BOSTON, Aug. 26, 2010 — Here's a "Did You Know?" challenge for hungry family and friends lurking while you tend hot dogs, burgers, ribs, veggies, and other fare on that charcoal grill. They are fresh from a presentation here today at the American Chemical Society (ACS) 240th National Meeting & Exposition. The presenter was Michael J. Antal, Jr., Ph. D., one of the world's foremost authorities on charcoal.
Did you know that:
And finally, a "Believe It or Not." Despite being a world authority on charcoal, you'll never find Antal tending a barbecue. "I'm mostly a vegetarian," he noted. "I suppose I could grill vegetables, but I'm just not interested in grilling."
Although Antal never grills food, members of his lab at the University of Hawaii at Manoa do, and he says that they ignite the charcoal with paper and kindling using a chimney-type charcoal starter, to avoid the air pollution emissions cause by liquid fire-starters.
Click on the following link [ http://web.1.c2.audiovideoweb.com/1c2web3536/Charcoal_Review%20(iecr03).pdf ] for a charcoal review paper by Antal.
The American Chemical Society is a non-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 161,000 members, ACS is the world's largest scientific society and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.