Seeking Unconventional Cooking Methods...

[cook1]

Hello everyone,

I am trying to come up with ways to cook food using unconventional appliances (i.e., instead of kitchen appliances, using things like a washer, dryer, dish washer, power tools, etc.). I have discovered a couple of things, such as poaching a salmon in a dishwasher or using an iron to cook a steak.

I thought I would ask you, the cooking geniuses , for some more ideas. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[GrillingFool]

Try googling about cooking on automobile engines.

 

[MSC]

I suppose you could cook with a cattle prod, infrared or ultra violet lamp or a taser, but "WHy" would you want to?

 

[mollyanne]

Boy Scouts like to cook Stone Chicken on their camping trips. You get a big stone (or a few), wash it, dry it (moisture will make rocks pop) and heat them through in the campfire. Stuff the stone into the cavity of the chicken, cover in aluminum foil, put it in a plastic bag to catch the juices, wrap it it burlap to keep it all warm, and let it cook for 6-8 hours.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I tried cooking with my hair dryer, but my arm got tired before the roast was done, 4 days later.

 

[Janet H]

You can make grilled cheese sandwiches with an iron (but don't tell my college aged kid, I'm trying to convince him that irons have other uses....)

 

[GB]

You can make grilled cheese sandwiches with an iron (but don't tell my college aged kid....)

Ummmmm I am confused. Of course you can use it that way. Isn't that what it is for? What else would you use an iron for

 

[DMerry]

Ummmmm I am confused. Of course you can use it that way. Isn't that what it is for? What else would you use an iron for

Certainly not for doing something with clothing.

 

[JMediger]

We do hotdogs and frozen burritos on the manifold of our snowmobiles. We actually have specially designed "cookers" ...

 

[velochic]

We do hotdogs and frozen burritos on the manifold of our snowmobiles. We actually have specially designed "cookers" ...

I think I saw Alton Brown use something like this on Road Tasted. I know in truck stops you can get interesting appliances to cook while you drive.

OP- how about trying some primitive cooking over open fire? Also have you ever built a solar oven? You're supposed to be able to do that with a cardboard box. I'm sure someone has the directions out on the internet somewhere.

 

[Kayelle]

I suppose you could cook with a cattle prod, infrared or ultra violet lamp or a taser, but "WHy" would you want to?

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Claire]

I've heard of cooking food on the engine block of your car, especially when on the road; arrive at destination and the food is done. I believe the food is put in heavy-duty aluminum foil, and when you get at your destination, voila! When I was a kid, Mom used to take an electric coffee percolator with her on road trips, "take out the guts" (her words) and use it to cook all manner of foods.

 

[Hoot]

You can make grilled cheese sandwiches with an iron (but don't tell my college aged kid, I'm trying to convince him that irons have other uses....)

Take it from me...never try to iron your clothes with a waffle iron. It just don't work.

 

[joesfolk]

A l t o n Brown had a show in which he made beef jerky using furnace filters, some bungy cords and a box fan.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I've cooked night crawlers in a burning milk carton. I wouldn't recommend that. You can boil water in a paper cup, and so can make simple soups in it, over a campfire. Another unique poultry cooker is to use a heavy twin, or fishing line (braided) tied to either end of a heavy stick that has been run through a trussed bird, behind the drumstick ends, and then suspended from another heavy, thin cord tied to the center of the stick line to a support, so that it hangs above the ground, and beside the camp fire. You give the bird a spin, and let it cook on all sides next to the fire. It is a motor-less rotisserie.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Mad Cook]

Hello everyone,

I am trying to come up with ways to cook food using unconventional appliances (i.e., instead of kitchen appliances, using things like a washer, dryer, dish washer, power tools, etc.). I have discovered a couple of things, such as poaching a salmon in a dishwasher or using an iron to cook a steak.

I thought I would ask you, the cooking geniuses , for some more ideas. Any thoughts?

Thanks!

Do not, under any circumstances try to cook a salmon in a dishwasher unless you actually LIKE eating something that resembles stewed knitting. (Believe me, I know. A friend served it once)

It's too hot, takes too long, ruins the taste and texture of the fish, costs a fortune in electricity and water and makes the dishwasher smell of fish until you've run it through a couple of cycles with d/w cleaner.

It's largely an urban myth despite all the people who claim to know someone who knows someone who knows someone who always cooks salmon like that. Oh yeah, you'd do it once and never again!

If you are going to poach a salmon to eat cold do it like my great-grandmother and the rest of us do in our family. It's a recipe that goes back a couple of hundred years and never fails.

Gut the salmon, leave on the head but remove the gills (the fishmonger ill do this if you ask). Take a large sheet of oiled cooking foil and lay the salmon on it. Place a bunch of dill and thin slices of lemon in the body cavity with a little salt and pepper. Wrap the fish in the foil loosely but seal the edges so the water can't get in. Place in the fish kettle (your fishmonger may hire you one) or other pan large enough to hold it fairly snuggly and with a well fitting lid. Cover with cold water and place on the top of the stove. Bring to the boil, let it bubble for one minute then put on the lid, turn off the heat and push the pan to the back of the stove and leave it to get absolutely cold. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES REMOVE THE LID UNTIL THE CONTENTS ARE COLD (his may take all night)

This works for all sizes of fish from a whole one to a salmon steak and for any sort of fish you want to poach because you use a saucepan that the fish fits into and just enough water to cover the fish. It results in a beautifully cooked fish (and it's a cheap way of cooking it).

To eat it hot, it should be cooked gently either in a court bouillon or baked in foil in the over (which is what I do on the rare occasions I serve it hot)
or you can grill/broil steaks and pieces of fillet.

But let me re-iterate DO NOT WASTE A WONDERFUL FISH BY DISHWASHERING IT.

 

[Hoot]

Never heard of cooking anything in a dishwasher.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Considering this thread is three years old and the OP only contributed the one post, I would say he's long gone.

 

[Aunt Bea]

During the Depression people used a hay or straw box cooker. They would bring the food to a boil and then place the container in an insulated Hay Box and it would cook using the retained heat. People also used an insulated box with a 100 watt light bulb inside, sort of an early version of the crockpot. The automobile manifold was also used.

I looked on WikiHow and Wikipedia. They have examples of various methods.

One modern example of cooking on the manifold calls it a car-b-que!

 

[Andy M.]

I did wash my dishes in a fish kettle once.