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It would probably be advisable to not do any cooking over these colored fires, especially if one does the garden hose in the copper pipe trick. Most garden hoses are made from PVC plastic, which is an organochlorine compound. The formation of higher than normal levels of the highly persistent and toxic compounds polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) is likely, since the recipe is perfect (low temperature - <800C, low turbulence and air mixing, chlorine source, and catalyst - copper.). This was a huge subject of debate during the 1990s regarding correlation of PVC and copper input to dioxin output of waste incineration plants.
The best thing is probably to stick with the commercial products. If using metal salts to color the flames, it doesn't take much metal to create long-lasting colorful flames. The commercial products likely have just enough and no more than is needed to get the desired effect.
- Alternatively, you could do your cooking first and then toss the colorants in, or do your cooking in something like a Dutch oven (which is a cast-iron pot with a tight-fitting lid - great for making stews and the like). --Special Operative MACAVITYDebrief me 17:30, 29 September 2009 (UTC)