4 ms·

A few years ago while visiting a friend, we made some mongolian bbq after a long day of hiking. I started chopping up veggies and asked him to get his skillet.

A few years ago while visiting a friend, we made some mongolian bbq after a long day of hiking. I started chopping up veggies and asked him to get his skillet. He pulled out the nastiest monstrosity I'd ever seen: a fuzzy green skillet that by volume was more alive than not. It turns out he takes his cast iron abuse to a new level: as soon as he's done with it and it's cooled, he puts it away, not even scraping food into the garbage. When he needs it again, he just cranks up the heat until it's billowing smoke, at which point he scrapes the char away from it. I can't get behind that approach, but knowing my friend, I have no doubt that he's been doing that for two decades or more.

t8e56vd4ih 5y ago
he's single, isn't he
- ChuckNorris89 5y ago
  Ouch. No amount of aloe vera can cure this burn.
- mynameisash 5y ago
  No, he's happily married.
andrewmcwatters 5y ago
This is still probably more hygienic than other techniques people use.
- vkou 5y ago
  It might be, but I doubt his home has the ventilation necessary to get all that smoke out before it causes problems to his health.
nkrisc 5y ago
I mean as long as he’s doing it outside and he keys everything burn off… I guess it’s OK. Still wouldn’t recommend it as standard practice.
- qbasic_forever 5y ago
  If they're really torching all the organic matter into carbon and ash, it might be carcinogenic. I know with grilling it was found to be a problem some years ago: https://www.healthline.com/health/is-grilling-with-charcoal-or-other-heat-sources-carcinogenic#4 https://www.healthline.com/health/is-grilling-with-charcoal-...
  - Scipio_Afri 5y ago
    Its incredibly carcinogenic. Not just the carbonization of the food, but the heating to a high temperature and reheating of cooking oil is quite bad. "The repeated reheating of cooking oil changes its composition and releases acrolein, which is a toxic and potentially carcinogenic chemical." https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324806 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324806 Other links. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-39767-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-39767-1 https://www.ift.org/news-and-publications/food-technology-magazine/issues/2018/may/features/do-cooking-oils-present-a-health-risk https://www.ift.org/news-and-publications/food-technology-ma...
    - ByThyGrace 5y ago
      "It's incredibly carcinogenic" if you go completely overboard when using vegetable oils. As the ift.org article you linked to explains: > First of all, cooking with vegetable oil in the home (frying or sautéing) presents very little risk as the oil is typically used only once and heated for a short period of time (often less than 10 min). It is also possible to control the temperature of the oil, which should not exceed 190°C (374°F) and is best heated to 180°C (356°F) or lower. The oil should also not be heated at or above the oil’s smoke point. Then it explains that the actual risk is from frequently consuming deep fried meals produced commercially.
    - corty 5y ago
      There is a huge difference between "incredibly carcinogenic" and "potentially carcinogenic". Basically everything that comes out of a pan or fryer and is even slightly darker than "basically raw" will have some carcinogenic compounds. Frying any biomatter will create some measurable quantity of carcinogens, depending on the temperature and composition. First you will get the likes of Acrylamide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g. Furan), Amines. In the presence of salt, spices, certain oils you can get even nastier stuff like Dioxines. And if you heat it even further, getting a few black spots, you are left with basic carbon. Even that isn't harmless, carbon modifications that you will produce in some minute quantity, like nanotubes and fullerenes, are carcinogenic. Denaturing hydrocarbons like in cooking will inevitably produce some of the above compounds, there is no way around it. You can try to avoid producing some of them by carefully steering conditions in a way that reduces some of the above compounds. But usually that increases the risk of other ones being produced. You can also undercook everything, but then you'll be left with unsafe food because of the bacterial risk. All of the above are carcinogenic in (comparatively) huge quantities. Usually "in mice". The link to cancers caused by preparation of food is vague at best, totally speculative at worst. I don't worry about it, and neither should you. If you really want to learn about risky foodstuff, read up about cyanide in almonds and other fruits with a stone (people even eat that stuff "for health reasons"..., e.g. https://www.webmd.com/cancer/cancer-apricot-seeds https://www.webmd.com/cancer/cancer-apricot-seeds ), coumarin (basically an anticoagulant, in higher doses rat poison) in cinnamon, tonka beans and woodruff, and the funny flourinated compounds you get from overheated PTFE-coated cookware (the presence of acid lowers the "fun" temperature but at least might prevent production of gaseous hydroflouric acid). There, the risky dose is much much much closer to the usual kitchen use. In comparison, all of the kitchen cancer scare is harmless.
Arrath 5y ago
I'm impressed, horrified, but impressed.

