What kind of metal is this?

[chapa]

I bought this "mash spoon" at a store that sells concession products, and after talking to the lady, we figured it was stainless...well after soaking in oxi for a few, you can see it stripped the coating, and looks like copper underneath. Anybody know what material this might be made of?

I really like the mesh spoon design. It really helps to find those clumps and break them up. I used it anyway, even after stripping the coating, and the samples have been good so far...but I figured I should find out for sure before my next brew day, this weekend. Thanks!

 

[MrStrangeBrew]

probably brass with some kind of coating. nickel or zinc or w.e. they are using now to fool people. if it is brass some ppl use it when brewing and some don't but that's a whole other topic

 

[RDWHAHB]

That coating would scare me more than the copper/brass underneath. Soak that off for sure. Then maybe pickle it if you are worried about lead.

 

[chapa]

Yeah I think I'll just remove the rest of the coating. I'm not too worried about using brass, if thats what it is.

 

[Raider-11]

Looks like copper or red brass which is brass with a higher % of copper. You could take it to the nonferrous section of your local scrap recycler and if they can't tell you by just looking at it and if they are a large compay they probably have a hand held spectro anlyzer that will give you the exact % of metal that make up your scoop. It looks like a wok or deep fryer basket scoop for retreaving fried food.

 

[starsailor]

Looks like it was nickel or zinc that was plated over copper that's likely plated over something else. It certaily wasn't chrome plated because chrome would never come off that easy. Nickel plate wouldn't likely come off that easy either. So my guess is zinc. A small amount zinc and/or copper disolved in wort are good yeast nutrients and are safe, but that amount may be quite excessive.

Fryer baskets are often made of brass because quick heat transfer properties. I have a plain yellow brass and bamboo one. Brass is better than stainless for keeping excess grease off of food. It may or may not be the best for brewing though because brass usually contains lead for workability. If you do use it be sure to pickle the brass first to remove the dissolvable surface lead. Just search the forums for "pickle brass" and you'll see how.

 

[Raider-11]

It may have been a protective coating to prevent the copper from oxidizing before sale to a customer.