[Sca-cooks] Copper bowl question

[Terry Decker]

Copper is a reactive element and can produce poisonous salts in some
situations.  I would suggest not using copper for preparing strongly acidic
foods.

In the case of meringues, the cooper ions released by the bowl appear to
combine with the conalbumin in the egg white to produce a more stabilized
foam.  At least that is the jist of a somewhat more detailed commentary in
McGee's On Food and Cooking.

Bear



>I recently found a place that is selling copper bowls at $14.99 each, so I
>cheerfully ordered three, intending to use them as yule gifts.
>
>They arrived packaged nicely in brown cardboard boxes, with the cancer
>warning label that is mandatory for anything icky in California.
>
>What is the icky thing given off by copper bowls?!?!?  They are supposedly
>the best thing for whipping egg whites by hand. Is there a chemical
>reaction that results?
>
>Regards,
>Maggie MacD.