lis  6d ago
wondering whether using acetone or isopropanol to clean sticky polymerised fat off cookware is a very good or very very bad idea…

i can imagine toxic impurities being a problem, especially if you get your solvents from the hardware store or cleaning supplies shop; but you can get them in food-safe/pharmaceutical-grade varieties too

i can imagine acetone destroying PTFE coatings, since PTFE itself is a polymer, but i don't have any PTFE cookware except my airfryer and rice cooker

what about other materials? stainless steel shouldn't be a problem. neither should glass, which includes emamel coatings. raw ceramic and cast iron might be a problem since they're porous, but then again, these solvents evaporate pretty quickly.
Show threadLuna 

@lis Intuitively I would avoid using toxic or health-hazardous solvents on food contact materials, however what you say makes sense for materials like glass or steel. But also, if possible I'd prefer ethanol since that's safer for consumption, but then it won't dissolve the fat.

Also, in my experience, using acetone to get rid of fatty substances usually doesn't work very well. Isopropanol might be a bit better, but still.

(For context: I'm a chemist)

Mar 20 at 12:01amWeb
Show threadlis  5d ago
@queerthoughts tbh i'm not too concerned about the toxicity of these solvents on their own, there's enough ways to get rid of them. they're water soluble, pretty volatile, and have low boiling points. it's really mostly the possible impurities i'm worried about.