Sterno: Difference between revisions
Added note re use with EC engines |
→History: rem last paragraph: all the information besides the date is sourced in the second ref, which is a forum thread. I cannot find any reliable sources regarding this. |
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Invented around 1900, Sterno is made from [[ethanol]], [[methanol]], water and an [[amphoteric (chemistry)|amphoteric]] oxide [[gel|gelling agent]], plus a dye that gives it a characteristic pink color. Designed to be odorless, a 7 oz (198 g) can will burn for up to two hours. The methanol is added to [[Denatured alcohol|denature]] the product, which essentially is intended to make it too toxic to be drinkable. |
Invented around 1900, Sterno is made from [[ethanol]], [[methanol]], water and an [[amphoteric (chemistry)|amphoteric]] oxide [[gel|gelling agent]], plus a dye that gives it a characteristic pink color. Designed to be odorless, a 7 oz (198 g) can will burn for up to two hours. The methanol is added to [[Denatured alcohol|denature]] the product, which essentially is intended to make it too toxic to be drinkable. |
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In 2007, two [[NASCAR]] crew chiefs were fined $100,000 for lining their fuel tanks and intake valves with Sterno. When the highly regulated NASCAR fuel was added, the Sterno would liquify giving the car an added octane boost.<ref>[http://jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/021207/spr_7944840.shtml "Waltrip could face a Sterno penalty" The Florida Times Union Feb 12, 2007]</ref><ref>[http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/330478-drinking-sterno.html Pelican Parts Forum Accessed on 10/09/11]</ref> |
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==Abuse== |
==Abuse== |
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Revision as of 18:33, 17 May 2012
Sterno ("Canned Heat") is a fuel made from denatured and jellied alcohol. It is designed to be burned directly from its can. Its primary uses are in the food service industry for buffet heating and in the home for fondue and as a chafing fuel for heating chafing dishes. Other uses are for camp stoves and as an emergency heat source. It is also a popular fuel for use with toy and model steam and other external combustion engines.
History
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (December 2011) |
The Sterno brand is owned by the Candle Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Blyth, Inc. The name comes from that of the original manufacturer: S. Sternau & Co. of Brooklyn, New York, a maker of chafing-dishes, coffee percolators and other similar appliances. It had previously applied the name to its "Sterno-Inferno" alcohol burner. In 1918 it promoted its Sterno Stove as being a perfect gift for a soldier going overseas[citation needed].
Invented around 1900, Sterno is made from ethanol, methanol, water and an amphoteric oxide gelling agent, plus a dye that gives it a characteristic pink color. Designed to be odorless, a 7 oz (198 g) can will burn for up to two hours. The methanol is added to denature the product, which essentially is intended to make it too toxic to be drinkable.
Abuse
There are many instances of people drinking Sterno to become intoxicated. The earliest documented case is of notable bluesman Tommy Johnson in his song Canned Heat Blues which was recorded in 1928.[1] "Woked up a-this mo'nin with canned heat on my mind, Woke just this mo'nin' canned heat was on my mind. Think alcorub is tearing apart my soul because brown-skin woman don't do the easy roll."[2]
The practice is said to have become popularized during the Great Depression in hobo camps, or "jungles", when the Sterno would be squeezed through cheesecloth or a sock and the resulting liquid mixed with fruit juice to make "Jungle Juice" or "Squeeze".[3]
The 1956 American documentary "On the Bowery" includes footage of three homeless men straining Sterno cooking fuel to make "squeeze" and then drinking the alcohol. [4]
In an article for the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1961, Capt. James H. Shinaberger, MC writes about a study of 3 people who had suffered methanol poisoning as a result of drinking Sterno. One of the patients, "had been drinking Sterno for about a week and had been in the city prison for 48 hours when severe abdominal pain and vomiting occurred".[5]
In December 1963, a rash of 31 deaths in Philadelphia's homeless population were traced to a local store that knowingly sold Sterno to people for them to consume and get drunk.[6]
In the Michael Crichton book and movie The Andromeda Strain, the town drunk is one of only two survivors of the fatal alien virus because his blood pH had been altered from drinking Sterno. "We'll have the answer to this disease when we know why a sixty-nine-year-old Sterno drinker with a bleeding ulcer is like a perfectly healthy six-month-old baby."
In Rocky III, Paulie yells to two indigents making noise in an alley, "Shut up you lousy Sterno bums, there's decent people tryin' to sleep!"
In the John Hughes movie Uncle Buck, Buck tells Roger to "watch the sterno" after Roger makes a pass at the teenage daughter.
See also
References
- ^ National Park Service, Trail of the Hellhound: Tommy Johnson Accessed on 10/09/11
- ^ Canned Heat Blues recording on YouTube.com
- ^ "Police Start Drive on Drinkers of Canned Heat" The Sarasota Journal Jan 5, 1962
- ^ "On The Bowery" Turner Classic Movies
- ^ Treatment of Methanol Poisoning by Extracorporeal Dialysis Arch Intern Med. 1961;108(6):937-939
- ^ Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Max Feinberg (1969)