'cooking' on dashboard hood of car

[nilasnake]

i see alot of posting about just throwing mri's and back packer meals on hot car surfaces...and assuming it takes a few hours to get warm/hot.....do you think any food...like those we make at home and put in seal/a/meal bags can also be put on car hoods instead of boiling water? at what point are bacteria growing?
can just 'anything' that is pre-cooked and just need warming be heated this way?

[some seeing eye]

A metal can should be good to say 300 degrees. Any other item you should understand the temperature limits of the packaging, including chemicals released from the packaging into the food.

The Alternative Energy Zone village has solar stove cooking demonstrations and advice, including building DIY solar cookers.

[Box Burner]

Hi Nila

Haven't tried this but it should work. use quart size freezer and storage bags to put precooked meals in. Freeze them and bring them to the playa. On the playa put one or two bags in a small saucepan with enough water to cover it and put a lid on it. The bags should be defrosted when you put them in. In a few hours you should have a hot meal.

Note that some of the cheaper bags will leak (and even some of the name brands) so buy good ones.

You may want to try it on a hot day before you commit to it though.


your seal a meals should work too.

Also. if the container is microwave safe you will not need the pan of water. in that case however I would put a foil pan under it just in case it leaks. (also makes it heat faster.)

[Sic Pup]

The rule of thumb is that food must be held to a specific INTERNAL temperature (or above) for 15 seconds depending on food type

Minimum Temperatures and Holding Times

165 °F (74 °C) 15 seconds
• Poultry—chicken, turkey, duck, goose—whole, parts
or ground
• Soups, stews, stuffing, casseroles, mixed dishes
• Stuffed meat, poultry, fish and pasta
• Food, covered, cooked in microwave oven
(hold covered 2 minutes after removal)
• Leftovers (to reheat)

155 °F (68 °C) 15 seconds
• Hamburger, meatloaf and other ground meats,
injected meats, ground fish*
• Fresh shell eggs—cooked and held for service
(such as, scrambled)

145 °F (63 °C) 15 seconds
• Beef, corned beef, pork, ham—roasts (hold 4 minutes)*
• Beef—intact steaks (surfaces)
• Lamb, veal, pork—steaks or chops
• Fish, shellfish
• Fresh shell eggs—broken, cooked and served immediately

135 °F (57 °C) Reheat for hot holding
• Ready-to-eat, commercially processed—ham, other roasts

http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources ... Poster.pdf

There are also similar guidelines for holding, cool down and reheating of food:
http://www.tippecanoe.in.gov/egov/docs/ ... 273791.pdf


Most commercial establishments are a little more stringent when dealing with the public because of varying efficacy of immune systems (the elderly, the very young and those with compromised health).

My advice would be to invest in a camping stove, they're surprisingly inexpensive if all you're looking to do is boil water and reheat cooked food. They sell units that are just wire contraptions that attach to small propane canisters.

I can think of fewer inhospitable places to be ill at, even if it's only minor intestinal distress. Better safe than sorry, I say.

[socks]

Dashboard Nachos or quesadilla's work well at Burning man.

[lemur]

why not bring a stove?

ship your fuel ahead of time.... or have someone bring it for you


you still have time to send via USPS..

i just shipped my fuel cannisters to my hotel today.. will be flying in to reno.




certainly quicker, and, as mentioned above, maybe safer.. than doing the 'on the dashboard of my car' thing.

...stove $20 ..fuel about $5 .... pans, you probably already have some at home.. if not.. $15-20 at any grocery store/walmart/camping place.

i REALLY suggest having some way to actually cook food.

what if ya want a hot meal on a cold night?