Toasting Marshmallows on a Corn Chip Grease-Fire

Neat, isn’t it? Tortilla chips, apparently, burn quite well if you put a match to them. If you take 2 to 3 of them and (taking the proper safety precautions) set them on fire, they will burn brilliantly for several minutes, giving you ample time to toast a marshmallow or two.

Corn chips (the Medallion brand available at Sams Club is what we used) contain a bit of oil, which you can see bubbling on the surface of the chip as the chip is consumed by the flames. Oil, as you surely know, is a great fuel source. When you set the chips alight, you’re creating a small grease fire, which will burn until the fuel source is used up, or until the fire is manually extinguished.

Safety note: If you attempt this, do not pour water on the fire in attempt to extinguish the flames. Grease fires can not be doused with water, and any attempts to do so will result in a very dangerous fireball. If the fire gets out of hand and needs to be put out, either pour baking soda on the flames, or use a fire extinguisher. Also, the fire pictured above was inside an aluminum tray resting in a stainless steel kitchen sink. It is recommended that you have a similar setup, as the flames can grow to a fairly large height.

Attempt this at your own risk. I assume no responsibility for your stupidity if you decide to play with grease fires. Unless you are a responsible adult (i.e. not Reddit/Digg users), or are operating under the supervision of a responsible adult, do not try this.

comments powered by Disqus