Using same oven for enclosures and food - Safe?

[htuong95]

If I use my oven or toaster oven to bake my painted enclosures, is the oven still safe for cooking food in? Thanks.

[petemoore]

no...[short answer], I don't think there's a good long one.
  I found a spare extra one free, on a 'good pickins' day' and cruddy used ones are like dirt cheep, or buy your roommate or relative a new one.

[The Tone God]

I wouldn't risk it. Better to be safe. You can buy a cheapo toaster over for under $20.

Andrew

[bwanasonic]

From previous threads, it seems that baking is of questionable utilty, especially since most commercial spray paints are not designed to be baked.

Kerry M

[stm]

Paint contains toxic materials and metals such as lead, so the safe answer is no.  Moreover if you consider the cost of a small toaster oven you can dedicate for your painting jobs.

If you could guarantee no paint is going to spill in the oven, and no paint will ever come in contact with the surfaces where you put food on, then PERSONALLY I might consider it.  After all, a large steak with charcoaled edges is carcinogenic; refined sugar and flour are said to be carcinogenic.  Even vegetables are supposed to be risky if you consider pesticides and transgenic crops.  The polluted air you breath in the city you live in is carcinogenic.  So does it matter after all?  Who knows.  Just some food for thought.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

The facetious answer is, it's safe if your wife doesn't find out. Seriously though, if you are baking inside with no exhaust, then most of the voltatiles are coming straight out & going in the kitchen air (or wherever the oven is) and you are in a 'secondary smoking' situation anyhow. I doubt that a significant amount of actual vapor will stay inside the toaster to be released later. For that matter, I doubt there is any lead in modern spray paints (I could be wrong..).

[petemoore]

  Ok, here's a long answer.
  My guess is that if they did a test, they'd find that very minute amounts of paint vapor comes off the inside surfaces, from whatever paint vapor byproducts that collected on them during the drying process.
  So if this is true, the facetious answer would be the most apt.
  I used to bend the 'only outside' rule, I hate that smell in the house.

[amz-fx]

There is no lead in current production spray paint. Have not been for many years.

Think about it this way, if you paint a pedal and leave it inside to dry, the solvents will evaporate from the paint into the air. If you bake it, the solvents are driven off a little faster by the heat. Either way, all of the volatile solvents are released into the air during the process of the paint curing.

regards, Jack

[Joecool85]

I spent $12 on a NEW toaster oven at walmart, well worth every penny.

[DryRoasted]

sorry for the diversion, but I've read a few posts regarding using "toasters" for curing paint etc but over here in the UK when someone says "toaster" we mean one of these http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4208097.htm.  And you cant put a 1590B in one of those.  What do the american ones look like?

[Joecool85]

This isn't the one I got, apparently they don't list it online, but this is what I meant by toaster oven
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2625138

[Mark Hammer]

The question that never gets asked is the rather obvious one: Can you produce decent finishes baking a box in the same oven used for food preparation?

My guess is no.  Food spatters and there are all manner of particles inside the oven which can be dislodged from the interior surface of the oven and stick to the paint or clear laquer.  If it is one of those toaster ovens wherether is one element and you have to flip it over one way to heat and another way to broil, there is even more risk of little bits of charred fat or bread crumbs become part of your "finish".

The upshot is that even if you possessed the constitution of a rat or %^&*roach, and the selfless abandon of Iggy Pop or Sid Vicious, and toxicity was of absolutely no concern, the smart thing to do is to have a separate toaster oven just for boxes.

Personally, I find that piant invariably dribbles off the edges of boxes and onto the rack anyways, so you'd need to at LEAST maintain separate racks for boxes and 5" "bachelor" pizzas.

Make sure that whatever you get has: a) a timer, and b) a thermostat.  Being able to safely and confidently bake at lower temperatures for longer periods without having to hang around the thing and keep checkingi s a real convenience.

[Joe]

I smell turkey.

[skiraly017]

I've use the same oven for baking boxes as well as cookies and I've had no problems.

<falls to the floor and starts foaming at the mouth>

[pi22seven]

I like to keep things for seperate tasks.

I don't drink out of the toilet and I don't bake boxes in our oven.

[moandj]

I got a toaster oven at the thrift store for $6.  Enough said.

[runmikeyrun]

set it... and forget it!!

[troubledtom]

that is one of funniest questions i've seen, but i've likey done worse
      buy $10 buck toaster oven at walmart.
i have 2 ovens for my boxes a [ regular ] big one and a walmat one.
     it's good that you asked before you did it ,i hope
        welcome to this great forum!
                     peace,
                       - tom
PS: no such of thang , as a dumb guestion               

[htuong95]

Thanks all for the replies. I will buy a cheap oven for the boxes