SC - cooking frumenty for the masses

[ND Wederstrandt]

I have cooked outdoors with grains quite a bit since we wind up with lots
of outdoor events.  I made a mushroom barley stew with leeks out doors.  I
like barley which has a nutty taste that works well with stews.  The best
thing I found is to cook smaller batches and mix them together.  The
biggest problem with grains being cooked on Colemans, over fires and such
is too often the pot is too big and isn't stirred well so the bottom burns.
I use 3 gal pots and mix them when they are hot..  Our events usually have
a minimum of 150 hungry people with a maximum of 350 or 400 and the smaller
pots work better even though the dish takes longer to cook.
        Another idea is to precook your grains a bring them out to reheat
and mix with any other ingredients.  Again I think smaller pots work better
than large.
        One of the best outdoor heating facilities I ever used was a water
heater bottom hooked up to a butane tank.  It could boil a 25 gal pot of
hot water in less than two minutes.  Really good......

Clare St. John