Solar Pot Roast
So, last night a couple of other guys from work hosted a pot luck dinner for the recent college graduates. I wanted to bring barbecue pot roast. There was one little problem though. The party was close to work, and I don't live close to work. I also didn't want to go home in between work and the party. This begged the question , where could I put the crock pot to roast all day, and develop into the savory deliciousness that it deserved? Although I could have plugged it at work, I would consider that somewhat rude, since I know the mouth watering aromas produced.
Here’s my solution:
I took a cardboard box. Painted the inside of it black. I then packed that box into a slightly larger box, stuffing the space around it with more cardboard for insulation. Then I glued aluminum foil onto more cardboard to make reflectors. On Monday morning, I put the box in the back of the jeep. Put the crock of prepared barbecue inside the box. Covered it with a piece of plexiglass, and put up the reflectors. The air temperature peaked at 104. I didn’t have the angle quite right, and when I looked at it over lunch, I noticed that the position wouldn’t allow it to get nearly as much sun as I had hoped. Regardless, fast forward to the evening, and when I got back to my car that night, I could see some melted fat floating on top of the barbecue sauce, indicating that it had gotten hot enough. This was quite a relief, since I didn’t really want to serve people raw pork. The meat was perfectly tender and it tasted great.
So, now you’re asking, why are you telling us this.? We know you’re fucking hippie, get over it.
Well here’s way. Imagine a situation where you go out to a hot climate, and leave your car parked in the sun all day; and you go and do something like go climbing. I know, this is a really far fetched scenario, and very unlikely to happen. Now imagine that when you climb out of the craig, instead of looking forward to a dinner of canned beans lipton noodles, you instead have an already cooked, and warm platter of simmering roast, stew, lasagna, or what ever you choose, waiting for you.
Anyway, I was excited. I’m going to have to try this again under more ideal circumstances.
Here’s my solution:
I took a cardboard box. Painted the inside of it black. I then packed that box into a slightly larger box, stuffing the space around it with more cardboard for insulation. Then I glued aluminum foil onto more cardboard to make reflectors. On Monday morning, I put the box in the back of the jeep. Put the crock of prepared barbecue inside the box. Covered it with a piece of plexiglass, and put up the reflectors. The air temperature peaked at 104. I didn’t have the angle quite right, and when I looked at it over lunch, I noticed that the position wouldn’t allow it to get nearly as much sun as I had hoped. Regardless, fast forward to the evening, and when I got back to my car that night, I could see some melted fat floating on top of the barbecue sauce, indicating that it had gotten hot enough. This was quite a relief, since I didn’t really want to serve people raw pork. The meat was perfectly tender and it tasted great.
So, now you’re asking, why are you telling us this.? We know you’re fucking hippie, get over it.
Well here’s way. Imagine a situation where you go out to a hot climate, and leave your car parked in the sun all day; and you go and do something like go climbing. I know, this is a really far fetched scenario, and very unlikely to happen. Now imagine that when you climb out of the craig, instead of looking forward to a dinner of canned beans lipton noodles, you instead have an already cooked, and warm platter of simmering roast, stew, lasagna, or what ever you choose, waiting for you.
Anyway, I was excited. I’m going to have to try this again under more ideal circumstances.
posted by Frick at 5:08 PM
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