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Brisket prices are $1.95/lb. What a temptation to buy 2-4 a month and fill up a chest freezer or 2.
Being the pessimistic fatalist I am, though, I can just see that as a begging to the Gods that once the freezer is full, "Come on! Knock out the power grid for a month or two!".
So maybe having one of those drum like outdoor grills is a good investment, especially since they tend to run under $300.
So how should one think about these big emergency cooking, cowgirl style, facilities?
This once happened to me in the dead of summer when I lived in an apartment. A generator wasn't an option for me. I ended up grilling as much of the food as I could as it thawed, stored it in a cooler overnight and refrigerated it at work for lunches and snacks.
OP, if you have neighbors or many friends the grilling thing is even more reasonable. As for material, I have cooked on everything from a gas grill to an offset smoker to a small portable kettle grill. The only difference for me was heat source (gas v charcoal). If you can man a grill it only needs to be as big and fancy as you'd like it to be.
If it's charcoal and that's what you really want then go for it. I prefer a gas grill and besides that I have only cooked on gas grills. Not saying the flavor of meats on a charcoal grill isn't great tasting I am just used to gas. I have a NG weber grill with smoker and rotisserie attachments.
If it's charcoal and that's what you really want then go for it. I prefer a gas grill and besides that I have only cooked on gas grills. Not saying the flavor of meats on a charcoal grill isn't great tasting I am just used to gas. I have a NG weber grill with smoker and rotisserie attachments.
The house stove runs on gas and my tank has so far lasted me since December.......but I am looking at the worse case situation where even the gas people can't get out to me.
As I said, it is a ranch, LOTS of wood around.
Got to run to dance class, back to this later this evening.
So what are the advantages and disadvantages? What can it cook? What kind of fuels are we talking here? I mean, it is a ranch, I have plenty of wood.
The lightweight offset cookers don't maintain temperature as well as the heavy steel offsets. I only burn wood in mine (AKA "stick-burner"), and I use a burn barrel to render the wood to coals, which I shovel into the firebox.
I cook low-and-slow at 225°F - 250°F to render the fat and collagen from the meats. This results in a well-flavored, tender, and moist product. The offset cookers are great at cooking any type of meat that fits into the cooking chamber.
The lightweight offset cookers don't maintain temperature as well as the heavy steel offsets. I only burn wood in mine (AKA "stick-burner"), and I use a burn barrel to render the wood to coals, which I shovel into the firebox.
I cook low-and-slow at 225°F - 250°F to render the fat and collagen from the meats. This results in a well-flavored, tender, and moist product. The offset cookers are great at cooking any type of meat that fits into the cooking chamber.
Low and slow here as well, 250ish for 7 hours, in the oven.
WHICH came up on an interesting thought as I drove to dance. In the event of a loss of power, the stove top burners will still work, will need to light them externally, but the oven may not since its controls are electronic digital. So unless I can get another power source to the stove (generator, solar batteries), the oven feature may be out of the question.
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