----- Original Message ----- From: "Bob Faw" Sent: Saturday, August 14, 2004 5:01 AM Subject: BBQ in a Flash!
> Engineer Humor: > > Our subject today is lighting charcoal grills. One of our favorite > charcoal grill lighters is a guy named George Goble (really!!), a > computer person in the Purdue University engineering department. Each > year, Goble and a bunch of other engineers hold a picnic in West > Lafayette, Indiana, at which they cook hamburgers on a big grill. Being > engineers, they began looking for practical ways to speed up the > charcoal-lighting process. > > "We started by blowing the charcoal with a hair dryer," Goble told me in > a telephone interview. "Then we figured out that it would light faster > if we used a vacuum cleaner." > > If you know anything about (1) engineers and (2) guys in general, you > know what happened: The purpose of the charcoal-lighting shifted from > cooking hamburgers to seeing how fast they could light the charcoal. From > the vacuum cleaner, they escalated to using a propane torch, then an > acetylene torch. Then Goble started using compressed pure oxygen, which > caused the charcoal to burn much faster, because as you recall from > chemistry class, fire is essentially the rapid combination of oxygen with > a reducing agent (the charcoal). We discovered that a long time ago, > somewhere in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (or > something along those lines). > > By this point, Goble was getting pretty good times. But in the world of > competitive charcoal-lighting, "pretty good" does not cut the > mustard.Thus, Goble hit upon the idea of using -- get ready -- liquid > oxygen. This is the form of oxygen used in rocket engines; it's 295 > degrees below zero and 600 times as dense as regular oxygen. In terms of > releasing energy, pouring liquid oxygen on charcoal is the equivalent of > throwing a live squirrel into a room containing 50 million Labrador > retrievers. > > On Gobel's World Wide Web page <http://ghg.ecn.purdue.edu/>*, you can see > actual photographs and a video of Goble using a bucket attached to a > 10-foot-long wooden handle to dump 3 gallons of liquid oxygen (not sold > in stores) onto a grill containing 60 pounds of charcoal and a lit > cigarette for ignition. What follows is the most impressive > charcoal-lighting I have ever seen, featuring a large fireball that > according to Goble, reached 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The charcoal was > ready for cooking in--this has to be a world record--3 seconds. > > There's also a photo of what happened when Goble used the same technique > on a flimsy $2.88 discount-store grill. All that's left is a circle of > charcoal with a few shreds of metal in it. "Basically, the grill > vaporized," said Goble. "We were thinking of returning it to the store > for a refund." > > Looking at Goble's video and photos, I became, as an American, all choked > up with gratitude at the fact that I do not live anywhere near the > engineers' picnic site. But also, I was proud of my country for > producing guys who can be ready to barbecue in less time than it takes > for guys in less-advanced nations, such as France, to spit. > > Will the 3-second barrier ever be broken? Will engineers come up with a > new, more powerful charcoal-lighting technology? It's something for all > of us to ponder this summer as we sit outside, chewing our hamburgers, > every now and then glancing in the direction of West Lafayette, Indiana, > looking for a mushroom cloud... > > * Bobnote: Apparently Purdue U. was not amused and have taken down poor > George's website. Pictures and commentary can still be found here: > > http://www.ambrosiasw.com/Ambrosia_Times/September_95/2.5HowTo.html > > and here: > > http://home.att.net/~purduejacksonville/grill.html xponent Burger Dust Maru rob _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
