Cooking Pictures

[Delmonico]

Those day trip to the State Fair involve 3-4 ovens and cooking for 3-4 at the most.  For some reason I have trouble getting rid of food at the fair.  Some strange folks would rather eat corn dogs and pineapple whips.

[Silver Creek Slim]

I have a neighbors boy that cuts my fire wood for the stove in the winter,  he just got done bringing me 6 ricks of hickory, white oak and ash.  $30. a rick delivered and stacked.   I like to use the ash in the smoker too, deliveries a lot of heat with very few sticks.

How much is in a rick? In Wiscooooooooonsin, we use the terms face cord and full cord. 

Slim

[Ozark Tracker]

a rick is 2 ft. logs 4 ft tall and 8 ftl long.  2 ricks is a cord.  I know it is expressed several different ways around the country.

when you over around Oklahoma City, it's by the stick and I don't mean big sticks either, about 6-8 sticks for a dollar.

I always think I'd like to haul a trailer load over there in the early winter.

[Advertising]

[Silver Creek Slim]

a rick is 2 ft. logs 4 ft tall and 8 ftl long.  2 ricks is a cord.  I know it is expressed several different ways around the country.

when you over around Oklahoma City, it's by the stick and I don't mean big sticks either, about 6-8 sticks for a dollar.

I always think I'd like to haul a trailer load over there in the early winter.

Kewl! I lernt something today. 
A face cord is 16" long logs 4 ft tall and 8 ftl long. 3 of 'em made a full cord.

Slim

[Ozark Tracker]

well I didn't know what a face cord was!  I always have mine cut a little shorther about 20 inches, fits my stove better.  we use our wood stove for 99% of our heating, we got central, but in the winter don't use it much.  I'll burn about 7 to 10 ricks per winter, depending on the temp.  we'll have a few nights down to 0 but a lot more in the 20's and the days in the 50's are pretty common (thank goodness)

[Delmonico]

I think it was closer to half of the pile we used.  BTW, when I shutdown for good on Sunday evening I had not added wood since noon, it was about 6pm when I dumped 20 gallons of water into the hole.  It was still bubbling like a Yellowstone Mud Pot when I got into the pick-up.  The park crew comes down on Monday morning and the add more water and fill the hole.  Wayne doesn't want any hot coals being buried and coming to life underground, they can cause a root fire.

The wood was almost all ash, some of it was quite green and with a bed of coals this burns slowly, esp. overnight.  This means the amount used is much less.  In an earlier period, one would try to use less wood because it was scarce.  Today thanks to J. Sterling Morton we need to keep burning or these large weeds will take over the prairie.

I don't know if you were there John, when we were cursing Ol' J. Sterling and his Arbor Day, we celebrate an enviromental disaster to this day in our state.   Sorry, the heck with the rain forest, save the prairie.

[Wishbone]

Here in Kansas, You can only sell wood by the Cord.  A Cord of Wood is the only Legal way to sell Fire Wood. Some people try to sell it by differnt ways, but the County attorneys office in Wichita get complaints all the time. Heres a Little interesting thing I found on a Google Search on a "Cord of Wood"   Wishbone

Courtesy Firewood Center

What should I look for when buying firewood?
Beware of Advertising! There are Federal and State adopted regulations in the method of sale of firewood.

Dealers should be offering wood in cords or fraction of cords. Any other terms (pick-up load, face cord, rick, rack, pile, etc.) are prohibited for the sale and advertising of wood. A cord is 128 cubic feet of wood stacked tightly. This is typically stacked 4’ high by 4’ wide by 8’ long (4X4X8). (FYI reference: typical full size pick-up, bed level, will hold ½ cord.)

[Delmonico]

Thanks, I've never bought firewood.  When I go somewhere to cook, one thing is that the firewood be provided.  When I used to cook at the stater fair I used what the chainsaw carvers had left over, just cooking for myself and a couple of others it was no problem if the wood wasn't the best.  Other places for larger groups I get more specific as to what I need.

At our farm we hook the buzz saw up in the fall and cut a bunch.

