Best Cooking Hack

[Jaeger]

Aye Up,

Interesting stuff.

What amazes me is that throughout a long career in the military we weren't anywhere near as (over?) cautious as I am now a days re cooking in the field and I never once suffered in whatever part of the world I served. Tins/packets in a mess tin of water and the water used for brews straight after; food directly into mess tins that had just been wiped out (with Izal type bog paper!) after the previous co(c)ok-up! Communal black '58 mugs of brew passed up through the commanders hatch by the oily/dirty hand of an unseen urchin in the rear of a tracky!!! etc

And having time to boil water for any length of time beyond the first bubble......!

How did we survive?!!


Toddy that idea re the oven liner sounds good and relevant to the recent post I made re the BRS wood burner and charcoal.
As soon as wifey is at work the scissors are coming out!

 

[Janne]

Maybe I am overcausious when it comes to eggs, egg products and chicken but they are a huge source of food bourne infections worldwide.

.

 

[Toddy]

If she bought expensive stuff you'll catch it !
The stuff from poundland works just fine. The stuff in black is the same as the expensive sheets from Lakeland, Sainsbury's and Waitrose
Guess how I know ?

You can even fry an egg on it in the bottom of a tin plate and it'll not stick.

I reckon that we are inclined to be too clean about things. I literally eat the weeds I pull, one of my neighbours saw me and is absolutely horrified.
It's my own garden too, no dogs or cats piddling or anything. She'd eat the strawberries quick enough, but not the greenweeds.

I rarely wash my mug at camp, it just keeps getting refilled and growing up around workshops I know just what you mean about the mugs.

M

 

[Janne]

Those sheets sound quite fantstic.
Questions:
Do you need to put some oil under them?
Do you need to put some oil on top like on a teflon pan?
If used on high heat, can you burn them ( -and ruin the expensive meat on top)?

 

[Highbinder]

Not much of a cooking hack perhaps, but I take a long (say, 2ft) length of regular tin foil, double it to narrow it and then fold it up. Sturdy enough to use as a windshield for your stove, and lightweight too. Added benefit that you can repurpose the foil for other uses.

 

[Robson Valley]

SLIDE aluminum foil. It's come on the market fairly recently. I have no idea of it's camp fire durability.
I'd be more concerned about vaporizing the non-stick coating, whatever that is.
Maybe OK in a reflector oven beside the fire where you have some control over the temp.

I do big cookings and freeze meal-size portions of the meaty things.
Wrapped in Slide, with a shot of cheap white wine to keep things moist, I never reheat in the oven above 350F/180C.
(Of course I could reheat in a microwave oven. I don't because life is too rushed, as it is.)

There's also a heavy-duty "BBQ" Alfoil, my guess is that it's 2x the thickness of the grocery store stuff. 47cm/18" wide.
I wrap meats for the last hour in the smoker and forget to use this HD stuff. At 300F or less, the regular foil is OK.

 

[Toddy]

I think I'll stick to (hah! pun ) the non stick oven or baking sheet liners.

This is a renowned store, but look for the stuff on the bay, it's a fraction of the price, and Poundland sell the baking sheet one, and occasionally the black oven ones too.

http://www.lakeland.co.uk/3318/Magi...liner&ef_id=WTMRcwAAAarU3D-3:20170603194347:s

While on ebay….

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3Pcs-Non-...684664?hash=item1ec310eab8:g:G00AAOSwLnBX2p~J

If you're going to cut it up anyway to try, why spend any more than you have to?

They're fine up to 260degC, and mine last until I'm fed up looking at them, or I've sliced a slit in one cutting on it. The black is thicker, but the golden metallic looking one cuts and folds and fits into cake tins a lot easier.

This is the stuff I mean….just a quick search on ebay, no idea about the seller, etc.,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Reusable-...956740?hash=item4b1088ef04:g:7ScAAOSwCU1Yvq6C

Janne ? I added just a tiny wee swipe of oil and then the egg and fried it in that. It's excellent for frying up mushrooms and onions, peppers and courgettes in a pot too. Nothing sticks

Cooking on a fire we don't get any higher than an ordinary oven or stove, but bear in mind that a campfire can easily reach around 600degC in the right conditions. I melted the backside right out of a huge great maslin pan on a fire. Totally wrecked it, and aluminium melts around 660degC.

Highbinder ? that sounds very practical

M

 

[Jaeger]

Aye Up,

Thanks for all that Toddy, I'll put the scissors back and visit Poundland next week.

 

[Mike313]

When I was backpacking, I kept what I called my 'Plan B Meal' in my backpack. This consisted of a packet of dried soup (not soup-in-a-mug or those expensive one's you get for mountaineering). Knorr Minestrone was a favourite. I'd add some pasta to it maybe 2 ounces (always carried a little pasta and rice). This resulted in a thick chunky soup that stuck to the ribs and was certainly better than nothing if I found myself too far from the nearest village or town.

 

[Janne]

I save those sachets of vinegar, salt, pepper, mustard and mayo you get in fast food restaurants.
Good to take with you into nature.

 

[Janne]

Another fuel and time saving idea is to carry Quick Cook stuff like Rice and other grains.

I hate the word "hack" btw. Tip. Idea.