copper pots

[tenngun]

Heard when I was young that copper was posiness to cook in. Some copper pots are made today, some are tinned to make them safer. How safe are copper pots?

 

[Coot]

Copper pots are perfectly safe - as long as any solder used on a bottom or side seam is lead free, and as long as you avoid acidic foods. Copper water pipes are in common use today & there are no issues with them. If you want to cook acidic foods (like tomatoes) then it is simple enough to have the inside of the pot tinned. Both of my copper pots are tinned.

 

[ohio ramrod]

copper actually helps kill bacteria. Copper is NOT dangerous. Lead solder is! :idunno:

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Tenngun,

Beer (acidic) and apple butter (very acidic) are made in copper vessels, and brass too could be used. They are safe so long as they are not tarnished. So you could make spagetti sauce in a bright copper kettle and be fine, or tea in a brass kettle, and be fine.

IF you leave acidic foods in the copper or brass long enough to tarnish the brass or copper to the point the green tarnish forms, called verdigris, that's the stuff that's toxic.

What has happened over the years is that folks have forgotten a portion of the warning that the verdigris must be polished off the brass or the copper, and simply say "Copper and brass when untinned is unsafe to use for cooking." Because of this error, most of the coppersmiths, and the folks that sell brass trade kettles, tin the inside to avoid the error and ensure the sale.
LD

 

[tenngun]

This is what heard growing up.Was in new mex and lived in an area with a large Basque population.All I ever heard was dont eat any thing "spicy" from a copper pot...thak you all for your input.Won a copper teakettle in a blanket shoot and the guy who trew it on the blanket said only use it for water.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Naw no worries, just keep the interior shiny. If green tarnish shows up, don't even boil water in it until you polish that away. I have a couple of brass untinned kettles, and they haven't harmed me a bit, but I do watch for the tarnish. (OK so at least nobody has found me more "odd" , nor do I have any additional health complaints, than before I owned and used them kettles :haha: )

LD

 

[Rifleman1776]

My wife once gave me a copper cup and I had the same concerns. I called the state poison control center for information. I was told what others have already posted. Safe to use. Just stay away from acids like orange juice, milk, etc. I use mainly for coffee. But I did wrap the handle with leather to protect my dainty fingers from the heat. :shocked2: :wink:

 

[Coot]

I have a copper 1/2 gill cup. As a precaution I rinse it with whiskey several times when at an event. :wink:

 

[Black Hand]

My wife once gave me a copper cup and I had the same concerns. I called the state poison control center for information. I was told what others have already posted. Safe to use. Just stay away from acids like orange juice, milk, etc. I use mainly for coffee. But I did wrap the handle with leather to protect my dainty fingers from the heat. :shocked2: :wink:

You do realize that coffee is more acidic than milk? http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Chem_AcidsBasespHScale.shtml

 

[Rifleman1776]

My wife once gave me a copper cup and I had the same concerns. I called the state poison control center for information. I was told what others have already posted. Safe to use. Just stay away from acids like orange juice, milk, etc. I use mainly for coffee. But I did wrap the handle with leather to protect my dainty fingers from the heat. :shocked2: :wink:

You do realize that coffee is more acidic than milk? http://www.sciencebuddies.org/scie...ct_ideas/Chem_AcidsBasespHScale.shtml[/quote]


No. I did not realize that.
So....now wat?
At least my fingers don't burn. :wink:

 

[Black Hand]

There is really nothing to worry about as it is the verdigris that is (mildly) toxic.

Keep drinking your coffee and I will keep drinking Moscow Mules from copper cups. If a little copper (as copper ions) was a problem, houses wouldn't have copper water lines. Copper is also essential for health.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_in_health

 

[Karl Helweg]

http://foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net/old-tinned-copper-cookware_topic1680.html

The inside and edge of most copper cookware should be tinned for safety. Tin is non-reactive. There are a few gourmet services who will tin or retin old copperware. There are also some YouTube videos showing it done with flux and a tin ingot. Some of these old Indian tinners are amazing to watch work. Remember to never put a tinned copper pot on the fire without food in it since the tin has a relatively low melting temperature and can be ruined quickly. Watch out for green corrosion peaking through old tin since this can be especially reactive with acidic food.
http://stumpblufftradingpost.com/

IF anyone can dig up a list of foods that are safe to cook in untinned copper I would love to see it.

 

[Black Hand]

IF anyone can dig up a list of foods that are safe to cook in untinned copper I would love to see it.

Pretty much any food is safe to cook in an untinned copper pot. You just don't want to leave acidic foods in the pot for an excessive amount of time after cooking (i.e. long-term storage). Since copper pots are rarely used for long-term storage (unless you are a college student, and what college student can afford expensive copper pots), it won't be a problem. It is the verdigris (oxidized copper) that is mildly toxic and can cause gastric upset.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

IF anyone can dig up a list of foods that are safe to cook in untinned copper I would love to see it.

Apple butter must be cooked in a copper kettle to get the proper flavor and color.

Beer, ale, and cider are all cooked in copper kettles if you want to ferment them.

ALL fruit brandies start out as fermented fruit juice, acidic, and are then distilled in copper, pot-stills, as other methods remove the fruit flavoring.

Originally, when citrus juice was first tried out by the British Royal Navy as a scurvy remedy..., it was due to medical papers, one of which was from the East India Company. Using citrus appeared to work.

The Royal Navy then tried to concentrate the juice of citrus fruits by boiling to save space and preserve the juice for long voyages, and the boiling was done in copper, brewing kettles..., which they did not know destroyed the vitamin C due to exposure to the copper. So it didn't work when they tried it that way, and the sailors got got scurvy, but no other ill effects. Seven years later, Dr. James Lind looked at the problem again, and noted that in the previous uses the citrus wasn't cooked. He conducted what is now considered the first "clinical trial" and found the citrus did indeed keep scurvy away.

Vitamin C wasn't actually identified until the 20th century.

LD

 

[Preacher Jeremy]

AHH, the navel rum ration put to good use. the alcohol seems to do the trick

 

[Black Hand]

I hope you actually mean "naval".
I wouldn't drink navel rum if it was the last thing available...

 

[Preacher Jeremy]

depends on who's navel it came from, but I did mean naval.

 

[Black Hand]

depends on who's navel it came from...

Agreed! (But then it wouldn't be made from navels)

 

[Wes/Tex]

Agreed! (But then it wouldn't be made from navels)

Unless you're talking navel oranges! :wink:

and by-the-by..what was the Royal Navy's run ration? Can't remember if it was in gills or gallons! :haha: Actually gills and cut 4 to 1 with water and had a shot of lime juice or whatever.

 

[Coot]

Based on several UK RN websites, the rum ration varied with time - it officially replaced the beer ration in 1740 & at that time, was half a pint, served neat until 1756 when Admiral Vernon (Mount Vernon was named for him) caused it to be watered down & lime or lemon juice added to become "Grog". In 1850 the ration was cut to 1/4 pint (a gill) & then to 1/8 pint (half gill) & finally replaced entirely in 1970 by three cans of beer, returning to the original pre 1740 issue beverage (of beer).