Author Topic: Chuck Wagon Question  (Read 60566 times)

Offline Delmonico

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #60 on: February 11, 2015, 08:27:27 PM »
Del. I think it would be worth the trip up there just to see you handle that much making ready and cooking ! That is a task Pard !  ,,,DT       

It could be arranged. 


http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,52694.0.html
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Offline dwight55

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #61 on: February 11, 2015, 08:52:39 PM »
Well, Del, . . . you're making a believer out of me.  I just bought a little 10 inch Dutch Oven, . . . so far we've done biscuits and a concoction called prison food.

It was pretty good:  onions, hamburger, beans, salsa, topped with cornbread & cheese, . . . baked it outside using charcoal, . . . not only did it turn out, . . . after I hit it with the powdered garlic, . . . it was pretty tasty.

I'm lookin for a 6 or 8 qt now, . . . and my wife is definitely enjoying me doing some more of the cooking.

I've also got an apple pie concoction I want to try, . . . justs trying to figure out how to get it out in one piece, . . . thinking on putting the pie in a pie pan, . . . let everything cool, . . . then pop it out.

May God bless,
Dwight
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Offline Delmonico

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #62 on: February 12, 2015, 08:31:16 AM »
Now we need to get you using real wood and real fire.   


Mongrel Historian


Always get the water for the coffee upstream from the herd.

Ab Ovo Usque ad Mala

The time has passed so quick, the years all run together now.

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #63 on: Today at 03:17:40 AM »

Offline Blair

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #63 on: February 12, 2015, 10:56:35 AM »
Del,

How much wood would you estimate you need to get you through an average event?
My best,
 Blair
A Time for Prayer.
"In times of war and not before,
God and the soldier we adore.
But in times of peace and all things right,
God is forgotten and the soldier slighted"
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Offline Delmonico

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #64 on: February 12, 2015, 11:29:36 AM »
Depends on how many people I'm feeding and for how many days, just like "how much gas does it take me to get there."
Mongrel Historian


Always get the water for the coffee upstream from the herd.

Ab Ovo Usque ad Mala

The time has passed so quick, the years all run together now.

Offline Blair

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #65 on: February 12, 2015, 02:41:53 PM »
I realize the "chuck wagon" cook may not care what fuel was available, or how much was needed, as long as it was enough to feed the crew along the drive.
I also know the quality of this fuel could vary greatly depending on the location during the cattle drive. However, the cook should have a pretty good idea, depending on the available fuel, if he was going to have enough to "cook" food for that crew.

I was kind of hopping, with your background and experience in camp cooking you would have some "estimates" and "average duration" might be on the fuel consumptions you have experienced within your background.
Thank you for your reply.
My best,
 Blair
A Time for Prayer.
"In times of war and not before,
God and the soldier we adore.
But in times of peace and all things right,
God is forgotten and the soldier slighted"
by Rudyard Kipling.
Blair Taylor
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Offline Delmonico

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #66 on: February 12, 2015, 04:07:35 PM »
How many, how many meals, what kind of wood, is there going to be people using it for a fire to sit around in the evening, how cold is the average temperature gonna be?   Is it going to rain?   What are I gonna cook?   How windy is it gonna be?   Is the wood smaller stuff, is it bigger stuff, if bigger is it split?  What species are the trees the wood came from?  Is it well seasoned, is it good solid wood.   

Exact answers need more exact information, any expert will tell you that. 
Mongrel Historian


Always get the water for the coffee upstream from the herd.

Ab Ovo Usque ad Mala

The time has passed so quick, the years all run together now.

Offline dwight55

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #67 on: February 12, 2015, 07:49:23 PM »
Well, . . . If I can get the recipes working, . . . and get my brain accustomed to doing this kind of thing, . . . graduating to real wood is a goal to attain some day ahead.

The pictures are of my prize, . . . my grandmother's "bean pot", . . . the lid is long lost if there ever was one.

She used it for years, . . . cooking in a fireplace, . . . and later on a wood stove.

Yes, . . . how I wish it could talk.

The only mark is on the bottom, . . . an 8, . . .

May God bless,
Dwight
If you can breathe:  thank God

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Offline Delmonico

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #68 on: February 12, 2015, 08:23:16 PM »
Dwight, it ain't as hard as the internet commandos will lead you to believe.
Mongrel Historian


Always get the water for the coffee upstream from the herd.

Ab Ovo Usque ad Mala

The time has passed so quick, the years all run together now.

Offline dwight55

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #69 on: February 12, 2015, 09:48:51 PM »
Actually, my grandmother was a very special woman, . . .

If her body had been as strong as her character and her faith, . . . she would have outlived Methusela.

THE biggest two lessons I learned from her were not to be afraid to try something new, . . . and to always keep the faith.  I carry one of her letters to this day in my billfold.

