# roasting



## vrabec (Oct 8, 2021)

Are there any foods unsafe to roast in the house with a budgie nearby?

I will be making chocolate this week, which requires roasting cacao beans, and generally done in the kitchen. It's raining now so I can't do it outside. I can move the bird away during roasting, however, the aroma lingers for good at least a day or two even with my central heating running. Sadly I don't have a range hood, and this whole bird thing has me considering a kitchen remodel 🤪

The process also introduces 24/7 noise from the stone grinder/melanger. I'll run it in the spare bedroom downstairs, can still hear it upstairs but it's doable.


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## vrabec (Oct 8, 2021)

FWIW, I roasted cacao beans for about an hour this morning and chiribiri seems perfectly fine. House smells awesome. 

Still curious whether it is safe to roast any foods with strong aromatics. Burnt is probably bad, but other foods?

Hmm.


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## srirachaseahawk (Sep 5, 2021)

Good question, I look forward to the answers as well.

I roast a lot of veggies, but my wife is an avid baker and I want to make sure that there aren't specific things that are non-starters (obviously all non-teflon).


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*No problems that I know of with regard to roasting foods. 

Keep in mind that although room temperature vinegar is GREAT for cleaning, PLEASE NOTE: HEATED vinegar emits toxic fumes similar to carbon dioxide. 
Bird owners have lost their pets by adding vinegar to their dishwashing cycle, or used it to clean coffee machines. *


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## srirachaseahawk (Sep 5, 2021)

FaeryBee said:


> *No problems that I know of with regard to roasting foods.
> 
> Keep in mind that although room temperature vinegar is GREAT for cleaning, PLEASE NOTE: HEATED vinegar emits toxic fumes similar to carbon dioxide.
> Bird owners have lost their pets by adding vinegar to their dishwashing cycle, or used it to clean coffee machines. *


Eek, I had no idea. I cook with it all the time...


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## vrabec (Oct 8, 2021)

@FaeryBee Do you mean carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide?

I use vinegar to deglaze the pan, and a splash with onions, so I guess that's out. Hmm... so would that apply to wine as well?


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*I'm going to RETRACT my post about vinegar being a danger to budgies when heated.*

*This is what I managed to find through doing more research on the matter:*

*When heated above 440 °C (824 °F), acetic acid decomposes to produce carbon dioxide and methane, or to produce ketene and water.

Vinegar is only ~5% acetic acid by volume. *
*While may be (?) possible an electric stovetop can get that hot, (?) I don't see anyone leaving a pan of vinegar on high for an hour.

All that said, I now think it's fine to use vinegar when cooking and to run it through your coffee maker.

Do not mix vinegar with alkali-cleaning products like soap, lye, and bleach.
They'll neutralize the vinegar and alkali at the same time, making both ineffective (not to mention potentially creating poisonous fumes, as with bleach). 

Sometimes, though, neutralization is useful, as when you mix vinegar and baking soda to unclog a drain. The two will combine to create water and carbon dioxide, AKA the "volcano effect," increasing the pressure in the drainpipe and dislodging some of the clogging material. *


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## vrabec (Oct 8, 2021)

Okay. I'm going to do a little research and see what I can find out. Vinegar is simply acetic acid and water. Acetic acid is CH3-COOH. There is a carbon monoxide group in it, so that could be what it is, but I didn't know the COOH could break up like that. I used to know a food chemist, hmmm, I wonder if I still have his contact info.

This is a rabbit hole, I wonder what else could be potentially dangerous. When I used to drink coffee, I would clean my machine with citric acid, not vinegar. But that also has the -COOH compound in it. Hmmmm.


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*Please read the post above yours. We posted at the same time.*


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## srirachaseahawk (Sep 5, 2021)

My chemistry is a bit rusty, but I'm assuming then that when I roast veggies at 430 degrees for a half hour; I should be good


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## FaeryBee (May 9, 2011)

*You’re golden! No problems with roasting vegetables!

So sorry I made a mess of your thread. 😢*


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## srirachaseahawk (Sep 5, 2021)

FaeryBee said:


> *You’re golden! No problems with roasting vegetables!
> 
> So sorry I made a mess of your thread. 😢*


We all have birds, we're used to messes


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## vrabec (Oct 8, 2021)

Nice, thank you @FaeryBee !!


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