Barbeque's

I remember the lengths we used to go to cook food “al fresco” before barbecue’s came along and were affordable to the masses. A friend of mine wanted a can of soup when we were camping in the woods so threw a can of Heinz mixed vegetable onto our campfire and waited patiently for it to warm up. He didn’t have to wait long as it exploded in his face. After cleaning up the mess on both he and the tent and then eating the tiny bit that remained in the bottom of the jagged edged can with a fork, he went home to nurse his wounds. He told his parents that he came off of his bike, as it was too embarrassing to give the real story.

Cooking Outside

Cooking outside can be very civilised with the introduction of barbeques. What probably started out as a bit of wire mesh over an open fire has progresses to some very space aged designs and variations. Glancing through this seasons Argos catalogue I see models ranging from the tin foil tray to a six ring gas burner complete with a wine cooler. The tin trays now come with a stand to keep the heat from radiating from underneath and scorching whatever they have been placed on. The country is branded with rectangular scorch marks where enthusiastic outdoor diners have made their mark on public property. The basic metal types are adequate for most of us without having to spend the 700 euro needed for the top of the range ones. It’s more fun not having a knob to regulate the heat, that’s like cooking in the kitchen. We need (I’m talking about men here) to have control ourselves of the raging inferno that’s going to part cook our chicken.

Bricks

Our own barbeque in the garden is influenced heavily by the person before us who spent a lot of time in Australia. It’s made from bricks and instead of a wire mesh to place the food onto it has a thick steel plate. The plate is curved slightly so that the fat runs away from the food. We do the cooking by using well seasoned wood, which makes the food taste delicious. It’s a bit embarrassing to confess that we have only got it going once this year. I could make excuses about the weather not being fit, but that would be a very weak excuse as there have been loads of days that could have suited. It’s just that kick starting the outdoor cooker into life seems like a lot of bother to go to when you want to cook four burgers for the kids. Maybe I should invite people around more.

52 Gallon Drum

One of my favourite designs for a cooker was done by Johnny Blegs who waited a year for an old 52 gallon drum to become empty, normally the drums contain crude oil but this one was used for honey, yum. The end result after a lot of cutting and screwing is a beautiful looking piece of art for the garden which could be compared to some of the gas cylinder wooded stoves that are on the market and used as chimineas. The legs are made from scrap galvanised piping and the ability to close up the cooker and reduce the air flow enables him to slow cook the meat, leaving it anything up to 6 hours to tenderize. No part cooked chicken with this method of heating we will be pleased to hear.

Chimineas

Chimineas originated in Mexico thousands of years ago and were used both for cooking and heating. Most of the ones available to us here are ornamental and only used very infrequently and can be made from cast iron, steel or clay. The clay material was the original method of making these and if they cracked, as the often do, with the heat, you could just scoop up another handful of clay and patch it up. Cast iron ones are a bit more technical to fix though and generally end up in a skip when this happens. They look lovely in the garden but best not build up a fire if there’s risk of a downpour as it’s the hot/cold of the water on the hot surface that cracks them. This isn’t such an issue in Mexico as it rarely rains.