Manifold Cooking

[xcmountain80]

When I was traveling around with my buddy doing the 24 Hour solo's we would heat food on the manifold, headers, and muffler depending on the model of rental vehicle.


Aaron

 

[ntsqd]

Manifold Destiny

MD has become a cult classic. Too bad it's out of print. A freind of mine gave me a copy for Xmas one year a long time ago. I dig it out once in a while & swear I'm going to try one of the recipes. Maybe this time it will stick.....

 

[decartwright]

I remember instructions (I think) in a Boy Scout pamphlet, 40yrs ago about how to fold foil to seal in what ever you wanted to cook. We used to split up a pound of ground cow between 3-4 guys, cut-up a couple of spuds, carrots, onions etc. with salt and pepper, seal it up and pitch it on the intake of a V8 and head down the road. The 55mph slow cooker.

 

[adventureduo]

Question to all you manifold cooker gurus.... i just installed a rotisserie fish basket in my engine bay... and i was wondering.. do you really think it needs a lid or a top? Reason why i ask is that the basket barely fits in the header side of the engine bay and i think the basket top/lid won't fit properly. Wondering if i even need it? I mean.. shoot won't i have to jump the truck to get the food to fly out?

 

[bucketosudz]

I have now seen it all!! Manifold Cooking?!? Seriously.... I LOVE the Portal. :wings:

 

[CanuckMariner/Nomad]

I too have cooked on my manifolds, but not with any gadgets, however they are quite unique and handy. My method began with HD tin/AL foil and doubling it just in case.

Depending on what you cook, say beef stew: put your one or two portions of cut stewing beef (as much as you want to eat at one sitting). Add veggies (carrots, potatoes, etc. - the smaller you cut them the faster they cook, so keep this in mind while you are making the meal and how long you will be driving) and then salt and pepper to suit your tastes, some onions, etc. and lastly some butter to melt to the bottom to keep things from sticking and make some of the gravy. I can usually judge the amounts and sizes pretty good to suit a 3-4 hour drive or as long as 8-10 hrs.

Nice part is, no cooking when you get to the camp site, just set up and begin eating.

I use coat hangars to hold the foiled wrap next to the header nice and snug. I double fold all joints and roll them so no leakage and if the pressure rises a bit, it will still find a way out with out bursting the seams.

Of course your engine, ahem, your stove size has to be considered and how hot it gets. Diesels do well with manifold cooking.

 

[CanuckMariner/Nomad]

There are two things I never saw on expedition in South America: onboard hot-water showers, and manifold cookers. Both initially struck me as gadgets, but the first time I had a chance to take a hot shower in 40 degree weather after two days of four-wheeling (couldn't stand my own smell), I was sold on the first. Then a few years ago, on another trail ride in the snow, we took a short lunch break only to see a guy whip out two very hot foil-wrapped steak burritos from somewhere inside his engine compartment and start to eat, while we waited to use a stove to heat up our lunch. I was intrigued, and since then I've seen several different setups.

Last September, as a birthday present, my wife bought me a manifold cooker which is a step above the homemade ones I'd seen. This is the first chance I had to install it, which was a cinch on the square manifold of the 4BT (plus there was plenty of room). I'm *psyched*, can't wait to fire up some PopTarts to test it out!

The next step is to re-install the onboard shower on the new engine, maybe next week....

Anyway, here's a couple of pictures of the setup. The base mounts permanently on the manifold, the container itself snaps into place. It's hard to see the size but I calculate it will hold an 8-pack of hot dogs.

BTW, your ARB compressor might get a bit warm installed where it is near the manifold, just a thought?

 

[ntsqd]

MD has become a cult classic. Too bad it's out of print. A freind of mine gave me a copy for Xmas one year a long time ago. I dig it out once in a while & swear I'm going to try one of the recipes. Maybe this time it will stick.....

They've printed a 2nd. Ed!!

And no, it didn't stick.

 

[adventureduo]

Here's my version.... it's a fish rotisserie basket for a BBQ.



Going to try some breakfast hot pockets on the way to the meet and greet saturday

 

[CanuckMariner/Nomad]

Dave, that will certainly heat them up but don't count on any cooking in the basket. Manifold cooking works partially by circulatory/convection heat but mostly by conductive heat.

 

[adventureduo]

Whatever goes into the basket gets wrapped and covered in foil.. just like many i've seen... you're saying that's not going to work? I've seen stew cooked this way after 8 hours of driving.

 

[zukrider]

i think what he is saying is that the gap you have between the manifold and basket wont quite do the job. but i think it depends on what your cooking and how long its in their.

 

[adventureduo]

Gotcha, it's only a few inches from the header.. so we'll see. I can't fit the basket any other way. If it doesn't work i'll cut the basket and weld it back together so it's not as wide and then that way i can get it closer down into the header area.

I will know saturday if i need to change it.

 

[CanuckMariner/Nomad]

...you're saying that's not going to work? I've seen stew cooked this way after 8 hours of driving.

i think what he is saying is that the gap you have between the manifold and basket wont quite do the job. but i think it depends on what your cooking and how long its in their.

zukrider said it right on, the gap may prevent enough heat to cook anything. Although it will warm up things nicely or thaw frozen items easily.

I cook stew all the time and with double HD foil around it, folded joints and tightly wired to the manifold it cooks easily on my diesel 1HZ. However, diesels are known to be a bit warmer than gas engines. Happy cooking, hope it works out.

 

[DarinM]

I just got Manifold Destiny and read it yesterday. More commentary than recipes but it was a very enjoyable read. I think it provides some good ideas for getting into the idea of engine cooking and I'm looking forward to giving it a try one of these days.
The commentary ranged from LOL to ********, but YMMV. I give the book :chowtime: a hungry guy and two :26_7_2::26_7_2: thumbs up!

They've printed a 2nd. Ed!!

And no, it didn't stick.