I found a solar oven on craigslist for $50 and it was complete except for the cook book. Anyone here use one? I read a review that said it was slow to heat but even though it's below freezing outside it took only 15 minutes to hit 315f and that's hotter than I'd want to cook my ribs at. ... View more

I'm looking forward to cooking our birds on Thanksgiving, but I'm curious to know how folks do their turkeys. I was hoping this new forum would have a built in poll feature, but I don't see one (yet). Do you: Bake Fry Smoke Other? I'm doing two turkeys on the pellet smoker spatchcock style. I remove the backbone and lay them flat on the grill covered with dry rub and smoke the spatchcocks for around two hours until they're done. My wife has always been queen of the turkeys, but she turned her crown over to me to do the birds outdoors so she can use the oven for other dishes. ... View more

Looking to mix up my tailgating menu from burgers and hot dogs to other "exotic" foods (as football season approaches). Does anybody have some advice (this would be for football games). I want something that can serve up to 10-15 people but isn't too hard to whip up. Something savory but still with a lot of flavor. Thanks! ... View more

This is too thick to be soup, and too thin to be stew, so we call it stewp. 3 cups V-8 juice 1 ½ cups vodka 2 tsp sea salt 3 tsp freshly ground black pepper 3 tsp onion powder 3 tsp celery seed 3 tsp Tabasco 3 Tbsp lemon or lime juice 3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 2 Tbsp prepared horseradish 2 Tbsp crushed garlic 2 pounds stew beef 1 medium onion, diced 3 carrots, sliced 1 14.5 oz can diced roasted tomatoes with garlic 2 heaping Tbsp Better Than Bullion beef flavor Mix first 11 ingredients and set aside. Evenly array beef in crock pot. Top with onion, carrots, and roasted tomatoes. Pour Bloody Mary mix over all. When liquid is hot, add Better Than Bullion and stir until dissolved. Cook on high for 6-8 hours, then low for 16-18 hours. Using tongs, remove each piece of stew meat and shred with a fork, placing in a bowl. When all stew meat is shredded, put meat back into pot, stir until well distributed, then serve. Optional: Top with shredded Swiss cheese and microwave until cheese melts. Serves 6-8, depending on how hungry they are. Notes: You can cut the stew meat before cooking it, in which case there's a much, much shorter cook time. But this long version really made the flavor super intense. In spite of the Tabasco and horseradish, this is not a spicy dish, simply flavorful. ... View more

We bought a freeze dryer, with the intention of having better tasting freeze dried foods available.  It's been a wild success so far, and we're literally still in the experimental stage. So far, we've freeze dried fruits, raw and cooked vegetables, hamburger patties, and beef stew.  We've tested each to ensure they do taste better than commercial freeze dried foods, so we are really happy.  Now we need to work up more meal combos and package accordingly. I'd not really thought much about taking along freeze dried foods on RV trips, but I'm liking the idea more and more.  We could save so much on weight, prep time, etc., and yet still have the really tasty meals we prefer, when there's just not enough time to do up a proper meal. Not having cans and bottles bouncing around and making noise will be another nice perk. Yep, I'm really enjoying this contraption. ... View more

One of our favorite camping / campfire meals is what we like to call earth stew. It is a version of a beef stew with some added flavors. We tend to follow our meal with “Almost Pumpkin pie” for dessert. What’s your favorite go to meal while camping.  ... View more

Who says you can't grill a pizza while camping?  A couple of tips: 1) buy premade pizza dough and 2) a pizza stone is a must.  In the grill / pellet smoker run it up to 400 degrees and BAM, you have a great personalized pizza! ... View more

What is your go-to for rescuing a ruined meal? I've used bacon and condensed milk to keep from throwing out melted ice cream. Fridge in the old tt went out. We had a third of a container of vanilla ice cream left. I mixed condensed milk in with it, added it to a roux and created a gravy with bacon bits in it. Was really good. ... View more

We're having a big family get-together soon and one of my kids requested a big batch of my beans. "Can you make it a double batch, dad?" It's my own recipe with bits and pieces taken from various inspirations. I need to refine the recipe though, because measurements like 12-16 jalapeños or 8-12 poblanos got me in trouble this time. The ratio of peppers is pretty strong and I might need to smoke another pan of straight beans tonight and mix them in with the rest to calm it down a little. They're still delicious though. Ingredients: 4 - 40 oz Cans of Pinto Beans 6 - 10 oz Cans of Rotel Tomatoes w/chiles 4 lbs Ground Beef 2 lbs Bacon 1 bunch Cilantro 2 cups Red Onion finely chopped 4-6 Poblano Peppers chopped 6-8 Large Jalapeños. Clean half and leave seeds & veins in half. 1.5 Tbsp Kosher Salt. Don't round up. There's plenty of salt in the other ingredients. 2 Tbsp Ground Pepper 2 Tbsp Cumin Directions: Cook the ground beef and let it drain while you fuss with everything else. Cook the chopped bacon until it's cooked, but not too crispy. Drain the grease, but leave some grease in the nooks of the bacon pieces. Dice the Poblanos, Jalapeños, Onions, and chop the Cilantro. Mix everything in a full-sized foil pan or two half-pans if your grill can't fit the large pan. Don't forget to mix in the spices. Smoke for an hour at low temp (175° - 195°). Stir at 30 min. Turn up the heat to 325° and cook for at least two more hours. Stir every 30 minutes. Keep an eye on the liquids and don't let them boil off. Cook until the poblanos are soft and sweet (heat is gone).   ... View more

Replace one word in a movie title with Bacon ... View more