Sterno
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Sterno® Canned Heat™ is a fuel made from denatured and jellied alcohol. It is designed to be burned directly from its can. Its primary use is in the food service industry for buffet heating. Other uses are for camp stoves and as an emergency heat source. The Sterno brand is owned by the Candle Corporation Of America, a subsidiary of Blyth, Inc. The name comes from that of the original manufacturer: S. Sternau & Co. of Brooklyn NY, a maker of chafing-dishes, coffee percolators and other similar appliances. They had previously applied the name to their "Sterno-Inferno" alcohol burner. In 1918 they promoted their Sterno Stove as being a perfect gift for a soldier going overseas.
Invented around 1900, Sterno is made from ethanol, methanol, water and an amphoteric oxide gelling agent, plus a dye that gives it a characteristic pink color. Designed to be odorless, a seven ounce (198g) can will burn for up to two hours.
Sterno references in popular culture
- Sterno has long been mixed with water and other liquids to produce a drink called "canned heat", "squeeze" or "pink lady". The product is squeezed through a rag to extract the alcohol. These alcoholic beverages, primarily used in poorer communities, have been linked to numerous deaths, including 31 people in Philadelphia in 1963.
- Blues artist Tommy Johnson recorded a 1928 song "Canned Heat Blues", about the consumption of the "canned heat" drink described above, and was said to have later died from its abuse. This song later inspired the name of the blues band Canned Heat.Sleeve notes to Hooker 'N' Heat, BGOCD964, quoting An American Rock History Part One: California by Hugh MacLean and Vermont Johnson (Borderline Publications, 1987).
- In Michael Crichton's book The Andromeda Strain, and later the 1971 film of the same name, a character claims to regularly ingest squeeze (Sterno) along with aspirin to treat a stomach ulcer — a questionable use at best of the denatured, thus poisonous cooking fuel.
- In The Dark Tower (book 7 of the Dark Tower series, by Stephen King) Roland and Susannah use Sterno to get away from a monster below the Dogan.
- In the 1989 film "Uncle Buck" starring John Candy, Buck's friend Roger admonishes him to "Watch the Sterno, will you?" during their conversation at the bowling alley.
- In the MC Lars and mc chris hiphop track "Roommate from Hell", Lars complains about his roommate, Satan. At one point he says, "I can’t have girls over when the dorm smells like Sterno; When did room 56 become Dante's Inferno?"
- In the animated cartoon Futurama one of the episodes features Elzar the Cook and his special dishes. Bender the Robot's dish is a "Sterno Nicoise."
See also
External links
- [Company web site]
- [Material Safety Data Sheet]
- [U.S. Patent 5,641,890]
- [Justice Jones's Opinion in Commonwealth of PA v. Max Feinburg]
References
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