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Popping Popcorn in Galvanized Buckets -- is it safe?

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
Ted is available for instant help
or longer-term assistance.

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