Summer Kitchens

[Jensen]

When the mercury rises, what's the best way to continue with one's oven cookery?

This past weekend, I slow-roasted a pork shoulder on my gas grill and I have in the past made meatloaf the same way. The heat doesn't seem to be distributed the same as in the oven though and I do worry about under- or over-cooking things.

Is there a secret to this? Or a better solution?

(Please don't suggest getting up before the sun. It's just not an option for me.)

[Lori in PA]

Crockpot or electric roaster on the back porch. I've also been known to cook the next night's dinner in the evening after supper, then just reheat in the micro before eating at mealtime.

Edited May 4, 2006 by Lori in PA (log)

[FabulousFoodBabe]

When the mercury rises, what's the best way to continue with one's oven cookery?

This past weekend, I slow-roasted a pork shoulder on my gas grill and I have in the past made meatloaf the same way. The heat doesn't seem to be distributed the same as in the oven though and I do worry about under- or over-cooking things.

Is there a secret to this? Or a better solution?

(Please don't suggest getting up before the sun. It's just not an option for me.)

←

Ah, Jensen, as a five-year veteran of Central Valley summers, I can say I feel for ya!

I got myself a good Polder thermometer; the kind with the probe attached via long cord to a digital readout, which can be stuck to the outside of the grill. It'll help tremendously while you get used to cooking a whole new way.

Fabby,

[Megan Blocker]

Since I don't have outdoor space, it's either takeout or just sitting in front of the AC.

[jgm]

We do a lot of grilling in summer, and quite a bit of dining out, too.

When you're grilling, are you using the technique of putting the coals on one side of the grill, and the food to be cooked on the other side, and turning it every 20 to 30 minutes? We do beer can chicken this way, and get pretty even cooking from this technique.

I try to fix a lot of cold things - salads, cold soups, etc.

If you're going to heat up the oven, you could try to time it so that right after taking the dish out of the oven, you won't be home for a couple of hours. You could also do some planning ahead, and cook 2 to 3 things at once, to be reheated later in the week.

We are fortunate enough to have a gas hookup in our detached garage, and we have an old gas range out there. We still need to hook the two together, and one way or another, it's going to happen this summer. It's not going to make cooking, itself, a cooler process; I'll likely be doing it in 95 to 100 degree heat. But at least I'll be able to go into the house to cool off.

[MelissaH]

This summer, should it ever get hot enough here to be an issue, I won't be using my oven because I won't have an oven. We're going to be totally renovating the kitchen, and my cooking will be limited to what I can do on the grill, toaster oven, or portable propane stove that dates back to when my husband's grandparents still had farms.

If I get desparate enough, I might need to try a pan of brownies on the grill (Weber gas, from the generation before the Genesis series but the same general idea).

MelissaH

[scubadoo97]

Here in Florida where it is hot most of the year I use the grill when possible and in the dead of summer the toaster oven can be used for smaller meals with good results. Since I have a more powerful hood now, I was thinking of turning it on full blast to suck out some of the hot air in the kitchen.

[Smithy]

We did resort to the grill a lot - preferably up on the barge on the reservoir, but we couldn't do that every evening, so out in the yard otherwise - during the summer days.

You could also consider non-cooking or little-cooking options. For instance: large green salads with only a smidge of meat, or none (spinach salad with crumbled bacon is one of our favorites); cold soups; sandwiches and fruit salad. Fresh peach ice cream for dessert. You probably even have access to someone's peach tree, you lucky duck.

Have you considered a solar oven?

[andiesenji]

Electric roasters are indeed coming back. In fact there are so many small appliances that sub for stoves and ovens that really work well to keep the heat down in the summer.

The countertop convection ovens bake rapidly and do not radiate a lot of heat.

The induction "ranges" are extremely useful because they heat just the cooking vessel and not the air around it.

I use a Vita-Mix blender to make soups in the summer - the speed of the blades will heat any soup but will also "cook" pureed carrots, tomatoes, sugar snap peas, and etc., within 5 minutes. And one great advantage in making cream soups is that the cream will not "break" when added to the soup in the blender.

The newer "open" indoor electric barbecue grills do a great job much faster than earlier models and the "press" type grills that also do great panini, are a terrific solution for keeping kitchen heat down.

I grew up in a house that had a summer kitchen, actually a separate building, built of brick, where most of the midday cooking and all of the canning, preserving, baking, and etc., was done when the summer temps rose. When the house was first built, in 1830, that was the only kitchen. Kitchen fires were a particular hazard and keeping it contained in an area separate from the main house was considered more important than having the kitchen inside the house.

