Summary for galvanized bucket popcorn safety Discussion
galvanized bucket popcorn safety is the core question here: Cindy Dutton asked whether it is safe to pop popcorn over a campfire in a galvanized bucket with oil. The reply says the writer would personally eat it and even serve it to family, but stresses that this does not make it perfectly safe. The main caution is that galvanized buckets were not designed for cooking, and the maker may have used soldering or chromate-quenching choices that are not suited to food use. The answer also notes that zinc is not a food-safe surface and that too much zinc can theoretically be harmful. Still, the writer frames safety as a spectrum rather than a simple yes/no, and says they would consider the risk of this popcorn lower than the risk of other tainted food encountered on a camping trip.
Q. I just saw a video where they popped popcorn over a campfire using a galvanized bucket filled with a bag of popcorn and cooking oil. Do you think this is safe?
Cindy Dutton
– Traverse City Michigsn
September 8, 2024
A. Hi Cindy,
I would eat it without hesitation and would encourage my wife, children, and grandchildren to enjoy some too — but that doesn’t mean it’s perfectly safe.
Actually we should never use things for purposes for which they weren’t intended — the designer certainly never intended people to cook popcorn over a campfire in a bucket he designed for swabbing floors, and s/he might have made soldering & chromate quenching choices, etc., ill-suited for campfire cooking. And zinc is not a “food-safe” surface anyway (it is theoretically possible to consume too much zinc).
But “safe” isn’t a yes/no thing. it’s a spectrum, and I personally would consider it more likely on a camping trip that I’d consume tainted food that that this popcorn would poison me.
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com – Pine Beach, New Jersey
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