Thanks for the encouragement.

May God bless,
Dwight
If you can breathe:  thank God

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Offline GunClick Rick

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #70 on: February 13, 2015, 11:09:55 AM »
And if you think Skippy was bad,never ever never ever get Del riled up,hear tell he keeps a pit full of greased corn cobs fer fire starter! :o :o :-X
Bunch a ole scudders!

Offline Delmonico

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #71 on: February 13, 2015, 11:14:42 AM »
I soak them in coal oil and light em up.

Mongrel Historian


Always get the water for the coffee upstream from the herd.

Ab Ovo Usque ad Mala

The time has passed so quick, the years all run together now.

Offline pony express

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #72 on: February 13, 2015, 06:06:58 PM »
Looks like period correct fire fuel to me!

Offline Sir Charles deMouton-Black

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #73 on: February 13, 2015, 09:44:06 PM »
Corn cobs have to be grown in a cornfield. Cornfields need farmers, either sodbusters or peons. I suppose cattle drovers could buy corn at the start or along the way. Depending on availability! Local wood may, or may not, have been available in usable quantity

The real PC fuel to a large extent was buffalo chips. When I was reading about the NWMP March West, one point on their route was called "Woodend".  When the young and green Mounties asked how the place got its name, the Metis carters said that was where the wood ended! The carters walked beside the track with a sack to gather fuel or the boys were eating cold rations.
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THE SUBLYME & HOLY ORDER OF THE SOOT (SHOTS)
Those who are no longer ignorant of History may relive it,
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With apologies to George Santayana & W. S. Churchill

"As Mark Twain once put it, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”

Offline Trueno

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #74 on: February 14, 2015, 07:22:52 AM »
Dusty, . . .

This is not perfect by any means, . . . but it's a bit touched up.  Hope you like it.

May God bless,
Dwight




Where is the suspension, and where did the passenger side end of the axle go?

firewood?


 :-\
Tell the truth, it's easier to remember.

Offline pony express

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #75 on: February 14, 2015, 09:38:37 AM »
Corn cobs have to be grown in a cornfield. Cornfields need farmers, either sodbusters or peons. I suppose cattle drovers could buy corn at the start or along the way. Depending on availability! Local wood may, or may not, have been available in usable quantity


Well, wouldn't be PC for a cattle drive.....

But for eastern Nebraska in the 1880's, a lot more correct...

Offline Delmonico

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #76 on: February 14, 2015, 10:13:15 AM »
The chips is one of them that PC should not be used, there is a higher risk of a food borne disease with them, talking with some Ag professors while I work on their hats is a good soucre for knowledge.   Something about something that begins with an E.   
Mongrel Historian


Always get the water for the coffee upstream from the herd.

Ab Ovo Usque ad Mala

The time has passed so quick, the years all run together now.

Offline Blair

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #77 on: February 14, 2015, 10:44:44 AM »
That is good advice, especially when there are options and/or alternative today to supplying fuel.
These options and/or alternatives may simply not been available during the cattle drives.
Various forms of dung have been used as fuel for thousands of years.
My best,
 Blair
A Time for Prayer.
"In times of war and not before,
God and the soldier we adore.
But in times of peace and all things right,
God is forgotten and the soldier slighted"
by Rudyard Kipling.
Blair Taylor
Life-C 21

Offline Sir Charles deMouton-Black

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #78 on: February 14, 2015, 01:22:55 PM »
Pardon me if I left the impression I was recommending buffalo chip briquettes.

I am NOT!

I was addressing the issue of what would be PC for a cattle drive over the arid portions of the plains back in the day.
NCOWS #1154, SCORRS, STORM, BROW, 1860 Henry, Dirty Rat 502, CHINOOK COUNTRY
THE SUBLYME & HOLY ORDER OF THE SOOT (SHOTS)
Those who are no longer ignorant of History may relive it,
without the Blood, Sweat, and Tears.
With apologies to George Santayana & W. S. Churchill

"As Mark Twain once put it, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”

Offline Blair

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Re: Chuck Wagon Question
« Reply #79 on: February 14, 2015, 03:58:31 PM »
Sir Charles,

I very much agree.
However, alternative fuel sources, such as this, are something that should be discussed during such historical programs as hearth,  fireplace, camp or chuck wagon style cooking.
Of course this also means someone has to gather this or other fuel, and it is best that the "chips" be a great deal less than "green" or wet.
But then again, any good cook should know the value of the quality and quantity of fuel needed for any given meal he is planning.
My best,
 Blair
A Time for Prayer.
"In times of war and not before,
God and the soldier we adore.
But in times of peace and all things right,
God is forgotten and the soldier slighted"
by Rudyard Kipling.
Blair Taylor
Life-C 21

 

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