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Comment by _yb2s | Hacker News Reader

This is interesting history, but I am skeptical that this is safe to eat, or better than a regular potato. If people are interested in trying unusual potato cooking methods, I'd recommend making Syracuse Salt Potatoes instead- they are excellent and easy.

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Well I agree that there are better alternatives. But is rosin really that toxic? It seems to cause problems if the fumes are inhaled, but I can't find evidence it is particularly dangerous to consume. Similar to lots of other tree resins, which are even used in traditional chewing gum.

Turps is toxic if ingested, and it’s not clear if the rosin byproduct of turps production still contains some amount of turps.

I loathe the smell of turps, I wouldn’t eat anything that had any chance of coming into contact with it.

I'm not sure about you, but "can't find evidence it is particularly dangerous" is not exactly the standard of evidence I want when deciding to consume something that isn't normally a food item.

I have a tub of oar lubricant, for rowing. I also cannot find any evidence that it would be dangerous to eat, but I'm not going to fry up my dinner in it. Oar lubricant is traditionally just tallow so maybe that's what this is- but since it wasn't ever intended as food, do they, e.g. make sure it isn't stored and processed with equipment containing high lead concentrations, etc.? Maybe this one company adds something special and toxic that makes it work better that they don't have to disclose because it's not for human consumption?

Yes, but is there already some niche folk history of cooking food in oar lubricant? My response was to you saying "I am skeptical that this is safe to eat" when people have been, apparently, safely eating it.

Indeed there is- beef tallow is a common cooking oil and oar lubricant, and the supplier I buy my oar lubricant from does also sell food grade tallow, but it is unclear how or if it differs from the marine grade one

"apparently, safely eating it" is also still not the standard I want to use for food. The guys down at the fishing docks in SF Bay are "apparently safely eating" all kinds of fish and sharks that there are big warning signs posted all over not to eat.

Here's a link to the MSDS

https://www.fishersci.com/store/msds?partNumber=AC419175000&...

> But is rosin really that toxic?

The LD50 is pretty high, so it's not likely to kill you, but I don't think you'd want to eat it. "May cause skin, eye, and respiratory tract irritation"

I guess that with a steaming hot potato the higher risk is to inhale rosin in the steam rather than to eat it. I would much rather use duck fat to roast potatoes.

No mention of alimentary tract irritation ;)

Their MSDS for sodium chloride says, "Wear personal protective equipment/face protection. Ensure adequate ventilation. Avoid contact with skin, eyes or clothing. Avoid ingestion and inhalation. Avoid dust." and that, in case of skin contact, you should "Wash off immediately with plenty of water for at least 15 minutes. Get medical attention immediately if symptoms occur," to avoid which you should "Wear appropriate protective eyeglasses or chemical safety goggles as described by OSHA's eye and face protection regulations in 29 CFR 1910.133 or European Standard EN166. Wear appropriate protective gloves and clothing to prevent skin exposure." https://www.fishersci.com/store/msds?partNumber=S64010&produ...

Just to clarify, this is not some potentially contaminated crude rock salt product. It's the USP grade of table salt for incorporation into pharmaceutical products, which the MSDS also recommends against.

Like salt, rosin is an approved food additive in the US: https://www.hfpappexternal.fda.gov/scripts/fdcc/index.cfm?se...

There are toxic plants out there, but pine trees are pretty safe. You can safely chew even raw pine resin, even without boiling out the turpentine. You can make tea from pine needles. Try it, it's good.

Frying in rosin is a somewhat risky, even potentially fatal, form of food preparation, but the risk isn't that the rosin is going to poison you. It's that you'll spill hot rosin on yourself and get badly burned.

Is the crust edible on these, looking at the photos online that seems a lot of salt if it is?

Fondant potatoes are my new jam.

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