Q&A for How to Make a Smoke Bomb from Potassium Nitrate and Sugar

Not in large amounts. The smoke is similar to the smoke given off from burning wood, meaning it can irritate the lungs and eyes.

Yes. Since the mixture is water-based, you can simply dissolve it in hot water and it will come right out.

Potassium nitrate is easy to find at any gardening or home improvement store. It is used as a stump remover. There are a couple of brands, so look for the ones with more than 90% potassium nitrate (KNO3).

During the cooking, you could mix in water based food dye (the drop kind, not the paste), and it would add color. Don't use paints or colored chalks. You could not hold one of these in your hands. They are extremely dangerous.

Pressure will build up if there are pockets of air, and your smoke bomb can explode unexpectedly.

Yes, try putting your batch in the freezer for about 20 minutes just to prevent unexpected accidents.

A toilet paper roll size would absolutely fill a 2000 sq ft house, but it would be hard because these things burn hot and would burn your hands or your floor.

Yes, you can us brown sugar, because brown and white sugar caramelize in the same way.

Make sure you have places where pressure can get out. Otherwise, it will end up in a fireball.

No. If you add water, then the sugar won't caramelize and the mixture would be useless.

"If you mix the right amount of potassium nitrate with sugar and boil it, then it can be used to make a smoke bomb."

Water dissolves the potassium nitrate and sugar together and aids in heat transfer, making the mixture heat more evenly and reducing the chance of it exploding as you cook it. The finer mix also burns better. The only downside is it takes longer to cook because you have to boil off the water. You only need a little water.

Yes. It would be a more homogeneous mixture, which would increase burn rate, so you might need to put some baking soda (5 - 10%) in the mixture to slow down the reaction.