coating, which might well contain lead, it would be almost impossible for cast iron to contain lead.

Why? Lead melts at 327 C, whereas iron doesn't melt until 1535 C. In fact, lead would be boiling (1748 C) at the temperatures that cast iron is worked (roughly 2000 C)!

Besides which, lead is more expensive that iron, and less plentiful, so there is every incentive to remove it and sell it!"

No idea if his temps are accurate, but you can melt lead with a propane torch!! So it makes sense to me.

Carolina Q

Then again, I just read this...

"Just to clear up any ignorance on this subject, it is important to remember that china doesnt enforce any laws concerning cadium or lead amounts in products sold in the u.s. Both materials can be found either in glazes or in the metals themselves. in many cases the companies manufacturing the products sold are only concerned with the bottom line. Cutting corners in the design, manufacturing and quality control in order to stay competitive is standard practice.
With that said with lead-alloys are used enabling a quicker manufacturing time by lowering the overall time in the smelter it is a great alternative for some manufacturers looking at only the bottom line.
Modern cast iron may contain as little as one-third cast iron. The rest consists mostly of steel. Steel is a substance consisting of iron and, in most cases, between 0.01-1.2% carbon. Some special forms of steel may contain as little as 0.003% carbon or as much as 2% carbon. Steel may also contain various amounts of manganese, silicon, aluminum, nickel, chromium, cobalt, molybdenum, vanadium, tungsten, titanium, niobium, zirconium, nitrogen, sulfur, copper, boron, lead, tellurium, and selenium. Various metals and amounts of these are adjusted depending on the characteristics needed in the product being made."

I am going to quit while I'm behind. :laugh: :laugh:

Spring Chicken

I also read the same information, and more. I came to the conclusion that in order for any of these metals to leech into whatever it is touching it, it would have to be near the melting point of cast iron. Oddly, the iron in cast iron skillets does exactly that at regular cooking temperatures. But it isn't harmful.

Man must have been real proud of their lead plates, cups and pots back in the day. Little did they know it was killing them. Good example of "not knowing" can kill you.

Everyone has probably heard what happens when you put lye in an aluminum pan with water. It foams up with some really awful stuff, primarily aluminum oxide. You don't even have to heat it to create the action. Lye in a cast iron pan can actually extract visible food particles as the cast iron pores open up. The same lye in a stainless pan just sits there with no action. Yea, saw it during a high-end waterless cookware demo.

We gave no thought to using cheap aluminum pans knowing that they were leeching aluminum oxide into our food. Now they are anodized. But Teflon pans can be far worse for what it leeches into the food.

Maybe the Stone Age was the safest period in man's culinary evolution.

Thanks for the research.

Spring "Firing Up the Stone" Chicken

Spring Chicken

And now we have arsenic in our chicken to worry about.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=13792696

Spring "We're All Gonna Die" Chicken

fishlessman

put the lye and some tinfoil in a water bottle, we had a rash of kids in town blowing up mail boxes with drano bombs a while back

Capt Frank

Where is Stike when we need him?? :ermm:

Carolina Q

He's busy dry aging his dutch oven.

Capt Frank

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

bubba tim

I would think it would put more lead in your pencil... :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

elzbth

"Made in China" - enough said. Listen to Spring Hen....just sayin....

Hoss

Not being a "smartypants",but I've cooked on much worse. :laugh: I have melted many a pound of lead with a hot fire and made molded fishing weights,I ain't NEVER melted CI! I REALLY do not know the TRUE answer to your question but is is a good one.

Hoss

You are right Mr. Leroy.We ALL are.No one has gotten out alive yet.Some just get out quicker than others.