Has anyone use this for extractions? (here is a link to see what the bottle looks like) SWIM found some at a nearby store and likes the idea of not having to order more Food Grade NaOH off the interweb, but is a little concerned about potential contaminants.

Can anyone vouch for its safety? Or has anyone at least successfully used this for an extraction and not had any problems?

100% lye would theoretically be more pure than food grade lye (>95%)

wth is "food grade" lye


roebic is fine, it's as good as ACS grade.

You don't eat soap?

nope.

maybe they mean USP/NF grade

Roebic is all I've ever used. Fine stuff.

Pokey the Satisfied

Food Grade means >95% purity

*shrugs*
well, if that's what you want to call it (FCC grade).
it's really USP-NF grade, and ACS grade is >97%.

i don't know of any food that uses NaOH as one of its ingredients.

No it doesn't.
what you wrote is horribly wrong; food grade means food grade, that the product plus the 5% impurities are also food grade, produced in a place and packed in food grade environment.

You could have a 99.5% pure product that is, say technical grade. The 0.05% impurities can be all sorts of nasty stuff for someone to consume. Think about it.

yes there IS food grade lye.. I have used some myself.. Its used sometimes in conserving of olives, to adjust the pH.

and yeah inf is right, food grade doesnt have to do with % purity, but rather that the all the content, including the impurities, are all guaranteed to be food safe. One can have a nearly pure product that has VERY toxic impurities.. its not about %

where does one get "food grade" lye?
it would make better sense to use sodium bicarb to adjust the pH of foods, not sodium hydroxide.

Google for it, it's out there. Lots of places have it actually.

PS What do you guys make of this - 2lbs "food grade lye" for $5 while 2lbs Roebic "100% lye" crystal drain cleaner costs >$12? Is there's something I'm missing here? Food Grade cheaper than stuff you can just flush down your drain?

Infundibulum, does SWIY use stuff like Roebic or does s/he stick to FG?

we're chemists..we have access to ACS grade.

They use lye to make Lutefisk, never tried it, but have heard it's pretty nar.

huh. learn something new every day.

can't imagine eating something that basic being easy on the teeth and gums.
base hydrolysis (saponification) of the phospholipid bilayer literally turns cell membranes into soap. wash it down with phosphoric acid (coca-cola), i guess.

food grade lye is sold in the supermarkets where I was living till recently...

but this is an olive growing area.. Maybe adjusting pH with sodium bicarb would make sense for someone in their kitchen, but not when we're talking about hundreds of kilos of olives

KOH (potassium hydroxide) is used in the food industry, and can be found usp food grade, even with a Kosher certification.
koh is soooo much friendlier to handle.

I guess its a last resort winter food if they run out of everything else they break out the "Lye Fish" and soak it in water changing it a number of times until enough Lye is gone to make it palatable.
I seen it before never tasted it smells horrible!

Roebic works fine used it many many times.

same here.

not to mention, roebic is much cheaper than lab-grade NaOH.
roebic, acetone, naptha, muriatic acid...all at the local hardware store.

^gotta admit, it is quite convenient,,one stop shopping.

but if ur ordering other products online anyway, and need d-limonene, fumaric acid, ..etc. KOH will get your ph as high as u need, and is available USP food grade, and Kosher certified.

it is just a tad more expensive, and if going the lye route anyway, why not??

just 2 cents worth.

peas