# Rust-meat grinder- food grade mineral oil? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 2, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rust-meat-grinder-food-grade-mineral-oil/508641 "2009-09-02T15:44:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rust-meat-grinder-food-grade-mineral-oil/508641/1 "2009-09-02T15:44:36Z")
Howzat for getting your question out in as few words as possible. All nouns, all the time! Anyway, bought myself a sweet vintage meat grinder, always wanted one. Works like a charm (although I think I need a coarser blade…) and I’m thrilled. (I have a very sensitive palate and I love ground beef…which starts to go off about a thousand times faster the minute its ground. So I like my beef ground minutes before cooking. I’m also in search of the right blend of cuts…but that’s Cafe Society…) Anyway, it has quickly become clear that I need to address the issue of rust. I almost destroyed it permanently right after I got it when one of the screwed in parts became virtually unscrewable, and after I hammered it loose I realized that rust was the issue. So for now, after a good scrubbing and towel-first-then-overnight air drying, I wanted to lube all the threaded parts, which are still giving off rust, but since meat moves through some of those parts, I dont’ want to use W-D 40, and I don’t want to use something like cooking oil, because that goes rancid. So… is there such a thing as food-grade mineral oil, is it readily available, and where? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rust-meat-grinder-food-grade-mineral-oil/508641/2 "2009-09-02T15:53:52Z")
Most large kitchen supply stores should carry food grade mineral oil to treat butcher block cutting boards. It is also [available online.](http://www.woodzone.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=215009&Category_Code=Waxes&Store_Code=Woodworking) ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rust-meat-grinder-food-grade-mineral-oil/508641/3 "2009-09-02T15:54:19Z")
Mineral oil is still used as a children’s laxative. Try your local drugstore. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rust-meat-grinder-food-grade-mineral-oil/508641/4 "2009-09-02T16:32:00Z")
Note that vegetable oils will also protect vs rust. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rust-meat-grinder-food-grade-mineral-oil/508641/5 "2009-09-02T16:42:37Z")
And almond oil won’t go rancid. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rust-meat-grinder-food-grade-mineral-oil/508641/6 "2009-09-02T16:49:00Z")
Once you get it cleaned, [store it in a container with rice](http://www.ehow.com/how_4487645_clean-store-meat-grinder.html). The rice will keep it from rusting again. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rust-meat-grinder-food-grade-mineral-oil/508641/7 "2009-09-02T17:15:39Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Mineral oil is still used as a children’s laxative. Try your local drugstore. I am going to 2nd this. You can get Mineral Oil from pretty much any drug store, and it will be suitable for ingestion… Just don’t ingest too much, since it is used as a laxative! ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rust-meat-grinder-food-grade-mineral-oil/508641/8 "2009-09-02T18:31:48Z")
Why not vegetable oil? ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rust-meat-grinder-food-grade-mineral-oil/508641/9 "2009-09-02T18:34:43Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Why not vegetable oil? It goes rancid, eventually.