[Wishbone]

At a Chuckwagon cookoff back in May in Winfield,Kansas I was invited to help cook deserts. The Crew I was cooking with used Osage orange AKA: Hedge here in Kansas. it burns Hot.  A Chuckwagon team  from Texas, Phil Rodgers wagon brought thier own wood from Texas. Mesquite. This stuff cooks hot too. Doesnt Pop like Hedge though. The Team I was cooking on & several others had thier fire wood stacked like Linclon Logs. 2 logs layed flat on the ground and 2 more layed across on top the oppesite way. Stacked up this 5 or more high. i asked about the fire building, they stated it makes getting coals out easier. made sence to me.  They started the fire in the middle. When logs burned down they added more to top of pile. Got lots of air in the fre too that way. Wishbone-Ks

[Delmonico]

My favorite wood is hedge, even better whe you mix a small amount of Red Cedar with it to keep it burning better.  Red Cedar is the only conifer I've ever really thought was worth messing with.  I've used quite a bit of it at a tractor show I used to go to, they saw it in a steam powered saw mill and they'll grab me a bobcat bucket full anytime I want.  At the State Fair when I went, the chainsaw carvers use a lot of it also.  In both cases there is plenty of it and I'm doing 3-4 ovens. 

Doing larger amount I need much better wood.

The best set up for coals I've used ain't exactly period, but where we deer hunt we have a 3 foot culvert section, 2 foot high.  I dig 3 holes around the bottom into the center to vent it.  Pile all you want on top, grab them out of the holes as you need them.  Saves fire tending for the most part and gives me more time to hunt.

[oscar]

Del:

I have baked cakes, and rolls, french style in my dutch without any form of pan and trivet either.

Is the trivet thing really that better or is just a thing you might be used to. did the pioneers ahve trivets and baking pans on the plains? I suppose you would be hard pressed to burn the bottom of your baked goods with a pan and trivet set up. Inquiring minds want to know.

Oscar,

[oscar]

Here is an Enchilada dsh I made at the Rock Creek Station  weekend. I made this at my campsite that was not part of the reeinactors.  oh yea the enchilada dish was toi die for no left overs.

[Delmonico]

There were trivets used in the period, for both meat and other dishes, I seen pictures of them.  If the item has a lot of suger in it, the trivet will make it much easier.  Also when it is real humid like this weekend, a seperat pan will help you get somthing like a white or chocolate cake out and cooled faster.  My partner made a big molasses cake one time in the oven with out a trivet, it was so humid it sucked up so much moisture it turned to soup.  I'll post pictures later, but I made a cherry cobbler this weekend, there were just enough cherries on the tree to make one in a enamelware soup bowl and it was just not enough for even a 10 inch oven.  BTW it was wonderfull, ate the whole thing about 10pm last night.

[Silver Creek Slim]

I cooked a roast in my dutch oven yesterday. We took pictures of the fire and oven, but I didn't have the camera when the roast was done.  When the pics are developed, I will scan and post them.

Slim

[Silver Creek Slim]

I did some cookin' on Saturday. I made pheasant with Del's Dutch Oven 101: Quick Chicken or Upland Fowl Dish (PC) recipe, cake from Gopher Grease's Basic Cake recipe fer my better-half's birthday, and bakin' power biscuits. Below are the pictures.


Raw pheasant.


Browned Pheasant.


Pheasant & onions ready to steam.


Steamed pheasant & onions.


Pheasant ready to eat.


Oven during steaming.




Biscuits ready to eat.


Cakes in ovens.



Cakes ready to eat.


Bottom of cakes showing that they are unburned. 

Without Del's tutelage, this would not have been possible. Thanks, Del.

Slim

[Silver Creek Slim]

My better-half took a couple pics of me stirrin' the pot. 

Slim

[Delmonico]

Looks good, add cosie to yer earned titles.

[Ozark Tracker]

 I guess Slim's an" Iron Chef"

Slim,  looks like ya had fun out there a cooking.

[Silver Creek Slim]

Thank ya pards. If I can do it, anyone can. I was fun. Ya just gotta remember ta keep drinkin' water, tea, coffee, etc.

Slim

PS. I added Cosie-in-training to my signature.

[Trinity]

Thank ya pards. If I can do it, anyone can. I was fun. Ya just gotta remember ta keep drinkin' water, tea, coffee, etc.

Slim

PS. I added Cosie-in-training to my signature.

Looks GREAT!  However, you must understand how much you overestimate your pards' (Namely me!) cooking abilities.  My idea of "biscuits ready to eat" are as follows:



or