I think sometimes we have a (cultural?) blind spot. We have this list of how certain dishes are to be cooked and on/in what type of cooker. Take
pancakes for example... cooked on a stove top... right? Check this out:
Obviously a cooler climate... notice the child peeking out from their bed... on top of the Teplushka. Notice how the pancake is lifted from the pan... try than on your non-stick cheapo pan...
Heres a better explanation:
http://kirpichiki.pro/engl/pancakes-in-russian-oven.html A Teplushka can be fired in two ways. It looks like the weather is warm when this was done because it is being fired in the
oven. This heats the house the least amount because the smoke (flue gas) goes straight up flue. There is also a fire box for for remote firing and when used the flue gas goes through the oven, back down under the oven and then up the flue so that the whole mass is heated (2 or 3 tons?). This particular Teplushka must have the remote firebox at the back, but there are variants with the firebox at the front that also heat an iron cooking surface where the ledge is just in front of the hearth in this one... making a complete cooking set up.
Sometimes we forget there are more ways of doing things than we are used to... like baking bread on a vertical surface as in a tandoori oven. The whole
solar cooker area also requires different cooking techniques. (slower cooking at lower temperatures... but free heat) Or retained heat (which already has it's own
thread).
Anyone else have some unusual cooking methods/devices? Ways of making do without an "essential" cooking appliance? I think there is a key to cooking off grid without electric or propane in the idea that things don't have to be cooked in a certain way that we've always done before.
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