Cooking on a Park Pit

[Sarah]

We normally bring our own pit with us when we camp, but there have been occassions when we haven't taken much at all and left the pit behind. I have wondered if using the fire pits in parks is safe enough? What should we do to ensure the grill is sanitary enough for cooking on? Does it suffice to just let the fire burn it for awhile before using it?

[JollyRogers]

Nothing organic survives a camp fire. Only thing to worry about is trash/fuel in the camp ring. Just make sure you have a "clean" fire ring and let everything burn a bit before putting food on to kill any nasties. ("Clean" meaning no plastic, petroleum products, chemicals, rubber, etc.)
Water boils at 212 degrees and kills everything organic in just a few seconds at that temperature. Your camp fire/fire ring will get much hotter than that.

[freedommachine]

For me to feel safe with a park grill I would wrap the bars of the grill in tin foil. Then you dont have to worry about the grill part being clean enough to cook on.

[ChadTower]

Bring your own wire mesh screen/platform and you won't need to use the park grill. You can put your food on that on top of the park grill that way. Or, as stated above, you can wrap the park grill in foil. Your worry there isn't biotics but those grills do tend to be rusty and sooty. It's easier to use foil than to clean the dirt/rust off.