As interesting, intriguing and appealing as cooking a salmon in a dish washer might be, given the video with a professional on the technique was it ever really a myth?
The original topic, thanks to @ajohnson ( diligent salmon in dishwasher researcher now on her CV perhaps ) has the mouth watering ( sometimes also know as dribbling ) at the thought of such classics such as eggs fried on a hot tin roof.
The suggestion of cooking fish using a sandwich press by wrapping it in foil and paper is perhaps a little more mundane but useful.
What other unexpected or unlikely ways to cook food are out there?
Are they useful, goofy or just unlikely to ever work?
Untried or Untested methods might need to come with a proof of concept trial to show they do or donāt succeed!
How about a Hangi? Itās the traditional Maori way of cooking a feast buried in a fire pit. Good for feeding a big group provided you have all day to do it, the room and the know how.
Apparently the results of long slow cooking of meat and veges can be memorable. I can vouch for that. My one and only experience was at a sports club Christmas party. Loverly mob. Liked to party. No trouble-makers - you had a good night. This was in the eastern suburbs of Sydney not the shaky isles. There were some Maoris in the group and they said letās do a Hangi and so it was agreed.
The meal was served about 10pm which ensured we were all hungry. The little meat you got was melt in the mouth but the sand garnish was overdone. Apparently some of the roast could not be extracted from the pit. The veges were an anonymous multicolored mush with blackened edges. I have a feeling the experts in charge had only seen their grandmas do it and gorged on the results. It must be easy right? Too much enthusiasm and beer and too little expertise.
Hay box - cook the food on the camp fire to bring it up to temp, then wrap and place in a box packed around with āhayā - dried grass, wood chips etc; as an insulator. The stored heat continues to cook the food and it can be left or transported to be eaten hours later.
Tin foil reflected heat - construct frame (opened out 3 sides & top of cardboard box for example) with aluminium foil. Place the food so the reflected, concentrated sunlight shines on it, continue to re-orientate food and frame, best started in the mid / late morning.
Twisties - the old camp fire favourite. Mix flour & water to stiff consistency (lots of variations on the basic recipe), shape with hands into either a long roll that can be twisted around a stick, or just form over the stick (like a thick sausage). Place in embers or hold over. Be patient, too much heat burns the outside before the inside is cooked. Traditionally served dunked in golden syrup. Variations can include vegetables, cheese as accompaniment for meat. Eat off the stick.
Bury under hot coals - wrap in foil. Camp oven (most famously damper) is a variation on this - put the cast iron pot on the embers, mound up and place some on the lid. Also known as a Dutch Oven - pre-heat, can be used to fry, steam or close up and cook biscuits, pie, roasts, make pancakes on the lid. A Hungi is a similar method, first heat stones in a fire in a pit (be careful some stones can āexplodeā), wrap food, place on embers, bury with rocks on top. Dig up & eat.
Boiling the billy - drop things like eggs in to cook as well.
I used to fillet some of the fish I caught whilst surf fishing . Iād wrap the fillets in Alfoil and wire them to the exhaust manifold of my van . By the time I drove back to the motel I stayed at , I usually fished at Lochsport on the Gippsland Lakes , they were cooked to perfection .
Iād often buy fresh Pipis on the way there and when I arrived put them in a small cast iron skillet and cook them on the hot rocker cover of the van . Very versatile vehicle the old Nissan E 24 van . Still got it after 30 years and still use it for fishing outings .
Had one cooked by some lovely local Maori people cooked in a recycled beer keg - along with mountains of other food - it was at their house for a sporting end of season - it was sensational, albeit not quite traditional - the beer kegs contained the cooking food - theyād done it many times. Not sure about the use of Aluminium
Also eaten kangaroo tails cooked in the coals the traditional way in a remote riverbed, which was interesting to say the least, and very tasty though a little messy ā¦ I wouldnāt suggest cooking traditional food the same way it has been cooked (probably) for 40k years by the originators of the recipe is āNovelā but it was for me ā¦
Iāve seen popcorn made in the exhaust of a sport bike, but I wouldnāt eat it ā¦
Great idea splitting this into a new thread @mark_m
On the note of cooking stuff in the sandwich press, this can work really well with vegetables like eggplant and capsicum. If you slice them to roughly the same thickness, they cook in a few minutes and are then perfect for adding to pasta sauces, ratatouille and sandwiches. This also works well for haloumi cheese - delicious!
