Manifold Menus

October 25, 2007 2:06 PM

Manufold Menus [4.4MB PDF - mirror]: Cooking on train motors, including recipes, cooking vessels (really, plastic bags and Gladware) pictures of where to stash the food, and resulting dishes.
posted by c0nsumer (12 comments total)

drivin that train
eatin lo mein
posted by kuujjuarapik at 2:21 PM on October 25, 2007

That's pretty fantastic. I would love to see some context for this - is cooking on locomotives that common?
posted by pombe at 2:21 PM on October 25, 2007

If I ever find myself as a homeless train mechanic this will be crucial.
posted by prostyle at 2:21 PM on October 25, 2007

pombe: I'm not sure, to tell you the truth, but I remember plenty of stories from my grandpa telling about how he would wrap beef and onions in tin foil, nestle it in the manifold of his vehicle (a Willies Overland, I believe) and take off hunting.

If I'm remembering it right, by the time he hit the top of the northern peninsula of Michigan and had to wait for the ferry to the UP (there was no bridge at that time) the food was ready to eat.
posted by c0nsumer at 2:29 PM on October 25, 2007

There was a book that came out in 1989 called Manifold Destiny. I've cooked the salmon recipe in it, and it's really good.
posted by cog_nate at 2:36 PM on October 25, 2007

I've lost my copy of Manifold Destiny: The One! The Only! Guide to Cooking on Your Car Engine! somewhere over the years, and I sorely miss it. The only experiment I ever tried was hotdogs, onions, and a little bit of beer in umpteen (ok, like 5) layers of foil. Took it out for just a meander around the countryside - an hour or so on my little Toyota's 4-banger. Probably needed a little more time to cook well, but was pretty good as-is.
posted by pupdog at 2:38 PM on October 25, 2007

Cooking that close to so many carcinigins scares me. I'll stick the the more traditional heat sources.
posted by jeffamaphone at 3:01 PM on October 25, 2007

I sure I've seen someone trying this on a tv program... but annoyingly I can't remember which one
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:01 PM on October 25, 2007

Well, they did it on Feasting on Asphalt but I'm not sure that's what you're thinking of.
posted by puke & cry at 4:00 PM on October 25, 2007

jeffamaphone, as far as car cooking, if you've properly sealed your package, you shouldn't really have issues. I'd imagine it goes for most engine types. The really bad stuff is in the exhaust (or inside the block itself), and if that's loose under your hood, you have bigger issues than it putting the fish off. Besides, barbecuing (or just about any other sort of open-flame cookery) produces hydrocarbons and other ookies as part of combustion, and you can't get much more traditional than that...
posted by pupdog at 5:05 PM on October 25, 2007

Fearfulsymmetry it was on Cheers. Cliff was cooking a steak on his engine if I remember correctly
posted by Mastercheddaar at 8:19 AM on October 26, 2007

Mastercheddaar, well what I was thinking of was some science program. May be something with Adam Hart-Davis. Despite googling like mad I can't track it down.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:46 PM on October 26, 2007