What metals will give me cancer when cooking?

Retrofitting a rotisserie to my Weber grill and I need 2 small pieces of metal tubing to act as a bearing on the fire box. Can I use 2 small pieces of copper? What kind of screws would be best? Does it matter?

My first thought: use cast iron.

I don't think this makes the top 100 things to worry about. Stainless has a significantly higher melting point than copper

I would use steel or a close relative. Stainless hardware might be a good choice. Get the whole thing good and hot one time before you cook anything just to burn off any chemical residue.

I'm under the impression that too much of anything will give you cancer, but thats a whole different issue. I would assume the least treated metal will have less artificial parts, and therefore be safer, but thats an assumption.

Stop the presses! If you're going to be cooking meat on this grill, that is what will give you cancer. The metal is good for you.

Stay away from plated metals.

If you are in California everything will give you cancer. Even a wrench.

stainless will be groovy, any steel or iron will do but stainless wont corrode.

Stainless contains chrome, a known carcinogen.

Not that I'm worried about it in my meat spits on a grill.

You're not going to get copper anywhere near hot enough to melt on a grill. I'd use it for the bearing tube as it's easy to shape for the job.

Considering the location, you could use wood as well.

Looks like copper it is!Thanks everyone.

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Read more: Copper Pots Safety | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_7186125_copper-pots-safety.html#ixzz29Z02G4Aq

i would say bronze

You eat off of stainless steel don't you?.

The Chrome in SS is not going to "leach out" or anything. That is a bit like saying table salt has chlorine in it and chlorine is deadly.

I wouldn't worry about the copper itself, I would worry about the oxide layer it is definitly going to form in that environment.

Rob R.

you're using this for a bushing on the shaft? so it probably won't even touch the food? copper or bronze would be fine, i'd be more worried about the grease one might put on said bushing than the bushing itself.

akamcfly wrote: Warning Read more: Copper Pots Safety | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_7186125_copper-pots-safety.html#ixzz29Z02G4Aq

Yea, but you can't get your egg whites really high and fluffy without a copper bowl.

Really is interesting the difference a copper bowl makes.

In reply to Strizzo:

I was just going to use Crisco.

I've heard bad thing about aluminum frying pans.... Then again you are frying...

I make Turkish coffee in a traditional copper pot almost every day. Goes right on the stove burner. I've used it on gas & electric ranges and barbecues. No cancer yet!

Copper is an excellent heat conductor (way better than steel or iron), so whatever parts you make will tend to have uniform temperature when in use, making them much less prone to deformation or cracking.

Just don't use galvanized steel. (I kked. I keed.)

If anything, cooking over charcoal would cause the cancer. But I'd rather eat grilled meats than not take the risk!