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I busted out my propane grill which I haven't used in over a year and noticed as I was cleaning it that there was a bit of rust on the grill. I tried to get it off but it doesn't seem to want to. Is it safe to grill with some rust on there?

Aaronut
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Wil
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  • What kind of grill? Stainless Steel? You may be able to clean it off with CLR. Rinse it well when you're done. – talon8 Jul 23 '11 at 04:38
  • Weber, seems like they are stainless steel. Thanks for the CLR tip, might give it a try. – Wil Jul 23 '11 at 11:17
  • One thing to check: If your stainless grill grates rusted, what else did? Make sure you don't have damaged burners or valve or a propane leak somewhere. Uncontained fire or explosion will be much more hazardous to your health than rust! – derobert Jul 25 '11 at 21:57

2 Answers2

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Rust, or iron oxide, is not poisonous, unless consumed in large amounts. Thus it is relatively safe to grill on your barbeque.

What about the people who get cut by rusty nails and get lockjaw? That's not due to the rust, but rather, due to the bacteria on the rust, which is called, Clostridium tetani, which is found in the soil, and presumably, the nails have had come in contact with the soil, and so actually contains some of these deadly bacteria, and so, when a wound is made by the sharp object, the sharp object(nail) will also infect the wound causing tetanus, or lockjaw.

Which is totally irrelevant to your grill, as I assume, it hasn't actually come in contact with the soil has it?

So, it's safe, relatively

Cryst
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  • Thanks, it hasn't come into contact with any soil, and it's been under a cover the whole time. – Wil Jul 23 '11 at 11:17
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    Your grill will also presumably get hot enough to kill any bacteria before adding the meat – Ray Jul 23 '11 at 11:18
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    @Ray: Most bacteria, including C.tetani, produce toxins and/or spores that are resistant to cooking temperatures, so if the grill was really hosting bacteria for an extended period of time, pre-heating the grill might not help. That situation is incredibly unlikely though, because most bacteria wouldn't survive that long on a grill in the first place (most of the "C" bacteria are obligate anaerobes and can't grow spores in open air.) – Aaronut Jul 23 '11 at 16:18
  • Definitely hear you about the toxins, but everything should be denatured by grilling temperatures. The number commonly repeated for Botulinum toxin, for example, is that it is denatured around 140 F. I can't speak to the tetanus toxin. – Ray Jul 24 '11 at 04:00
  • @Ray : oddly enough, killing spores is different when dealing with [wet vs. dry heat](http://www.bmb.leeds.ac.uk/mbiology/ug/ugteach/icu8/kill/physical.html) ... 2 hrs at 160°C (320°F) when dry vs. 5 min at 121°C (250°F) – Joe Jul 25 '11 at 04:46
  • @Aaronut: They're resistant to temperatures you'd want to bring food to, but preheating would be >500°F, I doubt they're that resistant. I haven't done research to back this, though, so take it with a grain of salt. – derobert Jul 25 '11 at 21:52
  • @Ray: That's quite a bit off; botulinum spores can survive boiling water, they're resistant up to 240° F, and you need to hold that temperature for a while to make sure you've killed enough of them. And botulinum is one of the *easier* kinds to kill. Really gotta be careful with the difference between contaminated food (just cook to kill bacteria) and potentially spoiled food (including bits left on a cooking surface) - the latter is much higher risk. – Aaronut Jul 25 '11 at 23:20
  • @derobert: That's definitely high enough, as long as it's held at that temperature for a while. Often people will throw their food on the grill / in the oven as soon as it's preheated - you have to basically burn everything off for food safety. – Aaronut Jul 25 '11 at 23:21
  • @Aaronut, I'm definitely on your side in making sure not to confuse killing bacteria with denaturing toxins. In this case, though, I'm repeating the widely cited 140 degree number for denaturing the toxin. Admittedly, I was first aware of it from Wikipedia, but I have a better citation here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014579398005717... do you have something that indicates otherwise? As noted, I don't have a figure for tetanus--this was intended to be a guideline. – Ray Jul 25 '11 at 23:35
  • @Aaronut, on another note, I can't imagine not heating my grill until everything burns off (how else do you clean it??) but it is a good reminder that not everyone does that. I normally shoot for the 350 to 500 range, which ought to obliterate any nasties. – Ray Jul 25 '11 at 23:36
  • @Ray: Yes, lots of people do that and doing a burn-off *after* grilling is probably the safest path in addition to the most convenient (since it gives no time for any straggling bacteria to reproduce). Still, a lot of people are just lazy and don't clean their grills at all; it's more dangerous than they realize. Your number is actually correct for the toxin but not for the spores; they are very heat-resistant, and, as noted earlier, botulinum toxin denatures at a lower temperature than most; for example, what I've seen quoted for stx is 95° C for 5 minutes or 98° C for 1 minute. – Aaronut Jul 25 '11 at 23:50
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In bacteriology laboratories, utensils used for transporting bacteria are flame sterilized. Worrying about spores from the bacteria that cause tetanus, on a grill, is unnecessary.

rumtscho
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Rob
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    Hello, and welcome to Seasoned Advice! We insist on some courtesy here, and I considered your old ending rude, so I removed that part. But I agree with the rest of your answer, so +1 too. – rumtscho Sep 19 '13 at 09:37