How do you cook meat?

[LadyBarbossa]

So... when you are at events... how do you cook meat? What method works best?

How do you roast? On a spit? Hanging all tied up in butchers string above a fire? Slow cook in a dutch oven? On a skillet?

Do you cook meat alone or cook it with other foods like veggies?

Toss in your how to's here so that others may benefit from your culinary wisdom.

~Lady B

[sutlerjon]

Dang it, I hate being handed straight lines like this .....

I'm not even going to ......

The last time I cooked a chunk o' beef on a spit over a fire, some damn large critter carried it off while we were at the battle, all we found later was the durned spit in the woods a few feet from the fire pit. Always stayed around the cook job after that.

[Dutchman]

when aboard its all boiled- no wonder there were so many mutinies and desertions, yuk! I don't remember what its called, but occasionally veggies, hard tack and some spices are tossed in a cheesecloth sack and set to simmering in a pot for a few hours ashore then we bring them aboard and heat in a similar fassion. That's actually not too bad considering what we have to work with.

when ashore we grill or roast the meats on spits.

check out Missions thread on the Blackbeard festival last year he did a writeup of the feast.

Edited May 17, 2009 by bbcddutchman

[LadyBrower]

While I have not tried it, I was at an event where they strung up the chicken "by the feet" and set it spinning just outside the flames so it was rotisserie like and got the smokiness from the burning embers. For civil war we were always making stew. My great grandmother's beef and barley recipe was a favorite. =)

Edited May 17, 2009 by LadyBrower

[Joe Pyrat]

One interesting method of cooking fish I saw at Founder's Day in Charleston was placing the fish on a board and laying it in the coals at the edge of the fire. They may have soaked the wooden shingle in water before using but unfortunately I didn't ask.

[callenish gunner]

Depending on several things determines how I cook meat at events

1) What meat? beef, pork, lamb or mutton, fowl or fish

2) How many am I feeding?

3) Type of fire I get to use?

Grilling or roasting on a spit are my personal favourites ....a nice sirloin roast marinated in Burgundy /knife pierced with slivers of shallot and garlic inserted into the flesh rubbed with sea salt and fresh ground black pepper served with garlic mashed potatoes and beets w/ balsamic vinegar

that works fine for up to about 10 folks

A good smoked ham soaked in cyder then hung on a chain and slow roasted served with steamed buttered turnips and a coarse applesauce and fresh green salad with fresh baked soda bread

usually for more folks I resort to Stews or good hearty soups

http://www.outdoorcook.com/article1053.php -about planking fish or fowl

[Kate Souris]

At Searle's Raid...Diosa made jerk chicken in a dutch oven...just put the chicken in there, spices and sauce and stuff and covered it...I think she sat it directly in the coals. It smelled really good...Michael said it was fabulous!

[MarkG]

If you have plenty of time then a turkey cooked over a slow fire is really good.

You need a tripod beside the fire and a couple of skewers. Put skewers in each end then hang it from one end. Turn the bird regularly, either turning it around or turning it over and hanging from the other skewer. Place a pan under the bird to catch the drippings. You won't get much. Because you keep turnig the bird over, most of the juices stay inside giving you a moist meat.

Mark

[callenish gunner]

I have used one of this coppersmith's reflector ovens before and they are great for cooking fowl like chickens or turkeys....

They have a built in spit with a ratchet stop on it

[Rumba Rue]

Cooking meat at an event? Why I just grab one o' those boys from "Port of the Black Sail" an' throw 'em on the fire!

*Just kidding Rene my friend

[theM.A.dDogge]

I have used one of this coppersmith's reflector ovens before and they are great for cooking fowl like chickens or turkeys....

They have a built in spit with a ratchet stop on it

used ta have one in tin....could roast a fowl in record speed...

[Quartermaster James]

So... when you are at events... how do you cook meat?

