Experimenting with a Thermite BBQ

Ben Krasnow, whose remarkable homebrew scientific apparatus (including a homebrew scanning electron microscope) we have covered here many times before, just posted this video. He writes:

I ignited four pounds of thermite made with aluminum/iron (III) oxide in a flower pot. The thermite reaction quickly formed liquid iron which dripped down out of the pot, and into a ceramic pan. I put a beef kebab directly onto the liquid iron, which cooked the food in under a minute. It was delicious!

My only concern would be that the molten iron isn’t hot enough to adequately sterilize the food. 1500 C just doesn’t seem safe to me, and until I see some solid research to the contrary I’m going to continue preparing all my meals in boiling tungsten, just to be on the safe side. [Thanks, Ben!]