Does anyone cook on their engine?

[thegoodtom1]

When I was an operating engineer I would often throw a frozen burrito (wrapped in foil) on the turbo diesel engine of my machine and drive around all morning. By lunch, it was well cooked. I would also wire canned food near the exhaust manifold after popping a small hole (so it doesn't blow up). I am interested if anyone else practices this and what foods they have cooked on an engine.

 

[Van Man Dave]

Hot dog in the tailpipe is a delicacy after a few nights boondocking.

J/k! Foil wrapped burrito on the manifold is a great trick, we used to do this out on the land survey crew often!

 

[highdesertranger]

I have done it before especially when I was farming and sitting on a tractor for 12 hours a day. But most of the time now-a-days I don't drive enough and when I do I really don't feel like messing with it.

There is even a cooker,

https://www.amazon.com/Muffpot-Warmer-2004-MUFF-POT/dp/B003CJ7568


Highdesertranger

 

[eDJ_]

I first learned about doing this as a kid listening to my Mom, Grandmother, and great Aunts discussing their
experiences during WW2 years.  Many of the women traveled in their government jobs and learned to cook whole meals for themselves on the car engine.  It seems they got a food allowance which was never enough to eat at roadside diners.  So they went to grocery stores with their "ration stamps" and learned to use the engine  like it was the kitchen stove. I remember them discussing things that had vanished since the war that allowed them to make coffee in boiling hot water. A device that looked like a funnel and sit atop a coffee cup so that the chamber filled with ground coffee would have the hot water filter thru it and make a cup of coffee on demand. My aunt said she still had her double edge razor blade sharpener. Said it looked something like a pencil sharpener and could make a "blue blade" sharp again within a minute.


Amazon has several books you can buy new or used. (used are often like new they are just over stock or were used at book shows)

Manifold Destiny: The one ! The only ! Guide to cooking on your Car Engine.

 

[tx2sturgis]

Back in the day I used to heat (or re-heat) frozen food, usually wrapped in foil, hung on a piece of hanger wire, on the engine usually near the turbo, back when I was driving truck...this was in the days before we had a microwave oven in the sleeper.

Road food...burritos, frozen chicken, 'TV dinners'...crap you could buy at the truck stop or the nearest convenience store....

As far as actual 'cooking'...nope...our engines generally did not get hot enough to 'cook' unless it was in the middle of summer in the southwest (and cabover engines are a hard to access unless you tilt the cab!)....now days, even with conventional hoods, under-hood temps are a bit higher (tighter emission controls) and it might be possible to actually cook on a large class 8 diesel engine. Turbo and exhaust temps can be pretty high but usually only during heavy work loads such as climbing a long grade, so usually a fairly short interval  and trying to get even cooking near the turbo with all the sensors, wires, tubing, etc...it's just not made for that.

When cheap inverters and cheap microwave ovens and other cheap and small electric cooking appliances came along, "turbo rotisserie chicken" became a thing of the past, at least for most of us...

 

[highdesertranger]

That's a good point Texas brings up. Cooking and reheating are two different things. Highdesertranger

 

[bullfrog]

I grew up in a garage where one transmission mechanic loved popcorn, never washed his hands and if you have ever smelled burnt transmission fluid it isn't pleasant, after he popped a fresh batch it wouldn't be but minutes before it was brownish pink. Somehow after that I never liked eating anything besides pizza in a garage, at least with the strong spices in pizza you can't smell the burnt transmission fluid. I guess being poor and always driving worn out vehicles with lots of blowby, that memory keeps me from enjoying the ambiance of the meal cooked in an engine compartment! LOL!!!

 

[Scorpion Regent]

Thanks Bullfrog.  It's one of the cruel realities of life that a bad mental image may fade, but can not be removed.  That story is going to help me lose 15 pounds.  It will also be a cautionary tale on why it's important to keep things ultra clean if you are going to engine cook.

 

[brollins]

Tried it before and the taste was like a car-be-cue.

 

[crofter]

Just get a portable bar-b-que already!!

A few hazards of vehicle engine cooking:
The meat is not well done enough to kill pathogens and parasites. Yes that no handwashing guy works at the burrito factory too. And then too the parasites in the meat are not killed off cause cooking temp is too low.

Engine fire when you forget you have something cooking in there.
-crofter

 

[crofter]

And handwashing:

Wipes are effective. Use one to clean what you can see. Use the second to clean what you can't see. Under the fingernails too.

Follow up with hand sanitizer.

Also clean the steering wheel.
-crofter

 

[1shemp]

When I was logging in West Va. after 4 yrs in years in the Navy,we would put soup or chili or something on top of the dozer manifold to have a hot meal in the winter.But that was 55 years ago.The advice about the wipes reminded me of my childhood and using the outhouse.We used corncobs.We used a red cob to wipe and then used a white one to see if we needed another red one.But people from town won't get the joke.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

I remember Top Gear did a piece on this at least once.
Also seem to faintly recall something on Real People or Thats Incredible. For those of you old enough to remember such goofy TV shows.
The most I've done is tried to make a quesadilla/enchilada kind of thing.
Wrapped it in a couple layers of foil. But it still had a faint enginey taste. So I chucked it.
My buddy Steve had an old Ford pickup he would put foil wrapped things on the catalytic converter. There was a weird little door in the pickup bed almost right above the cat. You just had to reach to the side a little.
We never could figure what the door was there for. 2nd tank? Not right next to the cat I don't think.
Maybe it had a water tank? But it was a small truck. Like a Courier or the old Rangers.

 

[Scorpion Regent]

We never could figure what the door was there for. 2nd tank? Not right next to the cat I don't think.
Maybe it had a water tank? But it was a small truck. Like a Courier or the old Rangers. 

You're right, it doesn't make sense to have a fuel tank next to a cat.  Not a fuel filter, either.  Winch access for the spare tire?  It seems doubtful.  A wiring junction?  I suppose anything can be heat shielded, but Detroit didn't like to add heat shields and access ports for no reason, it costs money.  I wonder what else was nearby on the frame.  If I ever see one in a pick a part junkyard I'll give it a glance.  Until then it's a mystery.

 

[Calaverasgrande]

It was a former fire service truck. Not fire department.
(Forget the exact name but it was the dept responsible for keeping an eye out for forest fires in California)
It was used to drive between lookout towers or something back in the 80s. 
It was all red and had some kind of faded logo on the door.
There were a couple other funny storage cutouts and mounting points.
Not as cool as the ex Pacific Gas and Electric van I had for a while. That one had a trapdoor a couple feet behind the driver seat that led to a box big enough to fit 2 car batteries. Pretty sure that was what it was for, had the same kind of matting on the bottom and tie downs.
My band and I used it to store beer. Fit 3 12 packs perfectly.
There was also a few weatherproofed 120 outlets on the exterior and a huge old fashioned fiberglass CB antenna.
No inverter or CB radio though. Sadly that van was totaled by my mechanic after he did an tune up and was taking it for a test drive.
Ended up just banking the insurance payout on that because I'd just gotten laid off, then 9/11 happened and I couldnt get work for about 6 months.

 

[RvDreams]

Back on topic please. This thread is about engine cooking.