# Now, This is Downright Scary!



## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

So much for "natural".

Yesterday DH wasn't home so I decided to bake some quick breads. I have a recipe for Applesauce Cake that I have had (and used) for 40 years. I decided to make a bunch of them and so that I didn't get confused when putting the ingredients in each bread, I decided to use some little 1 oz. plastic cups (party shot glasses) to hold the various spices for each bread. Upon digging through my spice box I found that I didn't have any ground cloves, so I got out my Magic Bullit and ground up some whole cloves. (Boy, fresh ground spices are so much more aromatic than the store bought ones!)

When cleaning up, I was washing the little cups and descovered that the cloves had sort of "melted" the cups. It didn't melt through, just roughed them up a bit. What's up with that?? :shrug:


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## backachersfarm (Jun 14, 2005)

I think plastic is a petroleum product. Could have been reaction between the oil in clove and makeup of plastic


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## Horseyrider (Aug 8, 2010)

I have that exact same thing, too. But in all fairness, the uhh, percussion of coffee beans hammered the inside too. They just didn't discolor it the way the cloves did.

Used to be you could buy an Oster blender with little eight ounce cups that were glass. I still have a glass top blender but I use it in the barn for grinding flax for the horses.


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## Solarmom (Jun 17, 2010)

I use a regular mouth pint or half pint mason jar on my blender- if you have the old style type- works fine, no damage. I make salad dressings,marinades, etc this way. I have ground spices also, and no staining/dinging of the coffee grinder and the spice is already in the jar when I'm done. You won't be able to use anything smaller than a half pint 'cause usually the blender blades are too tall.

Kris


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

The issue wasn't with the grinder cup, it was with the little 1 oz. shot glasses. They are made of a very hard plastic. Sorry if that wasn't clear.


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## GardenNut (Sep 7, 2010)

The essential oil in the cloves degraded the plastic. There have been reports of it happening with the Magic Bullet blender lids as well. Some plastics, like polycarbonate, are great for holding water, but other substances can cause them to break down.


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## Horseyrider (Aug 8, 2010)

Well yick. I don't have a Magic Bullet; I got the Bella Cucina because it was rated higher on Amazon. The diameter of the top with the blades is the same as a wide mouth jar, but the threads don't match.

I'm squicked out. So much for my organic stuff.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

I was cooking corned beef in the oven once and had covered the pan with aluminum foil. When it was done, I took it out of the oven and the corned beef had eaten holes in the aluminum foil. Another scary moment.


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## Guest (Jan 12, 2011)

Aluminum foil is very susceptible to acids and salts. Doesn't take much to corrode a hole in it.

Eugenol (the active ingredient in oil of cloves) has been used in manufacturing of some plastics and rubbers so combines (as in melts) some of them readily.


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## Gayle in KY (May 13, 2002)

It's possible that grinding the cloves just made them hot.


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## Horseyrider (Aug 8, 2010)

I would tend to agree with you Gayle, but it doesn't seem like grinding coffee beans or anything else gets hot. It really does seem like a chemical reaction is likely.

I'd happily pay more for glass, if it was out there.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Just last week I was looking at (and decided against) this spice organizing system and came across this about cloves:



> &#9632;The potent oils in ground clove can etch the interior of a container and create a permanent foggy look. We suggest using a different type of container to store ground cloves. Better yet, buy whole cloves which are fine to store in SpiceCare containers and will stay fresh much longer than ground clove.


http://www.tablefare.com/products/spicecare/care.php

The containers are some sort of plastic and not BPA-free (the main reason I decided against them) so there seems to be something to this clove thing. They must be pretty powerful little boogers!


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Thanks for that information, PrettyPaisley. I'll know in the future to put fresh-ground cloves in glass.


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