I cooked steak using the sandwich press in the office kitchen for a while ā¦ it did a reasonable job but it wasnāt universally approved by colleagues ā¦
If it was an older bike perhaps with the use of original and genuine castor oil based lubricants might impart a flavour some of us remember, adding to our disinterest in the product?
P.S. Castrol obtained itās ultimate trade name from creating high grade performance oils from - castor oil.
Using things they werenāt designed for:-
I bake cakes in the bread maker (unfortunately you canāt vary the temperature). I remove the mixing paddle & put it on Bake (designed for the final cooking of risen dough) for one hour. The crust is a little dark, the shape a bit rounded (due to the design of the bread pan) but easy to clean and avoids using a lot of electricity to heat the big oven for one small item. I have also tried making jam when I had little fruit, and chutneys. I was thinking of cooking a small chicken. Removing the paddle still leaves the spindle about 1cm high and turning - cakes end up with a small hole, but I would put the food on a trivet to clear it. In effect it is a mini oven set at 200 C.
The sandwich press gets used for cooking meat and many other foods. Another appliance that has a set temperature. I have done rump, sausages, fish, sliced potato and other vegetables, scrambled eggs (pour slowly - my first effort went straight out the other side - the egg white is not like water, it will pull itself over the edge).
I have used an iron with a sheet of grease proof paper to ātoastā wraps. Flat plate, non-steam ātravellingā iron.
Of necessity we used the welding gear to heat a billy can of water for tea & veg, sear a steak, caramelise the sugar on top of custard & tin fruit very gourmet, but got messy & burnt bits. Basically cooks anything needing high heat and flame.
ā¦ of course Iād have to actually find my iron, but this is a great idea - there is a veritable plethora of food items that could be cooked between sheets of grease proof or baking paper - of course that cornerstone of any healthy diet ābaconā immediately springs to mind ā¦ I can also imagine making toast using the same method and then ironing cheese onto it
I remember as a kid making solar cookers out of old sheet metal offcuts or aluminium foil and wire. They fry an egg or boil a cup of water if one has sunshine and a lot of time.
I see that there are more sophisticated manufactured models on the market. Some have claims indicating can roast/steam/bake/boil in the sunā¦and even solar cook in clouds and cold.
Marketing material also indicate they are idea for camping and also reduce ones carbon emissions.
Maybe a test for Choice to see if the marketing hype is justified.
+1 for the sandwich press - itās potential is wasted just using it for toasties.
Iāve seen (but never tried) a clothes iron, inverted and held between piles of books to make an improvised hotplate for a lightweight frypan.
Iāve also seen a bacon weave pressed between two bowls and microwaved to create a delicious bacon based serving bowl (in the US you can even buy purpose built bacon bowl formers). Saves a lot of washing up.
Iāve also seen some tradesmen who would park their van in a sidestreet and then cook bacon and eggs on the step plate at the back of it with a propane torch for heat. It was the cleanest step plate Iāve ever seen.
An old camping dessert favorite and great for doing with the kids - 3/4 peel a banana and stud it liberally with choc chips - replace the peel and wrap the whole thing in foil, then place in an empty cardboard milk carton. Set fire to the top of the carton and as it slowly burns down it will leave you with a warm, gooey chocolatey banana.
After my oven died, I came across a recipe online for cooking lasagne in a slow cooker. Probably not the most ridiculous idea for cooking food, but it works really well.
Just hope the road sweepers cleaned the road first.
The story doesnāt quite add up. 68Ā°C was measured but bitumen should have a melting point of at least 80Ā°C (bitument used in cold climates). It might be a way to get the local towns in the big smoke media.
The product is more novel than using it, and it seems to have had a short unspectacular product life in the US, but for historical amusement. It was a real product; there are a few for sale from US antique shops.
