Sterno
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{{For|the record label|Sterno Records}}
[[Image:Sterno.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A can of Sterno aflame.]]
'''Sterno''' Canned Heat is a fuel made from denatured and jellied alcohol. It is designed to be burned directly from its can. Its primary use is in the food service industry for [[buffet]] heating. Other uses are for [[camp stove]]s and as an emergency heat source. Due to Sterno's popularity, the term has become a [[genericized trademark]], often used to refer to many similarly appearing products.
==History==
The Sterno brand is owned by the Candle Corporation Of America, a subsidiary of [[Blyth, Inc.]] The name comes from that of the original manufacturer: S. Sternau & Co. of [[Brooklyn, New York|Brooklyn]], [[New York]], a maker of [[chafing-dish]]es, [[coffee percolator]]s and other similar appliances. They had previously applied the name to their "Sterno-Inferno" alcohol burner. In [[1918]] they promoted their Sterno Stove as being a perfect gift for a soldier going overseas.
Invented around 1900, Sterno is made from [[ethanol]], [[methanol]], water and an [[amphoteric (chemistry)|amphoteric]] oxide [[gel|gelling agent]], plus a dye that gives it a characteristic pink color. Designed to be odorless, a 7 oz (198 g) can will burn for up to two hours. The methanol is added to [[Denatured alcohol|denature]] the product, which essentially is intended to make it too toxic to be drinkable (see [[methylated spirit]] for more information).
In [[NASCAR]] racing, it is alleged that sterno was used in [[Michael Waltrip|Mike Waltrip]]'s #55 racing Toyota Camry as an illegal fuel supplement to increase the power during qualifying for the 2007 [[Daytona 500]].<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/021207/spr_7944840.shtml
|title=Waltrip could face a Sterno penalty
|first=Don
|last=Coble
|date=2007-02-11
|work=The Florida Times-Union Jacksonville.com
}}</ref> From the article "At the same time, inspectors will be 'going over the 55 car [Waltrip's] with a fine-tooth comb,' Hunter said after inspectors found a gel-like coating inside the manifold. Several engine builders from other teams said the substance appeared to be Sterno, a bluish gel that could provide a hotter, cleaner burn inside the engine to create more horsepower."
==Cocktail==
Sterno has long been mixed with water and other liquids to produce a drink called "canned heat", "squeeze" or "pink lady". The product is squeezed through a rag (or in other traditions, a loaf of French bread with ends removed) to extract the alcohol. These alcoholic beverages, primarily used in poorer communities, have been linked to numerous deaths from [[methanol]] poisoning, including 31 people in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]] in [[1963]].<ref>[http://wings.buffalo.edu/law/bclc/web/pafeinberg.htm Justice Jones's Opinion in ''Commonwealth of PA v. Max Feinburg'']</ref>
==Sterno in popular culture==
In 1929 [[Tommy Johnson (blues musician)|Tommy Johnson]] recorded "Canned Heat Blues", about an alcoholic who has desperately turned to drinking Sterno. The band [[Canned Heat]] later took its name from this song.
In Michael Crichton's 1969 techno-thriller novel ''[[The Andromeda Strain]]'', one of the two survivors of the strain's outbreak, Peter Jackson, is addicted to Sterno, which makes his blood acidic. This later turns out to be of importance in the plot.
Latin musicians established in New York in the early Salsa days used Sterno for tuning their percussion instruments, like congas and bongos, as they lacked of any other device for that. (Courtesy of Jesús Corral, Caracas, Venezuela.)
{{See also|Denatured alcohol#Consumption and toxicity}}
== See also ==
*[[Portable stove]]
*[[Beverage-can stove]]
== References ==
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== External links ==
*[http://www.sterno.com Official website]
*[http://www.sterno.com/msds.aspx?kwid=1&descid=2&pg=msds.aspx Material Safety Data Sheet]
[[Category:Fuels]]
[[Category:Camping equipment]]
[[es:Sterno]]
[[it:Sterno (prodotto)]]