SC - Symposium

[Decker, Terry D.]

I shall attempt to reply to a few of these:

> >   2. Heat can be your best friend or your worst enemy.  Find and use the most
> >      consistant burning fuel available.  
> 
> Last year (the first year I worked over an actual firepit, and I did have
> stove backup) I didn't have actual fire_making_ problems, unless you count
> being stuck in camp all damn afternoon to keep an eye on it. :-/  The major
> problem was smoke. 

Here you should use the wind to your advantage.
Determing the general direction of the prevailing winds that day. 
They may vary a lot, but the general tendencies will show if you watch 
where the smoke goes, patiently Once you know the "prevailing" wind 
direction, keep your back to it, and the smoke should blow away from
you, generally.

Other hints: 

make sure that you have a hook or some other tool to pull the put to you 
somewhat, Closer to the edge of the fire pit, if you need to get into it. 
That will allow you access to the contenst relativly free of smoke.

For your big pot, unless you are baking, you might try not making the fire 
ALL the way around it, to allow access form that side fior stirring. as long 
as the ingredients are stirred, it doesn not matter that much if the heat is 
applied to one side or all wht way around. Cast iron and stirring will 
distribute the heat effectively.

Before you start cooking rake the large unburnt chunks of wood ( which 
generate the bulk of the smoke ) AWAY form the coals ( Which generate 
the bulk of the heat ), preferably in the direction the prevailing winds tend 
to blow. As the large chunks burn down to coals, rake them into the 
area where you are working. this will allow you to keep a replenishing 
supply of cooking coals. ( this is actually an old blacksmith's trick )


> >   3. Wind IS your worst enemy.  It blows the heat away.  Make sure that you 
> >      have some sort of wind break that you can move around as well as work 
> >      around.
> 
> How large does such a thing need to be?  Ankle, knee, waist?  I would
> like to rig an actual roof over the cooking area, because getting
> rained on while tending the stew really bites, but even with our tiny
> cooking fire and a high roof, I imagine the Fire Safety people would
> have a cow.

Typically, the sides of the fire pit are fine, if the pit is deep enough, or there
is a wall of rocks around the pit, to the height of the cooking grid.
You want the avoid a excess of wind below the cooking level (Above it 
the heat is lost to you anyway!), unless you are smoking meat. 
You will want to make sure that the wind break allos air to flow 
into the pit at ground level, to keep the fire form starving for oxygen.

A roof would not be useful for a windbreak. 
Also keep in mind that a wall or other vertical surface close to the firepit 
will draw the smoke to it when the wind blows, so you probably do not 
want to try a high wind break with a roof anyway, since that will only 
ensure that _you_ are smoked like a kipper.

Use an umbrella. inconvenient, but the best option, as far as fire safety
goes. ( cloaks and ponchos can ge useful but you have to mind the 
trailing edges around the fire. ) have a friend hold, if you need both 
hands.

> I've read the directions that came with them, I read the entire
> Florilegium file, I've gone through rec.food.cooking.  I understand
> the theory (heat instrument, coat in fat, let fat soak in, never scrub
> again) but it doesn't seem to "take".  Rust shows up all the same; or
> food gets stuck to it anyways and I have to scrub and start from
> scratch.  Every time.
> 
> There.  I've said it.  I suck. :(
> 
Nah, a lot of folk have lost the nack.
I do the following. ( my grandfather's technique )
Clean the pot as usual.
Start the old Backyard Barbecue grille (this is gonna smoke like crazy!!)
Heat the pot or pan very hot without applying oil or fat.
A drop of water should dance on the surface without wetting it.
Take paper towels, some long tongs, and some crisco.
When the skillet is very hot, put some  crisco on the paper towel, and 
using the tongs, quickly rub it all over the insides of the pot ( don't worry 
about the outsides ). when it is all coated, stand back and wait for the 
smoking to slow down. Do this again several times.
After you have done this, Let it stay on the grille until it almost stops 
smoking. and remove it from the heat.

The idea fo seasoning is to first, drive off the water in the iron, ( and
yes it is there, and a lot. watch it when you first heat it, it'll sweat visibly. 
replacing it with fat to keep it from re-entering the pores of the pan, 
driving the fat into the surface with heat. then reducing the fat to fill 
all the pores of the iron with a barrier surface of pure hard carbon.

(Grampa used to do this on the stove top, but once the neighbors 
called the fire dept, cause they thought his house was on fire, from 
the amount of smoke pouring out of the kitchen window.)

Brandu
( you'll still see rust, occasionally. No problem. It should cook fine unless 
you see lots of rust, and not a fine powdery spot of it. 
A little rust is taken off by rubbing it with oil.
 ---Instead of cleaning it in the sink, just knock off the bulk of the crud 
with some oil and a tablspoon of Kosher salt as an abrasive, while the 
pot is still on the fire. As long as the surface feels smooth to the spoon 
or spatula it is clean enough. Wipe out the pan with a coule of paper 
towels and put it away.)


============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================