91% alcohol question

Botch

HeavyG said:

Brisket_Fanatic said:

RRP said:

Does IA still have those ABC stores? 

Not that I'm aware of but I gave up that stuff over a year ago. Only ABC stores I've seen were in NC. Any convenience store or grocery store will sell beer/wine/liquor depending on the license they have. The days of only purchasing from State ran liquor stores left back in the 80's I think.

Virginia still has ABC stores for the "hard stuff". Other stores can only sell beer and wine.

I remember the ABC stores when attending ISU in '78-'80.  Now in utard we still have church/state-run stores with liquor and wine and regular-strength beers; the grocery & gas stations can sell 3.2 beer only, but surprisingly they can on Sundays.
I probably shouldn't have said that out loud.  

bigbadben

I always assumed isopropanol was way cheaper because it did not have a sin tax. When I was in grad school we could get 95% ethanol for about $6/gallon for research purposes. You wouldn't want to drink it, but it goes to show you where the markup is and why...

RRP

bigbadben said:

I always assumed isopropanol was way cheaper because it did not have a sin tax. When I was in grad school we could get 95% ethanol for about $6/gallon for research purposes. You wouldn't want to drink it, but it goes to show you where the markup is and why...

Thanks for reminding me how badly I got screwed today! But when my executor is here sorting out the valuables some time in the future I'm sure that $47 half gallon of EVERCLEAR won't be the only thing he will shake his head and say "I wonder why that old coot had that or saved that?" or whatever!=)

flyerdoc

I don't want to start a fight, but I STILL don't see what the harm is in squirting a few drops of lighter fluid on a few pieces of charcoal to light a fire. I mean its not like you are taking the damned thing and spraying lighter fluid directly on the egg. I'm just not buying all the negativity that surrounds it. Yes, I know it voids your warranty, used in absolute moderation I think its ridiculous.

But, that's just me...YMMV

theyolksonyou

I use kerosine 

RRP

flyerdoc said:

 I know it voids your warranty

But, that's just me...YMMV

Iffn that is even true! Me thinks that is an urban legend - HOWEVER I am convinced that a petroleum based lighter fluid will permeate the ceramic on the inside of a BGE since that interior is not protected with a glazed firing like the exterior. BUT if you want to chance it with kerosene - it's YOUR egg. OK? See? I didn't fight with you...just stated MY opinion!

flyerdoc

no worries RRP, to each his own (EGG)! Its just that I have used lighter fluid (gently) and have never seen or tasted a difference. Of course, it may be that i have a dull palate. I don't know. But I do know I like smoked pork loin and that does make me shake rattle and roll

Botch

flyerdoc said:

I don't want to start a fight, but I STILL don't see what the harm is in squirting a few drops of lighter fluid on a few pieces of charcoal to light a fire. I mean its not like you are taking the damned thing and spraying lighter fluid directly on the egg. I'm just not buying all the negativity that surrounds it. Yes, I know it voids your warranty, used in absolute moderation I think its ridiculous.

But, that's just me...YMMV

FWIW, Myron Mixon uses lighter fluid, and he has a lot of shiny trophies on the back cover of his book.  There are a few chemists on this board, would be interesting to see the combustion formulas for lighter fluid, and if anything harmful comes out of the combustion, if anything that can be absorbed into ceramic (much less stay there, rather than gassing off).
I had a former Egging co-worker who even refused to use starter squares, because they gave off fumes! 

HeavyG

flyerdoc said:

no worries RRP, to each his own (EGG)! Its just that I have used lighter fluid (gently) and have never seen or tasted a difference. Of course, it may be that i have a dull palate. I don't know. But I do know I like smoked pork loin and that does make me shake rattle and roll

I've never bought into the notion that using something like Kingsford starter fluid in a kamado is harmful. Just how porous is the ceramic? Why wouldn't the volatiles burn off just like the volatiles from lump?

My Dad bought a kamado in the 1960's when we lived in Japan and all he ever used in that for the next 20 years was Kingsford briquets lit with starter fluid and there was never any "kerosene flavors" that I can recall.

