Can I eat FROM it? White specks on my Wagner Ware Magnalite roaster
April 3, 2020 11:04 AM Subscribe
I have a Wagner Ware Magnalite roaster that I use and love. I recently used it like a humidifier kettle on top of our wood stove, and white specks appeared on the sides. Was it safe to use for cooking before this happened, and is it now?
Here's the roaster and the white specks.
Did the white specks come from the roaster itself, or from the (tested, very good potable) well water I put inside, or from some residue of something that's been in there before? According to Google, Magnalite is made of an aluminum/magnesium alloy. The white specks feel like little bumps, and don't dissolve, but I can scrub them off with a metal scouring pad. But does this same white stuff end up, unseen, in our food when I use it? And is that safe?
I've googled around, and people talk about aluminum being thought to be unsafe, but not actually unsafe, or safe except with acidic foods. I'm comfortable using my other aluminum cookware. Is the safety of this roaster the same as those, and is it the same now as before I saw the white specks? How safe or unsafe is that?
Here's the roaster and the white specks.
Did the white specks come from the roaster itself, or from the (tested, very good potable) well water I put inside, or from some residue of something that's been in there before? According to Google, Magnalite is made of an aluminum/magnesium alloy. The white specks feel like little bumps, and don't dissolve, but I can scrub them off with a metal scouring pad. But does this same white stuff end up, unseen, in our food when I use it? And is that safe?
I've googled around, and people talk about aluminum being thought to be unsafe, but not actually unsafe, or safe except with acidic foods. I'm comfortable using my other aluminum cookware. Is the safety of this roaster the same as those, and is it the same now as before I saw the white specks? How safe or unsafe is that?
Those look like the specks that would show up when I used a stainless steel pot in lieu of a kettle a few times in a row. Mineral salts was the conclusion I came to.
posted by trig at 1:10 PM on April 3, 2020
posted by trig at 1:10 PM on April 3, 2020
Response by poster: Thanks! I'll scrub them off and go back to using my roaster as a roaster instead of on top of the wood stove.
posted by daisyace at 6:00 PM on April 4, 2020
posted by daisyace at 6:00 PM on April 4, 2020
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The questions about the relevance of aluminum exposure through cookware are relevant but not at the magnitude that you should worry about. It's indeed a good idea to avoid cooking acidic foods in aluminim, but that is more important in a cumulative sense rather than a worry than an individual meal will cause you any level of health concern. Don't use aluminum to store your food--just to prepare it--and your intake will stay within safe thresholds that are thoroughly well-established.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 11:20 AM on April 3, 2020 [6 favorites]