posted 11 years ago
Try the same technique but eliminate the foil wrap and instead cover the banana leaves in an inch of clay all around. The clay gives off moisture and adds to the thermal mass for longer carry through on the heat. Cracks off nice and clean. Gives future anthropologists artifacts to ponder.
Old cookware can be used as a slow cooker. A Dutch oven can be filled in the same manner that works for a crock pot. The trick is to avoid getting ash into the crack where pot meets lid. Another larger pot or frying pan is placed over the dutch oven like an umbrella and the embers are carefully drawn over top. Good tongs or oven mitts are needed since flammable handle materials must be removed. Lids need to have a steel bolt installed, so there is something to grab onto. Two bolts protruding from the upper side of the pot can allow safe transport to the eating area by attaching a thick wire hoop handle as are used to suspend a pot above a fire. No need to lift the pot more than a foot off the ground during transport. A well balanced pot can be nearly full when moved like this. If a spill ever did occur, only the feet and ankles are at risk.