Or it could just be that it killed my taste buds/palate also.

nolaegghead

HeavyG said:

flyerdoc said:

no worries RRP, to each his own (EGG)! Its just that I have used lighter fluid (gently) and have never seen or tasted a difference. Of course, it may be that i have a dull palate. I don't know. But I do know I like smoked pork loin and that does make me shake rattle and roll

I've never bought into the notion that using something like Kingsford starter fluid in a kamado is harmful. Just how porous is the ceramic? Why wouldn't the volatiles burn off just like the volatiles from lump?

My Dad bought a kamado in the 1960's when we lived in Japan and all he ever used in that for the next 20 years was Kingsford briquets lit with starter fluid and there was never any "kerosene flavors" that I can recall.

Or it could just be that it killed my taste buds/palate also.

Chemist here, but no chemist training used to answer above question.

The reason starter fluid is eschewed is because it has an odor and you don't light all the lump in an egg, unlike a charcoal grill or stick burner. 

Also, the ceramic is porous (not glazed on the inside) so I suppose another reason would be if you're sloppy with the "squirting" it could soak in to the ceramic and evaporate out during the cook. 

HeavyG

nolaegghead said:

HeavyG said:

flyerdoc said:

no worries RRP, to each his own (EGG)! Its just that I have used lighter fluid (gently) and have never seen or tasted a difference. Of course, it may be that i have a dull palate. I don't know. But I do know I like smoked pork loin and that does make me shake rattle and roll

I've never bought into the notion that using something like Kingsford starter fluid in a kamado is harmful. Just how porous is the ceramic? Why wouldn't the volatiles burn off just like the volatiles from lump?

My Dad bought a kamado in the 1960's when we lived in Japan and all he ever used in that for the next 20 years was Kingsford briquets lit with starter fluid and there was never any "kerosene flavors" that I can recall.

Or it could just be that it killed my taste buds/palate also.

Chemist here, but no chemist training used to answer above question.

The reason starter fluid is eschewed is because it has an odor and you don't light all the lump in an egg, unlike a charcoal grill or stick burner. 

Also, the ceramic is porous (not glazed on the inside) so I suppose another reason would be if you're sloppy with the "squirting" it could soak in to the ceramic and evaporate out during the cook. 

Lots of things have odors. I read how so many people talk about having large volumes of "bad smoke" emanating from their freshly lit pile of lump and they have to wait some period of time before it "clears". Just how many hundreds of chemical compounds are in smoke? Are all the aromatic hydrocarbons created by smoke a good thing? Are all VOC's our friend? Just how much of them are "absorbed" by the unglazed ceramic walls? Just how "absorbent" is an unglazed ceramic surface? How permeable is the unglazed ceramic surface once it has been coated by repeated applications of grease and charcoal emissions?

Chemically, how different are the various fire starter cubes some folks use from something like Kingsford Charcoal Fluid? I tried Rutland starter cubes once. Just once. They smelled so bad I never used them again. I'm sure though that after their initial stink once they get a fire going there is no problem with using them. Regardless, I threw a whole box of those nasty things in the trash - experiment over. Was my response scientific? Hell no, just a gut reaction.

The folks that complain about their food cooked over charcoal having a "chemical taste" just did not use their Kingsford starting fluid correctly. They started cooking before the coals were ready. Kinda like the whole "bad smoke" thing.

I'm not advocating the use of starter fluid inside a kamado. I haven't used starter fluid in any type of grill for decades. However, I've also never read any actual scientific investigation of what really does occur to a kamado if a starter fluid has been used. Actually, it would also be interesting to analyze the scrapings taken from the dome of a well used kamado that has NEVER used any sort of starter fluid just to see the gazillions of chemical compounds that inevitably stick there. Or maybe there are none as they are all burned off during use? Beats me. Serious question - have any folks like Harold McGee or  Dr. Greg Blonder ever done any actual analysis of kamado/starter fluid usage? If not, this seems like it would make a good research project for some grad students.

A lot of people believe a lot of things that actually may not be true - that Kingsford briquets shouldn't be used in a kamado or that searing seals in juices. Or that wood chips should be soaked for a half hour before use. Or that Drumpf will make America great again.