[Eden]

we have an AC unit in the kitchen for when we just HAVE to cook indoors, and we do a lot of grilling crockpotting etc, we also use the indoor grill when it's too hot or we're too lazy to go outdoors

I do a lot more pre-packaged foods too, which I know is not healthy, but I'm a total heat wimp. (I'm one of the only people I know in seattle with an air-conditioner)

[Beanie]

My Amish neighbors all have two stoves for cooking -- a wood cook stove for use in the winter and a portable kerosine stove like this for summer use. There's also an oven like this that sits over two burners. I always thought it would be cool to have these to use outside, but first I have to finish my indoor kitchen!

edited to add: This would be nice in a separate summer kitchen like Andiesenji described.

Edited May 5, 2006 by Beanie (log)

[Jensen]

Thanks all for the tips. I never even thought of plugging the crock pot in outside. Doh!

(Note to self: check out electric roasters!)

[Torrilin]

Get a big slab of beef to roast at night when things have cooled down. Grill will work too. Scale big to the number of people you're feeding. Roast it til it's on the medium rare side, then stick in the fridge and let it cool. You now have solid gold for summer meals, since you can have cold roast beef sandwiches, salads with roast beef, just barely warmed slices with veggies... All manner of options are open .

The other thing to do is roast a couple of chickens and treat in the same way. Same kinds of ideas work. Basically, you're mass prepping the meat so you don't need to cook as often, and cool or cold meat with a lot of summer fruits and veggies is better than hot meat.

Emily

[Jensen]

Well, I must have jinxed myself with this thread.

I'm off to the dog races tomorrow and, as tomorrow is Derby Day and we always have a potluck lunch, I figured I would take derby pie (my version, not the trademarked one). Before dinner, I got the pastry made up and put it in the fridge to chill. Then we went out for a leisurely dinner, all the while I'm thinking "Great, it will be cooler in the house when we get home."

Damned if the thermal coupler in my oven didn't pack it in! (According to the Spouse...all I know is that the oven didn't get over 150 and the kitchen smelled really gassy.)

I'd already committed PUBLICLY to the derby pie so I couldn't very well back out and, since we'd taken our time over dinner, it was too late to call neighbours about borrowing their ovens.

Weber gas grill to the rescue!

The Spouse cut a piece of tinfoil roughly the same size as a half-sheet pan, crimped the edges all around, and put it under the grill of the Weber gas grill. (That means it sat right on top of the upside-down-v-shaped iron piece thingies.)

And we baked that derby pie on the barbie...

The Spouse said he reckoned the temperature was around 300 for the duration of the baking.

So, for anyone else wondering about "summer kitchens", it would appear that the tinfoil heat diffuser is a good thing to know about!

[andiesenji]

Back in the early '60s, you could buy a sort of diffuser that made baking on a charcoal barbecue fairly easy. That is, baking biscuits, bread and even cakes.

The thing was a metal plate about 14 inches square, (it could have been stainless but I think it was aluminum) that was welded to several (at least 6, as I recall) metal pipes, open at each end, that were at least 1 inch in diameter.

The theory was that as the pipes heated up, air inside of them would circulate out and around the baking pan that was placed on top of the plate.

My dad had a Big Boy charcoal grill that was the barrel type, bright orange (made in Burbank) and got the grill and the baker accessory at the factory outlet store on San Fernando road. We baked biscuits, "light" rolls and cornbread using it and it worked great.

I think it would be fairly easy to have one made. I think the concept is similar to the convection idea. In fact, I think I will take my idea to the metal shop down the road and see if they can make one for me. I haven't thought of this thing for many years. I am glad you mentioned baking the pie as that reminded me of it.

Edited May 6, 2006 by andiesenji (log)

[Jensen]

Andiesenji, if you happen across a photo of one of these diffusers on the web, could you shoot me the link to it? It sounds like something the Spouse could whip up for me in a matter of minutes.

Thanks!

(edited because I forgot my manners)

Edited May 7, 2006 by Jensen (log)

[Jensen]

Oh, if anyone is curious, the "barbecued pie" (as all the folk at the race meet were calling it after I told my tale of woe to all who would listen) turned out beautifully. I thought the crust might have been a little overdone on the bottom but it wasn't.

I might just have to do this Weber baking thing more often...