t8e56vd4ih 5y ago

he's single, isn't he

ChuckNorris89 5y ago
Ouch. No amount of aloe vera can cure this burn.
mynameisash 5y ago
No, he's happily married.

andrewmcwatters 5y ago

This is still probably more hygienic than other techniques people use.

vkou 5y ago
It might be, but I doubt his home has the ventilation necessary to get all that smoke out before it causes problems to his health.

nkrisc 5y ago

I mean as long as he’s doing it outside and he keys everything burn off… I guess it’s OK. Still wouldn’t recommend it as standard practice.

qbasic_forever 5y ago
If they're really torching all the organic matter into carbon and ash, it might be carcinogenic. I know with grilling it was found to be a problem some years ago: https://www.healthline.com/health/is-grilling-with-charcoal-or-other-heat-sources-carcinogenic#4 https://www.healthline.com/health/is-grilling-with-charcoal-...
- Scipio_Afri 5y ago
  Its incredibly carcinogenic. Not just the carbonization of the food, but the heating to a high temperature and reheating of cooking oil is quite bad. "The repeated reheating of cooking oil changes its composition and releases acrolein, which is a toxic and potentially carcinogenic chemical." https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324806 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324806 Other links. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-39767-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-39767-1 https://www.ift.org/news-and-publications/food-technology-magazine/issues/2018/may/features/do-cooking-oils-present-a-health-risk https://www.ift.org/news-and-publications/food-technology-ma...
  - ByThyGrace 5y ago
    "It's incredibly carcinogenic" if you go completely overboard when using vegetable oils. As the ift.org article you linked to explains: > First of all, cooking with vegetable oil in the home (frying or sautéing) presents very little risk as the oil is typically used only once and heated for a short period of time (often less than 10 min). It is also possible to control the temperature of the oil, which should not exceed 190°C (374°F) and is best heated to 180°C (356°F) or lower. The oil should also not be heated at or above the oil’s smoke point. Then it explains that the actual risk is from frequently consuming deep fried meals produced commercially.
  - corty 5y ago
    There is a huge difference between "incredibly carcinogenic" and "potentially carcinogenic". Basically everything that comes out of a pan or fryer and is even slightly darker than "basically raw" will have some carcinogenic compounds. Frying any biomatter will create some measurable quantity of carcinogens, depending on the temperature and composition. First you will get the likes of Acrylamide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (e.g. Furan), Amines. In the presence of salt, spices, certain oils you can get even nastier stuff like Dioxines. And if you heat it even further, getting a few black spots, you are left with basic carbon. Even that isn't harmless, carbon modifications that you will produce in some minute quantity, like nanotubes and fullerenes, are carcinogenic. Denaturing hydrocarbons like in cooking will inevitably produce some of the above compounds, there is no way around it. You can try to avoid producing some of them by carefully steering conditions in a way that reduces some of the above compounds. But usually that increases the risk of other ones being produced. You can also undercook everything, but then you'll be left with unsafe food because of the bacterial risk. All of the above are carcinogenic in (comparatively) huge quantities. Usually "in mice". The link to cancers caused by preparation of food is vague at best, totally speculative at worst. I don't worry about it, and neither should you. If you really want to learn about risky foodstuff, read up about cyanide in almonds and other fruits with a stone (people even eat that stuff "for health reasons"..., e.g. https://www.webmd.com/cancer/cancer-apricot-seeds https://www.webmd.com/cancer/cancer-apricot-seeds ), coumarin (basically an anticoagulant, in higher doses rat poison) in cinnamon, tonka beans and woodruff, and the funny flourinated compounds you get from overheated PTFE-coated cookware (the presence of acid lowers the "fun" temperature but at least might prevent production of gaseous hydroflouric acid). There, the risky dose is much much much closer to the usual kitchen use. In comparison, all of the kitchen cancer scare is harmless.

Arrath 5y ago

I'm impressed, horrified, but impressed.