[Sca-cooks] Cornish Pasties Was Meat Mixtures

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Sep 27, 2006, at 1:27 AM, Arianwen ferch Arthur wrote:

> Gadzooks, if the tin is poisonous, then why galvanized
> steel water troughs for stock and come to think of it
> aren't we using tin cans for things? (and yes I do
> know they are steel cans, but I thought they were tin
> lined or something?)

Tin shouldn't be poisonous, under normal conditions it's sort of  
chemically inert (like gold, although much harder), which is why it  
makes such a good coating for cans and pots. Galvanized items are  
coated with zinc, though, and while most cans were at one time tin- 
plated iron or steel, most are now either aluminum or some other  
steel alloy, I believe.

> and the Brits use baking tins all the time -- wonder
> the etymology of tin where we use pan...

I was a little surprised at the dearth of info on this subject a  
casual search revealed, but I can cite several cases of items being  
referred to by their metal composition, even in period or close-to- 
period recipes -- wafers and waffles are cooked in an iron, large  
consignments of hot water for laundry or puddings in the Victorian  
age and elsewhen are heated in a copper, and Gervase Markham's ale  
recipes speak of boiling the "liquor" (water) in your lead and  
pouring it over your malt.

I guess it's possible that a culture that arose in an area with so  
many mines might do that, while one more accustomed to imported tin  
utensils and inexpensive clay ones (such as early American colonists)  
might not...

Adamantius