~Lady B

Medium rare, thank you. :angry:

[Sjöröveren]

when aboard its all boiled- no wonder there were so many mutinies and desertions, yuk! I don't remember what its called, but occasionally veggies, hard tack and some spices are tossed in a cheesecloth sack and set to simmering in a pot for a few hours ashore then we bring them aboard and heat in a similar fassion. That's actually not too bad considering what we have to work with.

when ashore we grill or roast the meats on spits.

check out Missions thread on the Blackbeard festival last year he did a writeup of the feast.

This sounds suspiciously like a 'proper' English pudding, which is essentially some kind of suet, a starch, and whatever else is lying around, very often dried fruit and/or bits of meat. An excellent source for making puddings and general cooking aboard ship is the book "Lobscouse and Spotted Dog" , which was written as a companion book to the Patrick O'Brian "Master & Commander" books.

One interesting method of cooking fish I saw at Founder's Day in Charleston was placing the fish on a board and laying it in the coals at the edge of the fire. They may have soaked the wooden shingle in water before using but unfortunately I didn't ask.

This is called "planking." If you go to a high-end gourmet cooking store like Williams & Sonoma or the like, you can buy a 6x12" piece of red cedar for about $20, which is different from your run-of-the-mill lumber yard cedar in that it is usually shrink-wrapped, has a pretty picture of a salmon on it, and costs about 100 times more than it should.

[originalcin]

I have roasted pork over an open fire. It was roasted with a lemon juice/olive oil/oregano baste. Size will determine how long it takes. I usually set it fairly close to the fire to brown the outside, turning as needed to prevent burning, and then set the meat higher up above the heat with a hand time of 3 seconds to burning for heat level.

At Pohick, I made boiled plum duff on site. I made "Plum Duff the easy way" from "Lobscouse and Spotted Dog". It was a bit dry for my taste, but goes excellent well with creme anglais (read melted vanilla bean ice cream). The plum duff made with beef fat is much tastier.

As far as mutinies from bad food, it wasn't the boiled food that did it - it was the rotten meat and overly weevily biscuit! Ships with good captains ate well.

OCin

[Dutchman]

mmmmmm OC, It was all yummy too!!!!

[Capt. Sterling]

Yummy is an understatement...

[captjustinkase]

At events I usually resort to stews (I have an excellent recipe that I will post when I get home this evening), or cold cuts/cold meats (I will buy the store pre-cooked rotissery chicken and quarter them.

My wife and I also do a lot of pasties, which can be made in bulk ahead of time, and a camp fire toaster stick is a great way to re-heat them, or deep fry in a dutch oven. the bext recipe we have found for pasties is Alton Browns pasty shell. you can fill it with pretty much anything and we have.

I have tried the dutch oven cooking, and also the plank cooking. As mentioned before they are cedar smoking planks. I pick mine up at CostCo you can get a package of 8 for about $10.

[Salty]

at events we cannot have open flame, we use braziers. a pan if small bits of bacon, just on the grate if half fowl or other beastie. at events where we can have fires skerwed on spits over it.

[Red Cat Jenny]

These all sound great. I am truly hoping to learn the art, as well as starting the fire.

Ever since Pip I have been dreamin of those "sword biscuits" you all go on about yum!

[Kian McBrian]

I have to say...Lady Brower does a fantastic job of cooking at events...just ask the Pirate Brethren or the Skullduggery Crew...she put two skewers in the ham and tied it to the spit and twisted the twine once in a while so that it would spin vertically on one side of the fire and cook veggies on the other half...highly reccommend asking her about it...food was fantastic at both events!!

[Red Cat Jenny]

Wow..from all I read she is one very talented lady. Among many here.

[LadyBrower]

*blushes* I have a lot of great women to look up to here!

[Red Sea Trade]

If you want a quick, easy way of cooking that also astounds the tourists, you can lay a steak directly on your coals to broil. Get a nice, hot bed of coals (use them before there is too much ash), rake them to a somewhat uniform consistency, then place your beef flat on the coals. Flip halfway through. It doesn't take long to cook this way, and people will be stunned at what you are doing.

If you can stand more than the usual number of "Are you going to eat THAT?" questions, give it a try. No clean up, and all you have to do is give the meat a good scrape down each side to remove any clinging embers.