If you are going camping or want to relax by the fire pit in the evening, we can all agree that roasting marshmallows is essential to the experience. At least my kids tell me it is!
But, if you plan to roast over artificial logs, you need to ensure your log is food-friendly. Being one of the most popular brands you may be wondering whether or not you can roast marshmallows over a DuraFlame log.
You can roast marshmallows with the Duraflame Outdoor Firelogs. These logs are specifically designed for roasting marshmallows and are food safe since they are made with 100% bio-derived material.
You should not roast marshmallows over other kinds of Duraflame logs since they contain chemicals such as paraffin wax. This could alter your marshmallow taste and leave them tasting a little weird.
Which Duraflame Logs Shouldn’t You Use To Roast Marshmallows With?
It would be best not to roast marshmallows with any Duraflame logs other than the Duraflame Outdoor Firelogs.
This is because Duraflame’s other indoor fireplace logs have a small number of chemicals like waxes and oils, which could change the taste of your marshmallows, plus they aren’t considered healthy to roast above.
The Duraflame Outdoor Log is a specific kind of log used for cooking food like hot dogs and roasting marshmallows, containing bio ingredients that are considered food safe.
These logs also have no chemicals, so food taste will not be altered when roasted above the flame.
These firelogs are designed for the great outdoors and burn brighter and hotter than regular firewood. Specially formulated and tested for roasting campfire foods and marshmallows.
What Will Happen If I Roast Marshmallows Over An Inside Duraflame Log?
If you’ve already indulged in roasted marshmallows above your fire made with regular Duraflame logs, don’t panic, you will likely be okay.
Ingesting a small amount of food cooked over these logs is unlikely to do any immediate harm, but don’t make it a habit. They likely don’t taste that great anyway.
There was a study done by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about the emissions of firelogs and 2 brands of Duraflame were used in the study.
The study concluded:
We have learned about the emission characteristics from these products and have
Content and emission characteristics of Artificial Wax Firelogs
verified that the levels are lower than for cordwood.
So while no statements were made in this study about the safety of cooking over these logs the study does present the emission numbers from burning the logs so if you wanted to review it yourself you could.
But from their conclusions it doesn’t look like it would be particularly harmful to have cooked marshmallows over these logs. It’s just not something that is recommended.
Can I Cook With DuraFlame Logs?
As well as roasting marshmallows and making smores, you can cook food like meat over your campfire using the Outdoor Duraflame Logs.
Only the Outdoor Duraflame logs that are meant for cooking food. Avoid the indoor Duraflame logs that have chemicals like waxes and oil.
As the logs heat, these waxes and oils can transfer to your food if you’re roasting over the fireplace or sticking to the outside of your pots if you place them directly over the logs.
Generally speaking, a lot of fireplace cooking is done over the heat of the coals of the fire. DuraFlame indoor firelogs aren’t designed to generate many coals and so cooking on or near then can be difficult when compared to a regular fire using normal wood.
The Outdoor Duraflame Logs however are specifically made to create a low flame so they can cook food with prolonged heat like coals.
These firelogs are designed for the great outdoors and burn brighter and hotter than regular firewood. Specially formulated and tested for roasting campfire foods and marshmallows.
Can You Cook Over Duraflame Fire Starters?
Unlike Duraflames regular logs, you can cook over all of Duraflames fire starters, but make sure the firestarters have burnt off entirely before cooking food over the fire.
This is because Duraflames fire starters containing wax aren’t food-safe while they are still alight until burned off.
What Are Duraflame Logs Made Of?
Duraflame logs are made from sawdust, oils, wax, and agricultural fibers.
They are considered more eco-friendly than standard firewood since they are made with recyclable materials such as nut shells and natural seeds for that ‘crackling’ effect.
The oils in Duraflame are used for coloring the flames and are likely made from ingredients such as Potassium chloride and Lithium carbonate.
To help bind ingredients and help with the lighting of the logs, Duraflame use paraffin wax, apart from their outdoor logs, which have vegetable wax to make them food safe.
Are Duraflame Logs Toxic?
Duraflame logs do not contain any toxic ingredients, “Our firelogs are made of sawdust, agricultural fibers, waxes, and oils,” as stated on the website.
The only ingredients inside Duraflame logs, which could be a gray area, are the ink on the packaging when burned and the paraffin wax, which is not food-friendly.
Compared to standard firewood, Duraflames logs burn cleaner and more efficiently, producing fewer pollutants like carbon monoxide.
Still, if you want to cook food, you should use the Outdoor types.
You can also cook over regular firewood, but you want to ensure it’s dry, free of insects and pests, and not pine or other types of wood which could flavor your marshmallows.