like getting on a loudspeaker and inviting everyone in the area over to check out what is going on. This follows the same logic as the military in regards to smoking at night. The smell of smoke and the glow of fire or cigarettes may seem trivial to consider as a possible danger to you, but put yourself in the shoes of a desperate person who has no food or warmth. They will seek you out like a shark to blood in the water. The way to avoid this entire situation is to just go raw vegan. I am a carnivore and love eating meat so vegan is not an option for me. Coming up with methods to cook food in a manner that is safe and concealable is easier than you think.
When I was a younger lad my father and his buddy
took my friends and I backpacking on the Appalachian Trail for 8 days living
only out of our packs. One night my dad and his buddy broke out this folded cardboard
box lined with tin foil and started to assemble this contraption that looked
like something out of a 50’s era sci-fi movie. After taking some ribbing from
us kids about their contraption, they put a turkey in this thing and went about
their business. A few hours later they unveiled a perfectly cooked turkey
feast. At that point I looked at my burrito that was burned on the outside and
still frozen on the inside and realized that being without conventional methods
of cooking doesn’t prevent you from eating well, lack of imagination does.
The cardboard box oven can not
only cook everything your home oven can, it will conceal almost all visual heat
signature created from cooking and will minimize the smell of food being
cooked.
The items you will need to cook
with no electricity or utensils are simple and abundant, all you need is to
build an oven is:
·
Cardboard box with top or fabricate top with
extra cardboard
·
Tin foil or thin metal to line box
·
A sturdy riser for each corner (soda cans, flat
rocks, brick etc.)
·
Field expedient grill grate (woven coat hangers,
chain link fence reinforced etc.)
·
Heat source (wood, coal etc.)
·
Pie plate or similar item made from extra tin
foil to hold your heat source
The perfect box for this oven is
a printer paper box; if those are not available fabricate your own box to look
like one. It is imperative to have a removable top. If you are a show off you
can seal it completely and cut an oven door on the side of this masterpiece. I
like things to be simple so I use the removable top, line the soon to be oven
with tin foil or pliable thin metal and be meticulous about this step, we don’t
want you burning your dinner. Heat retention is key to the success of this
oven. Once the entire inside is lined (including the cover) you will want to
place your risers on the corners of this box to keep what you are cooking
elevated over the heat source. Soda cans are great for this but you can use
anything that won’t burn easily. You could also use metal that goes through the
box as kind of a grill grate instead of the risers. This would work, but keep
in mind that you have to add the heat source and the grates tend to get in the
way. Making a grate that sits on the risers in a sturdy manner can be
challenging depending on the situation, but a few pieces of metal in a grid
pattern will do just fine and can be moved according to what you are cooking to
achieve direct or indirect cooking. Heat dispersion and control will be a
challenge if you just dump your heat source in the bottom of the box. Using a
pie plate or making a dish from found materials will give you the power to
place your heat source where you want and will also let you adjust the heat
source while cooking if need be. That is all you need to make yourself an oven
that works surprisingly well and that will not give off a visible flame and
will keep the smell of delicious baked goods at a minimum. My father and I used
this method while backpacking and camping and it was a success every time
except when we added too much coal and the oven burst into flames. Luckily the
Cornish games hens didn’t burn too badly. These ovens get about a dozen uses
out of them before you have to do some form of maintenance or repair depending
on how hot you get it. Once the main course is cooked put a pie or cobbler in
there as a nice reward for your hard work.
Thanks for reading, try the oven
out and leave me your feedback on how your meal turned out!
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