# Orange rind pyrotechniques **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102 "2004-04-20T21:14:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/1 "2004-04-20T21:14:22Z")
A friend told me recently that squeezing an orange peel releases “flammable” material. Sure enough, when I squeeze an orange peel (Navel variety) by my lighter, the aromatic substance released “sparks”. I’ve never heard of/seen this before. Any thoughts? BTW…aren’t oranges great? Navel, Valencia, Clementines, Mineolas, wow. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/2 "2004-04-20T21:22:08Z")
There are little globules of oil (oil of orange) in the skin - as well as being flammable, it is highly aromatic, which is why the rind of citrus fruits is often scraped or pared off for use as flavouring. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/3 "2004-04-20T21:35:47Z")
Thanks Mangetout. Were you always aware of this? Ever sprayed the oil and seen the little sparkles? I knew about the fragrance, but not the fire. Why was I never told about this? What else is being held back? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/4 "2004-04-20T21:50:38Z")
Yes, I’ve known this for a while; if you slice through the skin of an orange with a sharp knife, you can actually see the little sacs in which the oil is stored; in thinner skinned citrus, such as satsumas, the oil glands actually make little dark bumps on the outer rind, if you look closely. I’ve never actually set light to the oil myself, but I’ve seen it done over drinks at cocktail bars; I have sprayed it many a time by bending pieces of skin though. As to what else is being held back… well… are you _sure_ you want to know? OK then, here it comes; most bananas contain a large (up to four inches long) worm-like insect larva, but it is seldom detected because: -It becomes motionless when disturbed -Its body has a texture, taste and appearance that is remarkably similar to the banana itself. [sub]OK, it’s not actually true; I made the whole ‘banana worm’ thing up, but you have to admit, I had you going there for a moment[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/5 "2004-04-20T22:28:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Why was I never told about this? What else is being held back? Try spritzing that aromatic oil onto a foam coffee cup some time. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/6 "2004-04-20T23:05:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Try spritzing that aromatic oil onto a foam coffee cup some time. hehehe…I suspect it will degrade the styrofoam in some way… As far as bannana worms, I suspect that they provide the hallucinogenic properties to cooked bannana skins 😉 (4/20 joke) ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/7 "2004-04-20T23:14:38Z")
Try spritzing that aromatic oil onto your testicles sometime. Don’t want to talk about it. ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/8 "2004-04-21T03:19:12Z")
The expressed oil consists of mainly limonene with citral, decyl aldehyde, methyl anthranilate, linalool and terpineol. All flammable organics. Do an MSDS search on them for more info. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/9 "2004-04-21T03:29:43Z")
I learned this in bartending class about 22 years ago. It works with lemons, too. When you ask for a drink “with a twist” (of lemon peel), it’s the oil that flavors the drink, and a good bartender will twist the rind over the drink so the oil spritzes into it. ---
**Author:** ![SandWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@SandWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/10 "2004-04-21T04:06:40Z")
> [@vetbridge](#): > > Why was I never told about this? What else is being held back? > 😉 That’s funny. This topic came up during a dinner party last Sunday. How do you ‘learn’ stuff that supposedly everyone ‘knows’? One of the people at the party recently ran a marathon and had bloody nipples cause, as everyone knows, a t-shirt abraids them during the course of a marathon and they sell nip-guards just for that purpose. But he didn’t know. But as soon as he mentioned it to someone, they would say, “Well, everyone knows you have to wear nip-guards when you run a marathon.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/11 "2004-04-21T12:32:49Z")
> [@](#): > > How do you ‘learn’ stuff that supposedly everyone ‘knows’? I learned about the orange oil (and peanuts) in jr. high science class back in the '70s. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/12 "2004-04-21T18:08:23Z")
Dried orange peel makes a good fire-lighter . Even now I can see my grandmother drying in the hearth ready to start next day’s fire. ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/13 "2004-04-21T18:21:52Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > Even now I can see my grandmother drying in the hearth ready to start next day’s fire. Poor grandma! :eek: So how long does it take to completely dry a grandmother? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/14 "2004-04-21T18:25:49Z")
> [@Anonymous Coward](#): > > Poor grandma! :eek: > > So how long does it take to completely dry a grandmother? 😛 Forgive me , I have got a bad case of flue and am not thinking straight. I meant to say she dried the orange peel in the hearth ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/15 "2004-04-21T18:29:02Z")
See I even spelt flu wrong . It’s the thought of that fireplace. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/16 "2004-04-21T18:30:34Z")
Rayne Man: Was your Grandmother an Orange Peel, by any chance? I confess I find the scenario you described highly unlikely but mentally entertaining. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/17 "2004-04-21T18:35:02Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > [sub]OK, it’s not actually true; I made the whole ‘banana worm’ thing up, but you have to admit, I had you going there for a moment[/sub] But they _are_ pollinated by bats, which is almost as cool. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orange-rind-pyrotechniques/241102/18 "2004-04-21T18:51:36Z")
> [@Rufus Xavier](#): > > Rayne Man: Was your Grandmother an Orange Peel, by any chance? I confess I find the scenario you described highly unlikely but mentally entertaining. > 🙂 Perhaps I coild publish a book ( along the lines of that one about dead cats ) called **101 Things To Do With A Dried Granny** 🙂