[Mad Dawgg]

to me like plastic that has been burnt. My wife thinks it smells like diesel...

[Irenic]

I’m frustrated, I want to smell it...no snow here.

Mother earth may have gotten some silicone injections in her tukus— it’s all the rage.

Last few years there have been several volcanoes active, I wondered if there is some ash in the snow or something.

[meadsjn]

I saw the youtube video an hour or so ago, and had to try it. I'm on the far west side of this storm, so I might have diffenent air and snow than in Atlanta, and the snow here is already packed hard.

Even packed hard, the snowball absorbed the water as the snow "melted", or it vaporized, and the butane soot stayed on the iceball.

Then I put the skillet on the burner, let it heat until it was liquid. The liquid was vaporizing, visibly, long before any bubbles from boiling occurred. When bubbles did form, they formed and burst on the bottom of the skillet, and never came to the surface like a regular boil.

I guess a real test would be to do a side-by-side stovetop test with snow in one saucepan and tap water in the other, and watch the difference in the behavior.

But it's late and my toes are cold.