Cheap food-grade mineral oil in the EU?

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Jovidah

Jovidah

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Title says it all. For years I relied on Ikea since their mineral oil sold as 'Skydd'was always very affordable, accessible, and did everything I wanted it to do when it came to kitchen wood maintenance. It was cheap enough that I could fill jars with it to oil handles, throw it over my boards as if it was going out of style... but the happy times are coming to an end. Ikea stopped selling the damn stuff and it looks like it's not coming back anytime soon.

So... anyone know of any good affordable alternative sources for food grade mineral oil in the EU? I can find plenty of stuff that's cheap - but not food grade. And I can find plenty of stuff that's food-grade - but not cheap. I want to have my cake and eat it too...
 
I’m in the uk; I last bought it on eBay as Butchers Block oil for about £8/litre
 
If the above was related to linseed oil: YES it's cheaper, about every supermarket has it, just check if 'boiled linseed' is food safe as it's no way boiled but chemically treated...and when using linseed oil take care to NOT crumple up the cloth you applied it with as it's highly likely to combust spontaneously.

Linseed will polymerize, yet slowly (IMO not needed anyhow)

Don't make the mistake to use linseed for frying...found out the hard way
 
In Australia, this is sold as "liquid paraffin", usually at pharmacies. It's used as a laxative. Maybe try there? 250 ml go a long way.
 
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yet you'll pay pharmacy prices, Supermarkets sell it (linseed oil) in the Netherlands..probably a leftover of the 'super food' craze.
Indeed, I can confirm is has certain laxative properties :eek:
 
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Michi said:
In Australia, this is sold as "liquid paraffin", usually at pharmacies. It's used as a laxative. Maybe try there? 250 ml go a long way.
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100% white mineral oil is the same as " liquid paraffin ". This can be bought at cheap prices. This is used, between other things, by veterinaries as a horse laxative.

Cheers.
 
Sdo said:
I use this.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/White-Mine...50&hvtargid=pla-415580993259&psc=1&th=1&psc=1
Cheers.
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Not sure how much I should worry about this, but that isn't food-safe / food grade. That's the typical 'external and cosmetics' use grade you find a lot. The price is nice, but not sure I want to run that risk.

MarcelNL said:
Why not use Linseed oil?
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Mostly worried about it oxydizing over time and turning my board rancid? If it's food-grade and unfiltered it's going to have taste, color and flavor to it. If it's filtered and processed into submission it's likely to also have other additives. I have some of the organic treehugger food-grade stuff that I used on carbon steel pans but I'm disinclined to start rubbing that on my cutting boards or knife handles.

Michi said:
In Australia, this is sold as "liquid paraffin", usually at pharmacies. It's used as a laxative. Maybe try there? 250 ml go a long way.
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Slim278 said:
I usually get my mineral oil from the farmacy section. You can also use some mineral spirits to thin the oil, which can be found branded as food safe.
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Maybe pharmacies are different where you live, but emphasis is on the cheap part. :D I checked just to make sure and they're not even selling it, but even if they were I don't think the price would be good. Another issue with buying smaller bottles is that they're pretty much invariably overpriced.

The best deal I found so far is this: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Thirteen...1645515582&sprefix=mineral+oil,aps,102&sr=8-7

But that still comes down to over 14 euros a kilo. Not suprisingly since it's imported from the US; there has to be a better deal.
 
Linseed IME rarely goes rancid, yet I understand your hesitance. I'd rather risk the linseed going rancid than using some mineral oil that in 5 years from now turns out to NOT be food safe, or being so cheap something else was in the bottle.

OT (I somehow also do not believe sun flower oil is healthy, it's extracted chemically using hexane, as mwith many other oils, so cold pressed for me please)

Why not melt some beeswax?
 
MarcelNL said:
Linseed IME rarely goes rancid, yet I understand your hesitance. I'd rather risk the linseed going rancid than using some mineral oil that in 5 years from now turns out to NOT be food safe, or being so cheap something else was in the bottle.

OT (I somehow also do not believe sun flower oil is healthy, it's extracted chemically using hexane, as mwith many other oils, so cold pressed for me please)

Why not melt some beeswax?
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Yeah I don't want to particularly gamble on the mineral oil either, hence why I'm looking for specifically food-grade. I agree that a lot of other cheaper oils are somewhat dubious at best; hence why I tend to avoid them. Never saw extra virgin sunflower oil but I'd be willing to try it.

Beeswax is for me more of a finishing step? I always melted it and mixed it with mineral oil to make board butter. Nice as a 'final step'. But still requires mineral oil. Don't think I want to bother with 'pure' beeswax (not looking forward to handling something that has to be hot to work it) and I don't think I'd be saving money there either.
 
Jovidah said:
Not sure how much I should worry about this, but that isn't food-safe / food grade. That's the typical 'external and cosmetics' use grade you find a lot. The price is nice, but not sure I want to run that risk.


Mostly worried about it oxydizing over time and turning my board rancid? If it's food-grade and unfiltered it's going to have taste, color and flavor to it. If it's filtered and processed into submission it's likely to also have other additives. I have some of the organic treehugger food-grade stuff that I used on carbon steel pans but I'm disinclined to start rubbing that on my cutting boards or knife handles.



Maybe pharmacies are different where you live, but emphasis is on the cheap part. :D I checked just to make sure and they're not even selling it, but even if they were I don't think the price would be good. Another issue with buying smaller bottles is that they're pretty much invariably overpriced.

The best deal I found so far is this: https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Thirteen-mineral-cutting-worktops-butcher/dp/B07PZ8VN58/ref=sr_1_7?crid=1W274HZBLODSW&keywords=mineralöl&qid=1645515582&sprefix=mineral+oil,aps,102&sr=8-7

But that still comes down to over 14 euros a kilo. Not suprisingly since it's imported from the US; there has to be a better deal.
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Well, that is obviously up to you to determine what is good or not for you. The product ( white mineral oil, no additives ) is exactly the same as the "food safe" mineral oil. Difference is that to produce and sell "food safe" mineral oil and put it on the label you need to pay a license which is very expensive and makes the product more expensive. Again, one should buy whatever they feel good with.

Cheers.
 
MarcelNL said:
what if you soak in linseed and seal with beeswax, should keep the linseed from going rancid.
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Honestly not sure I'd want to take that risk, especially giving the marginal savings from it. It's not like I can't find any mineral oil at all - even foodsafe... it's just that I'd rather have it cheaper. :p But I'm disinclined to risk screwing up a 100 euro board to save 5 euros on oil.

Sdo said:
Well, that is obviously up to you to determine what is good or not for you. The product ( white mineral oil, no additives ) is exactly the same as the "food safe" mineral oil. Difference is that to produce and sell "food safe" mineral oil and put it on the label you need to pay a license which is very expensive and makes the product more expensive. Again, one should buy whatever they feel good with.

Cheers.
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Yeah I know it should hypothethically be the exact same thing. But when someone's producing for internal consumption usually that means there's more than just some paperwork; the paperwork is often there to assure accountability in the production process... if it's not meant for human consumption I'd expect the risk of anything being in there that shouldn't be to be higher. Kinda reluctant to take a gamble on that when there's alternatives that aren't too outlandish in price.
Given that my health is already on the fragile side I'm reluctant to gamble on these kind of things if I have a choice not to.
 
The stuff I get in the US is $2 for 16oz. You may try baby oil if you can find some unscented. It is typically mineral oil with a fragrance added. I can't read the description but maybe something like this.
 
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