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I got this grill but as you can see it’s rusty. My question is if I put grill on top, is it safe to cook chicken on it? enter image description here

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1 Answers1

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If the food is not touching the rusty metal, then there is no health concern. Particularly not when the rusted metal itself is being heated to over 200C.

There may be a safety concern with using the grill, though; rusted galvanized sheet steel is not going to be strong or reliable, and the grill may fall apart, scattering hot coals. So you only want to use it on top of a fireproof surface.

FuzzyChef
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    I hope it's not galvanised. [Zinc fumes aren't good](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_fume_fever), and anyway the zinc would melt in contact with hot coals (melting point 420°C, glowing coals over 600). Stainless can rust at high enough temperatures, and obviously mild steel rusts too – Chris H Jun 03 '23 at 07:27
  • It is galvanized. He posted more pics on an earlier question. I'm pretty sure all the zinc has burned off by now, given. – FuzzyChef Jun 03 '23 at 16:35
  • Note that I don't recommend using this grill at all. But that's not the question the OP asked. – FuzzyChef Jun 03 '23 at 16:37
  • Well, this question is effectively "is it safe to cook over this hot metal thing?", and zinc would be a reason to say "no". After all, cooking safety isn't just food safety (don't burn or cut yourself). I reckon most of the zinc has gone, but the grey on the top edge is probably still galvanised, and there may be some that melted and ran down. – Chris H Jun 03 '23 at 16:51
  • Galvanised or not I wouldn't be keen, but it could be possible to cook at a sensible temperature to avoid the classic charred but raw failure. With a lot of hassle and some other bits. – Chris H Jun 03 '23 at 16:55
  • And regarding your last point, it's even worse than you say. Assuming the legs hold perfectly, dry vegetation could easily touch the bottom and catch fire; even the radiant heat would damage a lot of things underneath, or ignite a few (imagine putting it on plastic table!) I have a briefcase style portable one which is a bit wobbly but OK with careful placement. Despite 3-4x longer legs, it has the same problem – Chris H Jun 03 '23 at 17:04
  • I don't believe this "grill" has legs. – FuzzyChef Jun 05 '23 at 01:59
  • I thought in the picture on the other question there were some really short ones, but it's not linked from here – Chris H Jun 05 '23 at 05:44
  • Anyway, it's not my experience -- based on some experiences with welding, and with cheap pizza ovens -- that zinc vapor is not a real health problem for cooking outside; there's simply not enough vapor to give you a faceful. However, that is not an expert health recommendation, and I've done no actual testing. – FuzzyChef Jun 05 '23 at 17:41
  • That's quite possibly true, but it is a known hazard of the material, and it would be remiss of me not to mention it – Chris H Jun 05 '23 at 20:14