OH MY GOODNESS!!! What just happened?

[4given]

Yesterday I brined 15  bone in chicken breasts, covered them in mayo them sprinked them with Jan's rub. Smoked them for a few hours until the IT was safe. I put them on a cookie sheet and covered them with foil to cool. It got late so my wife put it all in thye fridge before bed. Tonight I come home from work and noticed that the chicken ate holes though the aliminum and left gray deposits of the chicken! (I presume these deposits are aluminum in some form or another.. oxide?)

Anyway what happened? I am 54 years old and have wrapped a lot of different foods in foil over the years but I have never seen anything like this! What happened?  Is the chicken safe to eat if I take the skin off? Here are pictures of it all.....

[Keymaster]

I found this here http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/tools-products/aluminum-foil-dos-donts-10000001154398/index.html

Don't use foil to store foods that are high in acids. This means tart fruits and dishes made with vinegar, tomatoes, or tomato sauce. After a few days in foil, the acids in lasagna, for example, interact with the aluminum and erode the foil, says McGee. Small amounts of aluminum can then migrate into the food, creating both pinprick holes in the wrap and a metallic taste in the lasagna. Also, white spots (actually aluminum salts) can form on these foods when their acidity reacts with the aluminum. Theoretically you can cut these spots away; they're not harmful. But they are certainly not appetizing either, so stick to plastic storage for the acidic goods.

I know once when I was installing a walk in cooler at a milk plant they did not let us use any Aluminum Fasteners  because milk products erode it away likity split, not sure if it was the mayonaise or possibly salts or the acids in the smoke or a combination of them all. I aint no science rocketes ;) Undoubtably a weird thing to see happen, thanks for sharing.

[Wildcat]

My guess would be the salt from the brine and rub over the extended period of time. I sometimes FTC but never let it stay in foil any more than that.

[4given]

I think I figured it out. I googled "holes in foil" and found many referances to acidy foods eating holes in foil and leaving a deposit behind. Then I looked on the mayo jar label and there it was..... vinegar.

I then searched for the effects of the aluminum residue. The California posion control center website says it is non-toxic and wont hurt you if you eat it. 

Other sources indicate that there may be some connection between aluminum ingestion & Alzhiemers.  I guess it's hard to say on that.  We went ahead and ate it & I don't think it hurt us one bit. I feel fine and........... Who are you people and what are you doing in my room?   >:( 

Sorry couldn't resist. No disrespect intended.   :) Actually we removed the skin and ate some for dinner tonight tasted great and plenty smokey! Delish!

[mikecorn.1]

Thanks for the info. I've never seen or hears of this. I just got what they call SCHOOLED! ;D


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[Smokin Soon]

I have seen that before, and have no clue what the cause is. Was it tightly wrapped? I like to "tent" things in foil rather than a tight wrap.

[mikecorn.1]

Foil aliens ;D




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[Salmonsmoker]

Aluminum is one of the most abundant minerals in the world. It's almost everywhere and you really can't get away from it. The aluminum/Alzheimers connection has been disproven. However, it's acids that are the culprits. A word to the wise...bleach(low pH) and aluminum don't mix either. If you have non-anodized aluminum cookware find a different sanitizer to use if you've been using bleach.
A funny little story( I thought it was funny, my son-in-law didn't) I taught him how to homebrew, and he was using an aluminum pot (their wedding cookware gift set  :'() for a mash tun. He'd gotten busy, and forgot to clean the grains out of the pot for better than a week. Malted grains have naturally occurring lactobasillus bacteria on them and when allowed to sit without boiling to sanitize, start to produce lactic acid. Nasty smelling! However, he finally cleaned the pot because I'd scuba dived and gotten several limits of Dungeness crab over two days, and we were going to have a crab boil. He puts the pot on the outdoor propane burner, fills it full of water and lights it up. Everything's fine for a few minutes and then we all hear a bunch of sizzling, look behind us and the burner has been put out by what looks like a lawn sprinkler. There were no less than 15 pin holes with water spraying out. The side walls of this pot were over 1/8" thick. We had another pot to use, so we enjoyed the crab, but that's what acid will do to aluminum.

[4given]

I have seen that before, and have no clue what the cause is. Was it tightly wrapped? I like to "tent" things in foil rather than a tight wrap.

It wasn't wrapped tight but I think the foil was touching the chicken were it corrosion occured.

[muebe]

I would guess it was caused by the mayonnaise. Mayonnaise usually contains vinegar or lemon juice.

[Habanero Smoker]

In addition, smoke deposits high levels of acids on the food surface. When I foil smoked foods, I always place a layer of plastic wrap between the food and the foil.

[4given]

In addition, smoke deposits high levels of acids on the food surface. When I foil smoked foods, I always place a layer of plastic wrap between the food and the foil.

Good advice. You know When I FTC'd my butts I left them in the cooler overnight without a problem.... however it would be a drag to ruin a 20 hour smoke. I will wrap in plastic and then foil from now on!

[watchdog56]

You don't have mice in your frig do you? ;D ;D

[standles]

You basically made a battery. 

2 Dissimilar metals (AL and whatever metal the container was) in an acidic environment and voltage is produced.    The movement of ions resulted in the deposition of AL on the chicken (ie the "corrosion" you witnessed).  The AL was the sacrificial element.

Steven

[4given]

You basically made a battery. 

2 Dissimilar metals (AL and whatever metal the container was) in an acidic environment and voltage is produced.    The movement of ions resulted in the deposition of AL on the chicken (ie the "corrosion" you witnessed).  The AL was the sacrificial element.

Steven

makes sense ;)